Literary Circles: Blogger Interview with Mónica B.W.

This week I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Mónica Bustamante Wagner of Love YA. Mónica is a YA fiction writer repped by Lauren MacLeod of The Strotham Agency. I first encountered Mónica’s site when I started getting into contests. She hosts fabulous contests, which you can read more about here. But what I enjoy most about following Mónica’s blog and Twitter is her endless enthusiasm and encouragement. She is as lovely as it gets. In addition to hosting frequent contests, Mónica often shares writing tips. Two of my favorites are her posts on Writing Bloopers – because we’ve all had them – and The Call, where she offers incredibly practical (and amusing) advice. Mónica, a bilingual world traveler, lives in Chile with her husband, three boys, and eleven hens.

First of all, thanks so much, Kimberly, for having me on your blog today! I’m excited to be here. (You know I love to meet awesome peeps like you online!)

Thanks Mónica! I'm excited to have the chance to chat with you!

Mónica, how did you come up with your blog concept and what inspired you to start blogging?

When I didn’t have an agent, I was always participating in contests and they sort of gave me this thrill I loved. I mean, contests are SO EXCITING, right? But then I found out that being agented, I couldn’t participate anymore. So I came up with the idea of organizing the contests myself, and I found out that I LOVE to help out writers accomplish their dreams. So that’s when I began focusing my blog for unagented writers and I started to give away critiques and contacting agents for interviews and contests. Sometimes I also like to post my thoughts and make friends in the process. It’s been really fun!

  

My love for this community also inspired me to start blogging because I wanted to be fully immersed in it. ;)

What networking strategies did you use to build the lit community surrounding your blog?
I'm not sure if I’d call them "networking strategies" because what I’ve done is mainly make friends. And I guess that, lucky for me, what I like to do (organize contests) is something people also like. So I think that’s why I have a few followers, too.

But when I wanted to reach out and make sure that the community noticed my blog, I promoted my contests and interviews on Twitter, Query Tracker, Absolute Write, etc.

What is your favorite part and the most challenging part of hosting contests?
Oh, my, I have many favorite parts! I love it when writers get requests thanks to my contests, and I love the “behind the scenes” parts, like when agents email me to request entries, even though they weren’t participating in the contest. And I like that thrill that I mentioned, when you’re expectant of what’s going to happen.

For me, the most challenging part is balancing my non-writerly life with the writerly one. Because a contest like The Writer’s Voice demands a lot of time and attention, and I had to be very careful not to let my hubby and kids pout because mommy was so busy. ;)

How many success stories have you had as a result of these contests?
A few indirect success stories (like this one) and one direct success story.

As for the indirect stories, I’ve had some writers who have emailed me to let me know that one of my contests led to great feedback from agents, which they used later and snatched another agent after revisions. These writers make me VERY happy!

What is one of your favorite blogs? What makes it one of your favorites?
Oh, I have so many. I love to read the blogs of my critique partners and friends because I always want to know what they are up to. I would list them now, but as I said, they are so many. But I think that if you don’t count my friends, my favorite blog would be Nathan Bransford’s because his posts are very current and I love his insight on the literary world.

What’s a current project you are either working on or promoting?
I've just started this baby WIP, and I’m very excited about it. It’s a pre-hispanic YA set in South America (where I live). It’s a story about arrogance and acceptance. And I’m having so much fun researching and writing it!


As you can tell, Mónica is not only friendly and kind, she's incredibly supportive of all writers. Mónica just wrapped up yet another contest, The Super Intern Contest. Stop by her site to check her out! You can also find her on Twitter!

Thank you so much for the interview, Mónica!