Blog Archive
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Agent Contract Expiration
Apr 03, 2012
If you sign with a literary agent and have no success placing your novel over the course of a year, what are your options after the official contract runs out? Can you search for a different agent and try again after some serious re-writes and editing? Is self-publishing worth considering? Is it time to give […]
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Permissions for Quotes
Apr 02, 2012
I am revising the draft of my first novel, and part of it takes place in a school setting, where can see different inscriptions/quotes above doors and in various other places. These quotes are from works by well-known science fiction writers like Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov (such as “Violence is the last refuse […]
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Episodic Nonfiction
Mar 29, 2012
Reading your April 8, 2008, blog about narrative nonfiction, I wondered about the storyline for nonfiction, e.g. The Perfect Storm, In Cold Blood, Jon Krakauer’s work, and other well-known stories. Is there such a thing as “episodic” narrative nonfiction? Where the stories are short vignettes? So instead of one continuous long thread, a series of […]
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Agent Shopping
Mar 28, 2012
I currently have an agent who has a good reputation and has a decent track record. I have done all the background checks I can and when I signed felt I would be well represented by this person. However, through a series of situations and over a six month period with 0 submissions to publishing […]
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Handling a Referral
Mar 27, 2012
I sent a query, synopsis and 10 pages to a popular agent who is no reply = no. Two weeks later, I received an amazingly sweet letter in which she gave compliments, made suggestions and then told me she’d already sent an email to a colleague of hers (the VP of their agency) and really […]
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Making Twitter Personal
Mar 26, 2012
I’m no Twitter expert and have never claimed to be. That being said, I always have plenty of ideas about what works and doesn’t work in social networking, primarily because I use it. A lot of the people I follow on Twitter I follow because I’m a fan. Sure, I follow other industry experts and […]
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Defining “Unsolicited Manuscripts”
Mar 22, 2012
When a publisher doesn’t except “unsolicited manuscripts”, does that mean they will only except an ms or query from an agent? Below is some information I’ve found. Can you verify if it’s true or not? “No unsolicited manuscripts” does not mean you can’t send something to these publishers. (Those who are truly closed will say […]
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Keeping It Real in YA
Mar 21, 2012
I’m writing on YA fantasy novel (for want of a loose description) and I’m wondering about the use of profanity and drinking in a YA novel. While swearing is not a massive part of the story there is the odd bit of what would be described in a movie as ‘low level’ language and I […]
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Choosing a Title
Mar 20, 2012
I am in the process of finishing my first book. I believe the title I have chosen is a real eye-catcher but I’m concerned it may be too dark. My book is nonfiction or should I try to come up with something softer. I don’t want the title to scare people off. This question actually […]
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Blind Book Date Follow-Up
Mar 19, 2012
Grab a cup of coffee or tea and curl up on the couch because it’s time to find out the dirt on your blind date with a book. I was really excited about this idea and even more excited to see the unique list of books everyone came up with. Up to the point of […]
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Random Questions
Mar 15, 2012
Do you automatically reject a query if the author does not have a college degree? No. I don’t know of any agency who would. Unless you’re an expert writing nonfiction on a subject that would require a degree of some sort, I don’t care if you’ve never been to school. Is “mainstream literary fiction” an […]
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Workshop Wednesday
Mar 14, 2012
Thanks to all of your contributions, Workshop Wednesday has been a success. We’re going to continue on with it for as long as we have entries and the energy to comment on them. If you haven’t yet submitted but are still interested, don’t be afraid to participate as per the guidelines in our original post. […]
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