Blog Archive
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A BookEnds Reading Pile
Jun 16, 2010
For something fun and different we thought we’d put together a quick post about what’s happening in the BookEnds reading piles. What I’m Reading Now: Jessica: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen Kim: Marked: House of Night Series by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast Katelynn: Tea with Hezbollah by Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis […]
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Christie Craig on Writing Advice
Jun 15, 2010
Christie CraigShut Up and Kiss MePublisher: LovespellPub date: May 2010Agent: Kim Lionetti (Click to Buy) Five Pieces of Well-Meaning Writing Advice That I’m Glad I Didn’t Take With no degree in my pocket, my youth was spent flipping burgers and taking orders. Today, I have written for twenty years, most of that time spent either […]
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What It Takes to Be an Agent
Jun 14, 2010
I’ve been pondering this for awhile, so I figured I’d just ask. I’ve played around with the thought of becoming a literary agent after graduating from college. What I’m wondering is, what does it take to be an agent? Is there a certain personality type that is perfect for agenting and no other would work, […]
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Pet Peeve
Jun 11, 2010
Stupid pet peeve of the day . . . When people write out word count. In other words, 50,000 words is correct. These are not correct: Fifty-thousand words 50 thousand words Fifty 1000 words Jessica
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Self-Published Revisited
Jun 10, 2010
A comment appeared on my post about self-published works that I felt warranted its own post. Question: Where do the agents and publishers get the sales numbers for a self-published book? The author? Does the author provide financials as proof? Or is there another way to know for sure how many copies have been sold […]
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The Style Sheet
Jun 09, 2010
Nathan Bransford recently did a post on the importance of a series bible for authors and it kicked me into gear to do a post I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. A post on the importance of a style sheet. As Nathan explains, a series bible is helpful for the author to […]
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Turn That Deal Around
Jun 08, 2010
After reading my post about author-agent agreements one reader had a question . . . I’m confused by this line: “possibly turning that small press deal into a big press, bigger deal” Are you saying an agent would submit to bigger presses and make the small press wait? Or even turn the small press down […]
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Selling Foreign Rights
Jun 07, 2010
I sold a novel direct to a small/medium press for an advance; I had no agent. It releases soon. I would like to sell some foreign rights translation for this book; those rights are owned by my publisher but I get a percentage. Do agents ever represent foreign or sub-rights only for a book if […]
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Ellery Adams on Establishing an Online Presence
Jun 04, 2010
Ellery AdamsA Killer PlotPublisher: Berkley Prime CrimePub date: June 2010Agent: Jessica Faust (Click to Buy) Perhaps you’re ready to pitch agents or have already begun and have started getting bites. Suddenly, your dream of being a professional writer is closer to becoming a reality. What else can you do to prepare? I recommend establishing an […]
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Thought of the Day
Jun 03, 2010
If you read an agent’s blog regularly, any agent’s blog, and have ever, even once, read a post that gave you a mild case of anxiety, fear that you might have screwed up, you didn’t. Just the fact that you had that fear means you’re probably doing everything right, or close to right. Jessica
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How the Intern Reads Your Proposal
Jun 02, 2010
Hi everybody! I’m the intern, Lauren. I’ve been working for Jessica, Kim, and their assistant, Katelynn, for about four months now. I do administrative tasks in exchange for being allowed to hang out with real publishing people. I don’t get paid—in dollars, anyway. I get paid in experience. As my internship comes to a close, […]
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The Business of Writing by Sally MacKenzie
Jun 01, 2010
The Naked Viscount Publisher: Kensington Zebra Pub date: June 2010 Agent: Jessica Faust Before I was published, I thought of writing as a calling. My stories were my art. I still think these things, but now I understand that writing for publication is also very much a business. My stories are products I’m peddling. Does […]
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