Blog Archive

  • I Never Get Tired of This

    Apr 08, 2010

    I got an email last week from a teenage relative. She had recently bought The Homework Helper Guide to Chemistry, opened the book, and saw my name in the acknowledgment section. She wanted me to know that she thought that was pretty cool because she knows me. I love the books I represent, but will […]

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  • Submission Guidelines

    Apr 07, 2010

    I printed out most of your guidelines for a submission. I printed out one page. Now i need a bit more. where do i find them please. I’m not sure what more you would need. Our submission guidelines are fairly simple and easy to find. They should also be self-explanatory. However, all that being said, […]

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  • Paige Shelton on Getting Published

    Apr 06, 2010

    Paige SheltonFarm Fresh MurderPublisher: Berkley Prime CrimePub date: April 2010Agent: Jessica Faust (Click to Buy) How to Do Almost Everything Wrong and Still Get Published . . . Someday I think I still have the notebook with the psychedelic design on its cover. I pasted comical cigarette stickers all over the back of it. It […]

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  • Making Comparisons

    Apr 05, 2010

    It’s not at all uncommon for authors to compare their work to that of others. In fact, it’s not uncommon for agents to do the same thing. In a quick search of Publishers Marketplace I found the following comparisons: pitched as in the tradition of Raymond Carver and Lorrie Moorepitched as in the spirit of […]

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  • World Autism Awareness Day

    Apr 02, 2010

    There is a very special little boy in my life. He is sweet, brilliant and a joy to be around. And he has been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), commonly known as Autism. I have known this little boy since birth and he has taught me so much. I’ve learned to stop and watch […]

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  • Note to All Writers

    Apr 01, 2010

    I will not return your phone call simply to give you detailed advice of why I rejected your proposal, especially when I have no idea why I rejected your proposal, because I only have a very vague recollection of said proposal at best. So please stop calling. Jessica

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  • Writing Apprenticeship

    Mar 31, 2010

    Something a commenter wrote on the blog got me to thinking. In a discussion about learning the business of publishing, one reader made the comment, “In many industries, there are apprenticeships where you get paid to learn. That doesn’t happen with writing. You write it – it might take years – and then you try […]

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  • Query Specifics

    Mar 30, 2010

    Writers often bemoan the fact that agents don’t give enough specifics on their web sites when it comes to what they’re looking for. In other words, while we might say we’d like romance, you want more specifics on what kind of romance. Does the agent have a passion for Scottish historicals and shy away from […]

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  • Query Formatting

    Mar 29, 2010

    When you receive an e-mail query where the formatting has been stripped or altered, does that play a part in your rejection? Or are agents as a whole more forgiving of these errors and look only to the writing in e-mail queries? While agents certainly understand that these things can happen through no fault of […]

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  • Slush Pile Queen

    Mar 26, 2010

    It’s Friday and since I gave myself permission to cut back on posting a lot of my Fridays have become free to do whatever I want so I apologize to those of you who checked in at 8 and were disappointed to see nothing new. However, after some prodding from one of the readers, I […]

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  • Follow-Up to Submitting a Partial

    Mar 25, 2010

    There were a lot of questions/comments on my post about Submitting a Partial, and rather than have my answers get lost in the comments section I thought I’d address them in a follow-up post. what about partial submissions ie., to publishers? am curious how that works Partial submissions to publishers should be made in the […]

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  • Coming of Age

    Mar 24, 2010

    Kim and I were recently having a discussion about the phrase “coming of age,” a phrase we’ve always seen a lot of in query letters. I said I thought the phrase was off-putting, making me think of books like Bright Lights, Big City, while Kim liked the phrase, comparing it to books like Bad Haircut […]

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