Blog Archive
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LOL
Apr 17, 2009
Very frequently things happen at the office that keep us talking and laughing for weeks to come, so to spread the wealth I thought I’d share a few with you. I rarely say that there’s anything in a query letter that is an automatic, instant rejection, because truthfully you just never know. However, this particular […]
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The Rise in Queries
Apr 16, 2009
I read your recent blog post about the economy being responsible for the increase in queries that most agents have experienced lately, and while your reasoning is logical, I’m not convinced the economy has much of an impact. I’d like you to consider the possibility that the Internet is responsible for the rash of queries. […]
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Pitch Appointments
Apr 15, 2009
While traveling to a conference recently I got to thinking about pitch appointments. For those who haven’t yet had the opportunity to attend a conference, pitch appointments are brief, 10-minute assigned meetings between an author and an agent or an editor. Typically to have a pitch appointment you need to have signed up ahead of […]
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Random Questions
Apr 14, 2009
I get a ton of questions emailed to me for the blog and I appreciate each and every one. I apologize if I haven’t yet gotten to yours, but I’m working on it. Some are hard and I haven’t figured out how to answer them yet, while others are too short and don’t necessarily warrant […]
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The Easy Writer
Apr 13, 2009
As a first-time author, I’m trying to get my brain around query letters. Maybe I’m just thinking of it too much like a resume or a CV, but I feel that I need to include something that says “I’m easy.” That is, I know that: I’m a first-time author. Pretty much everyone else is going […]
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Building a Platform for Fiction
Apr 10, 2009
I’ve received a lot of questions about the importance of building a platform for fiction writers. Should you write platform-building pieces under your real name or the pseudonym you want to use? What if you wrote mystery short stories, but now want to write romance novels? Do those short stories even count toward your platform? […]
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Earning Royalties
Apr 09, 2009
What’s the story with earning out/royalties? I have often heard that only 1 in 5 novels earns out its advance. I’ve always wondered about this figure, because if publishers were paying too much for 80% of their books, they should presumably know that and start offering lower advances across the board. But, at the same […]
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What Other Agents Do
Apr 08, 2009
I get a lot of blog questions from authors asking me to give them an idea of what they can expect from their agent. For example, “My agent is submitting my material. How many houses can I expect her to submit to?” How should I know? I’m not your agent and I haven’t read your […]
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Read Your Contract
Apr 07, 2009
One of the best things about having a literary agent is having someone with knowledge and experience in publishing contracts. For anyone who has ever done a deal with a publisher, you know what I mean. It doesn’t take more than a few paragraphs before your eyes start to cross and your mind freezes. Not […]
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He v. She
Apr 06, 2009
Some of you have noticed and have pointed out that in the blog I regularly use “she” when talking generally about readers, editors, clients, and pretty much anyone. I find it interesting that I’ve been criticized for this or questioned on it. I use “she” because “he/she” is awkward, and I was taught as a […]
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Authorpass and Agentpass Day
Apr 03, 2009
A few days ago I gave you the opportunity to share your gripes about agents, and I have to admit it gave me a bit of the agida. It’s really easy to read your comments and wonder whether or not I’ve done something like what you’ve described, and since I’m not perfect I’m sure I […]
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Is This Standard?
Apr 02, 2009
In teaching my class this semester at NYU and in talking to authors, I’m often struck by how often I am asked whether something is typical or standard within the industry, and this is probably one of the most frustrating things that writers have to deal with. While certainly with publishers there are a lot […]
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