Blog Archive
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A New Direction
Feb 01, 2010
It’s not uncommon to start a new year with a new outlook on things, and for me 2010 is a big year full of a lot of changes. I’m going into this year with a renewed sense of excitement for what’s to come and reminded how much I really love my job. As you know […]
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Best Practices for Querying a Series or Trilogy
Jan 29, 2010
I have finished two books of what will be a trilogy and am wondering about the logistics of querying a trilogy. I recognize the first book needs to stand alone, and I plan on mentioning it is the first in a trilogy (that will at that point be all written), but should the query hook […]
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Tough Economic Times
Jan 28, 2010
In this current economic climate, with publishing cut-backs (less money per contract, fewer contracts offered, many mid-list authors being dropped, etc), how are agents weathering the situation? Agents make money when they sell their authors, which would mean you have less monies coming in to pay YOUR bills. How are agents dealing with this? I […]
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Becky Levine on Critique Groups
Jan 27, 2010
Becky LevineThe Writing & Critique Group Survival GuidePublisher: Writer’s Digest BooksPub date: January 2010Agent: Jessica Faust (Click to Buy) Author’s Web site: https://beckylevine.com/ Not Just Any Critique Group—One That’s Right for You When you decide you’re ready to join a critique group, you’ve taken your first step onto a wonderful path. You’ll be exchanging feedback […]
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Response Times
Jan 26, 2010
Last year, I subbed a YA paranormal to several agents who’ve yet to respond, as follows: 1 in March, 3 in May, 3 in August and 1 in September. That’s 8 outstanding agent subs. Here’s the rub: I hired a freelance editor and completely rewrote this book. The new version is out with 3 agents, […]
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Back It Up
Jan 25, 2010
If you haven’t yet finalized your New Year’s resolutions, I have one for you. Back up your computer data! Certainly we all know to do this, but the question is how many of us really do it regularly? Recently a friend went into a panic because her computer crashed and she nearly lost everything—everything she’d […]
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Ten Words to Stop Misspelling
Jan 22, 2010
I have always been honest with you about my limitations as a writer. Quite frankly, I have some serious handicaps when it comes to grammar and punctuation issues. That’s one of the many reasons I was an acquisitions editor and not a copyeditor. While I can gladly tell a writer why the story isn’t working […]
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Poetry and Music in Books
Jan 21, 2010
I have a question for the blog. How do agents, editors, publishers, etc. feel about poetry and songs in the body of the manuscript? We’re all literary types, we’re bound to write songs and poems, maybe even our characters are poets and singers, too. Bilbo Baggins is walking along, having a lovely adventure in prose […]
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A Time to Rewrite
Jan 20, 2010
I wrote a manuscript and I think it’s done. I’ve gotten some interest, and also some rejections. One agent who read the partial said she couldn’t get interested in my story. Another said she found it boring. That said, nothing is perfect, and everything will need revision. I will keep trying. (Of course, I love […]
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LOL
Jan 19, 2010
Oh those things that makes us laugh, and luckily there are many. . . . Like the persistent querier who wisely changed email addresses and created aliases, but labeled the query “Query47,” and that was at last count. The query that suggested I “Kindly refrain from Self-delusion on Your part about arrogance on My Part […]
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Advice on Submitting Nonfiction to Agents
Jan 18, 2010
Sometimes Random Questions are my favorite posts. Quick and easy. Here’s another batch of questions that I think are important for readers to see, but not long enough to warrant a full blog post. I have written a novel, but feel the best comparisons are narrative nonfiction. Is using narrative nonfiction to compare with a […]
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Avoiding Scams
Jan 15, 2010
It’s been quite some time since I’ve done any piece on literary scam artists, but a recent question made me realize that it’s something I should be doing more frequently. At an SCBWI monitoring workshop, we met an editor from a large publishing house. She requested and eventually read our YA/MG full manuscript. She requested […]
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