Blog Archive
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Random Facts
Oct 03, 2011
I don’t often do this, but every once in a while I like to waste time by researching the readers of my blog. Honestly, this isn’t a true waste of time because it does give some insight into why readers are coming to the blog, what’s bringing them here and what some of my most […]
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Working with an Agent
Sep 29, 2011
I do not have a U.S. literary agent, but I do have an agent in Turkey who approached me a few months ago. At that time, she said she had a publisher seriously interested in one of my novels, and has now offered it to multiple publishers in Turkey. She says she is close to […]
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Workshop Wednesday
Sep 28, 2011
We’ve been doing Workshop Wednesday for a few months now and so far I’ve been very happy with the way things are going. I wanted to take a break today from an actual critique to answer some of the questions and respond to some of the feedback we’ve received. You may have noticed that we’ve […]
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Queries that Make Literary Agents Laugh, but Not Likely offer Representation
Sep 27, 2011
I think literary agents spend far too much time ranting instead of sharing details of those queries and experiences that have left us in tears, tears of laughter. Here are a few of our most recent favorites. In a query the author started by going into great detail to tell the story of Famous Bestselling […]
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The Perfect Pitch
Sep 26, 2011
When I first queried editors about Bella Riley’s books I asked Bella to supply the pitch. This is something I frequently do because it helps give me a starting point for my own pitch. The one thing I say to authors when sending my request is, “Feel free to keep it rough. I’ll probably edit […]
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Sucked into Negativity
Sep 23, 2011
The other day I sat down with a group of publishing professionals to talk about the state of the industry, and by the end of the hour I was a wreck. This particular group was full of doomsday predictors, something I’m not, and it got to me. It got to me really fast. And then […]
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Seeking an Agent Is Not Seeking a Job
Sep 22, 2011
When talking about query letters we often use the analogy of the job hunter. We say things like, “Your query letter is like the business suit you wear to a job interview. It’s your first impression.” But that analogy has never been quite right because you are not looking for a job, and the agent […]
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Workshop Wednesday
Sep 21, 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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Resending Queries
Sep 20, 2011
This may sound like an unprofessional and very likely stupid question, but I had to make certain before giving up entirely: I was wondering whether it was alright to send a revised query letter to your agency when the first has not been replied to yet? I know that the query letter you send should […]
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Handling Editor Interest
Sep 19, 2011
Two years ago, an editor was interested in my previous novel. The novel was taken to acquisitions and not acquired. Subsequently, I withdrew that novel from sale and began to work on another novel. Over a year and a half later, the same editor contacted my agent to see if I had anything new he […]
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Do You Limit Yourself
Sep 16, 2011
I have this friend who “can’t” or “doesn’t” do so many things I sometimes wonder how she gets out of bed in the morning. She’s a writer, but she “can’t” write a synopsis because it’s not how she writes and she’s a reader but she “can’t” read dark thrillers because she’s too happy of a […]
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Following Up
Sep 15, 2011
We writers always wonder about how long it takes agents to respond (if they do at all) and whether to follow up and so forth, but I was wondering – what about agents and editors? How long do agents (or just you guys, since I’m sure it’s different for everyone) wait for a response from […]
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