Blog Archive
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Thought for the Day
Jul 22, 2011
Before you get smug or cocky or just plain rude in your reply to a rejection, think twice. All BookEnds agents have a policy to reply to each of our own queries. That being said, I will frequently pass along a query to Kim or Jessica after I’ve replied with a rejection. This means I’m […]
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Your Book Needs Editing
Jul 21, 2011
I will reject any query that tells me your book needs editing and I suspect most agents will agree that this is a red flag. But why? Don’t all books need editing? Why is this a red flag? For me this shows that you’re not ready to query and that your book isn’t complete; that […]
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Workshop Wednesday
Jul 20, 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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Red Flags
Jul 19, 2011
Red flags are sort of like pet peeves. Every agent, every editor, and every author has them. In the case of pet peeves they are things that drive us nuts. In the case of red flags they are things an author tells us that immediately convince us the book is probably not working. Certainly all […]
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Random Questions
Jul 18, 2011
I’ve been going through, not kidding, years of blog questions submitted by readers. I go through them regularly and pick and choose those I want to answer. Some I store away because I don’t know how to answer, others wait because the answer is more complicated, and so many wait because I feel I’ve touched […]
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Thought for the Day
Jul 15, 2011
There are many reasons I reject a query, but in all rejections I acknowledge that publishing is subjective and therefore others might feel differently. Your reply that subjectivity means that only works of “poor quality” are published because publishers are “too lazy” to look at quality and “genius” is a tad ridiculous. Jessica
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Re-Querying
Jul 14, 2011
I believe the standard for e-queries is to place the word Query in the subject line of the e-mail. But what if you are contacting the agent for a second time. An agent passed on my manuscript and was kind enough to tell me exactly what wasn’t working for her. She also mentioned she saw […]
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Workshop Wednesday
Jul 13, 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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Hiding Won’t Help
Jul 12, 2011
Almost every author, at one time or another, struggles with getting her book in on time. It happens, but the absolute worst thing you can do is hide. When trouble arises you need communication more than ever. The minute you know you’re facing a missed deadline or having trouble of any kind, let your agent […]
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You Have an Offer
Jul 11, 2011
I’ve always said that when you get an offer of representation, or from a publisher, for that matter, you need to use that offer as leverage to find the agent who is best for you and your work. What that means is that when you get an offer you should contact every other agent who […]
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Thought for the Day
Jul 08, 2011
Once, a very long time ago, a client said to me, “I have dreams that you and I will get really old together.” I think that was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, and it’s the truth. It’s my dream too. Jessica
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Forget Everyone Else
Jul 07, 2011
Me: “I don’t know. Anytime I think I’m writing something that’s going to cause a stir, it doesn’t.” Husband: “And then you write about unicorns and you get slammed.” Ain’t that the truth. When writing, we don’t know what everyone else is going to say about the book. We don’t really know what agents will […]
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