Blog Archive
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Classifying Your Novel
Oct 24, 2011
My novel is about a collage age student on a journey of self discovery. There are paranormal events, some sci fi components, romance, but ultimately it is about the main character finding herself and accepting all that she is. So here’s my question, where would my story fit? I have tried representing it in different […]
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What Is Platform
Oct 20, 2011
Frequently agents will tell writers, nonfiction writers most specifically, that they need a platform. But what is a platform? A platform is needed for non-narrative nonfiction. This is nonfiction in which your readers expect you, as the author, to have a certain level of expertise. If you’re providing advice on anything—how to achieve happiness, credit […]
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Workshop Wednesday
Oct 19, 2011
By repeated request we’ve started Workshop Wednesday. It will definitely play out through 2011, and beyond that we’ll just have to see. We’ve received well over 200 queries at this point, but we are choosing at random, so don’t be afraid to participate as per the guidelines in our original post. For anyone wanting to […]
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Reading Your Contract
Oct 18, 2011
It’s a totally weird phenomenon, but I’ve had more authors hire lawyers to read the Author/Agent Agreement they sign with me than I have authors who have hired lawyers to read the publishing contract. Now, I’m not saying you have to hire a lawyer to read the publishing contract, since that’s one of the things […]
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An Offer on the Table
Oct 17, 2011
I was helped a lot by a previous post of yours, how to turn a small press offer into something bigger. I went back and read it again and was well prepared for the exciting day. I got the small press offer, did not accept it (but did not turn it down either), and found […]
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Show Your Confidence
Oct 13, 2011
Whenever I compose an email to an editor I think about every word I type and how it will be perceived. For example, when following up on a submission, I never want to say I’m “just” getting in touch because it sounds like what I’m getting in touch about isn’t that important. While certainly overthinking […]
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Workshop Wednesday
Oct 12, 2011
By repeated request we’ve started Workshop Wednesday. It will definitely play out through 2011, and beyond that we’ll just have to see. We’ve received well over 200 queries at this point, but we are choosing at random, so don’t be afraid to participate as per the guidelines in our original post. For anyone wanting to […]
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The Query Isn’t Working, Maybe It’s the Book
Oct 11, 2011
All too often I read a query, or hear a pitch at a conference, and think how the author didn’t take the book to the next level. I’m sure many of you will say that it’s hard to convey the entire book in either a query or a pitch, but I also think it’s important […]
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It’s Your Attitude I Reject
Oct 10, 2011
I had a boss once who was fond of saying “life is too short,” and it’s become a bit of a mantra of mine. Life is short and I want to spend it doing the things I love with people I enjoy spending time with. There’s no doubt we always have moments in our lives […]
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Selling Novellas
Oct 06, 2011
I read the blog about Sally MacKenzie and her novella. My question is: What is the word count for a novella? I [redacted] wrote my novella about an FBI agent, [redacted] (first in series). The first one is 40,000 words and about a heart surgeon living in San Francisco. I didn’t know what to do […]
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Workshop Wednesday
Oct 05, 2011
By repeated request we’ve started Workshop Wednesday. It will definitely play out through 2011, and beyond that we’ll just have to see. We’ve received well over 200 queries at this point, but we are choosing at random, so don’t be afraid to participate as per the guidelines in our original post. For anyone wanting to […]
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Ten Rules for Twitter Success
Oct 04, 2011
There are a lot of amazing rules for Twitter success out there, they are easy to find, and in fact this post was inspired by a blog post by Novel Publicity. However, since many of you read book blogs to help grow your career, I thought it would be valuable to include some tips of […]
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