Blog Archive

Switching Agents within an Agency

Mar 13, 2012

What would happen if the author, after due time with one of the new agents, felt one of the other agents would be a better fit? Do authors ever move to a different agent at the same agency? This question actually came as part of another question, but it’s something I’ve often wondered about myself […]

New Agents at BookEnds

Mar 12, 2012

When an author is considering Bookends LLC, should the disparity between levels of experience between the agents play a major part, or can she trust that even a new agent at your agency will have the support and expertise of the other more experienced agents behind her? Is it all right to query the new […]

Do I Really Need an Agent

Mar 08, 2012

i just recently signed with a publisher… on their website, it said submissions only accepted by agents etc i ignored that and it turned out okay! (i didnt have an agent and still dont) my question is…. ive already signed the contract with them…. should i still look into getting an agent? It’s a tricky […]

Workshop Wednesday

Mar 07, 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. […]

The Evolution of My Rejection Letter

Mar 06, 2012

All of the talk lately about whether “no means no” is an appropriate response for agents to give to query letters had me thinking about my own rejection letters over the years. I agree with Janet Reid when she says that a response is not only important, but pretty easy. It’s something we’ve always done […]

Gifts 101

Mar 05, 2012

I love my agent. I think she’s fabulous, and I never want her to doubt for an instant that I think she’s fabulous. Are there “rules” governing gifts from the writer to the agent? I figure it’s okay to send cookies just ‘cuz, but what about a gift when the agent sells your manuscript? Is […]

An Agent’s Acknowledgment

Mar 01, 2012

I think on a number of agent blogs you’ve read how much an acknowledgment or a dedication to an agent in a client’s book can mean to an agent. I never get tired of reading them and I never feel anything less than humbled that the author would consider me when writing this most public […]

Workshop Wednesday

Feb 29, 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. […]

Is Your Promotion Making Sense

Feb 28, 2012

You’ve been told by someone what you have to do. Now that you have a book out or coming out you need to be blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking, LinkedIn, Glad-Handing, and selling your soul. You need to add an extra 12 hours into each day just to manage the new schedule your publishing contract requires. But […]

Dreams of Working in Publishing

Feb 27, 2012

Hello, I read your blog (Jessica’s) about getting a job in publishing. I want so badly to work with new authors everyday, to be involved in the process of publishing and be with great works from the beginning. It seems clear the main place to be is New York City. I live in West Texas. […]

Maybe I Missed These Lessons . . .

Feb 23, 2012

All right, so I wrote the novel, revised the novel (and again … and again) and thought I was all ready to jump into querying. Not so fast. Unsurprisingly, I ran into several questions, and I’m hoping you can answer them. 1. My novel has a prologue, but the “voice” in the prologue is much […]

Ice Cube Tray Recipes by Jen Karetnick

Feb 22, 2012