Blog Archive
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From a Scared Client
Nov 11, 2010
(And hopefully it’s not mine) In July, I signed with a well-known, reputable agent. She said the manuscript was very “clean” and would get back to me shortly with minor editing suggestions. She even ventured to say she expected to go out on submission by the end of August. I have yet to receive her […]
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Choosing a Career Path
Nov 10, 2010
I finished my first novel, a humorous women’s fiction (chick lit), earlier this year and began querying agents. I received my fair share of rejections off the bat, and I began to think that part of my problem is that chick lit has taken a drastic dive in popularity. But, as I had spent a […]
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Angie Fox on Taking Charge of Your Career
Nov 09, 2010
Angie Fox The Last of the Demon Slayers Pub date: November 2010 Agent: Jessica Faust (Click to Buy) Jessica talks a lot on this blog about taking charge of your publishing career. I used to think that it meant learning all you can about the business so that you can make an educated decision about […]
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Addressing Your Query
Nov 08, 2010
How should I address my cover letter to a partial request? Or queries, etc. for that matter? I am old enough that I feel Ms. Doe is extremely formal. However, at the same time I realize that respect is a necessity and an act of respect. So I am at a road bump (something extremely […]
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Querying Agents at the Same Agency
Nov 04, 2010
By now you should know how I like to confuse things a little by stating how I like things done v. how you should be doing things—guidelines that often conflict with one another. Kim and I both receive a lot of queries and have specific interests. We also have a number of interests that cross […]
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Blow Me Away
Nov 03, 2010
Occasionally on Twitter I host an #askagent session that allows fellow Tweeps to ask me questions live. If you’re ever up extremely early in the morning (roughly 4 a.m. EST), hop on to see if I’m hosting. In a recent session I was asked about a recent submission that wowed me, and I thought this […]
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“You Say Pushy Like It’s a Bad Thing,” Janet Reid
Nov 02, 2010
I was recently pointed to a blog post that really has me irritated for a number of different reasons. Many of these reasons have already been articulated by Janet Reid perfectly, but since this is an issue I feel is important, I wanted to have my own say. The blog in question was written by […]
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An Agent’s Reaction
Nov 01, 2010
My primary form of communication with clients is via email. Let’s face it, it’s faster, easier, and you’ve never heard of playing “email tag.” That being said, there are a few instances where I almost always call. When I’m offering representation. Certainly I think a big request like this, “Will you be my client?” needs […]
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Your Target Market
Oct 28, 2010
I’m writing a novel about three 15-year-old high school students who are bullied and come up with creative schemes for solving the problem. The target market is middle grade and young adult. Along with some lighter moments, the story becomes quite dark and violent (before progressing into a happy/satisfying ending). There’s swearing, bashing, blood, minor […]
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Learn from What You Read
Oct 27, 2010
In my blog post on Reading Day, one commenter wrote, “A good exercise for these writers would be to read critically for craft. I know we’re all supposed to do that anyway, and we notice examples of good or bad writing as we read, but I mean that they should read really closely for craft. […]
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Reading for Fun
Oct 26, 2010
In a recent post I wrote about my Reading Day, there were two comments that really struck me, comments that propelled me to write a post I’ve been meaning to write for some time. The first was from my colleague Colleen Lindsay (and I hope she doesn’t mind me using her name). Colleen said, “One […]
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Follow-Up to Reading Day
Oct 25, 2010
I was just about to make a comment or two on my Reading Day post when I realized that so many of the questions were so great I’d probably be better off simply writing a new post (or two). A couple of you made the comparison of my reading day to your beta reading or […]
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