Blog Archive

  • How Well are You Adapting to a Changing Market

    Mar 08, 2016

    Back when I started the blog, nearly ten years ago, I was on the cutting edge of social media. People hadn’t taken over Facebook or Twitter yet so most publishing news was obtained through blogs. In those days I could easily get 25-50 comments (sometimes in the 100s). People loved the idea of engaging with […]

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  • The Mistake of Making Edits to Please an Agent

    Mar 07, 2016

    Anytime I reject requested material I make an effort to say something about why I’m rejecting the book. Sometimes it’s as benign as, “I didn’t connect with this.” Sometimes it’s harsher, “I don’t feel this is ready to be seen by publishers just yet.” Sometimes it’s really specific, “the voice didn’t feel right for YA.” […]

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  • Deal News for Jennifer Delamere!

    Mar 05, 2016

    Jennifer Delamere’s THE CAPTAIN’S DAUGHTER, set against the backdrop of Gilbert and Sullivan’s theater, featuring an orphaned young woman who dreams of a career on stage and the wounded soldier she falls in love with, to David Long at Bethany House, in a nice deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in Summer 2017, by Jessica Alvarez at BookEnds (World).

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  • March 4 in This Year of Change

    Mar 04, 2016

    Growing up there was a woman in my life who was first a friend of my grandmother’s, later the mother of my friend, even later my boss, and now my friend. She believed strongly in March 4, the day when we March forth into a new season and new and exciting things. Today is her […]

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  • Writing Resumes for a Publishing Career

    Mar 03, 2016

    Beth will tell you that I’m a stickler when it comes to my rules of resume writing and it amazes me that every time I make these suggestions to an intern she looks at me in horror, as if I’m telling her to wear cut-offs and a tank to her first job interview (don’t do […]

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  • Why Eliminating Toxic People Can Lead to Success

    Mar 02, 2016

    Recently I had an experience that I haven’t had in many, many years. I was volunteering my time and money to a local organization when I got a call from the head of the program. Unhappy with the speed at which I was getting things done (I still had weeks before anything needed to be […]

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  • Happy #PubDay to Linda Reilly, Out of the Dying Pan

    Mar 01, 2016

    I love the Deep Fried Mystery series and Linda Reilly has done a fabulous job. Grab the book that Romantic Times calls, The mystery sizzles in the second installment of Reilly’s series. The picturesque plaza that is Wrensdales’s Arcade has a cast of characters who are quite the mystery solvers. It also seems that everyone […]

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  • When it Comes to Social Media, Everyone is Reading

    Mar 01, 2016

    Contract negotiations are a tricky thing. While an agent can be just as excited as the author when that offer comes through, the last thing we want is for the publisher to think we’re excited. Just like in poker, you don’t want to show your hand. Too much enthusiasm will make asking for more a […]

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  • Happy #PubDay to Laura Bradford

    Mar 01, 2016

    Congratulations to Laura Bradford for the publication of A Churn for the Worse, the fifth book in the utterly charming Amish Mystery series. “Every book in this series is outstanding!” –Escape with Dollycas into a Good Book “[Bradford’s] mastery of the Amish culture adds a dimension to her work that readers likely will find fascinating.” […]

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  • If You Thought Literary Agents Were Harsh

    Feb 29, 2016

    Authors often get discouraged by the rejections they face from agents and agents are often criticized for the harshness of those rejections. Sadly though, these rejections are simply part of your training to becoming a published author. Think about it, once you have an agent she’s going to start submitting to publishers, who can be […]

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  • Missed deadlines can be disastrous

    Feb 26, 2016

    While my husband would claim I’m neurotic about quite a lot, the thing that drives me crazy the most is lateness. I’m often ridiculously early and I go into a near panic when I’m late. If I were a writer, I like to think I’d deliver all my manuscripts early. Maybe I would, maybe I […]

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  • When Awards, Nominations and Publishing Credits Become a Hinderance

    Feb 25, 2016

    In any query I’m always going to tell you to flaunt those awards, nominations and publishing credits. Did you win a Golden Heart, were you nominated for an Agatha, was your previous book published with Random House? Tell the agent. It could make a difference between a reject and a request. That could be the […]

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