Blog Archive
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Saving a Deal
Jan 07, 2009
As a newbie agent I thought of my job as making deals for authors. I would submit the book, the offer (hopefully) would come in, and my job was to leverage that offer to get the best deal possible for my author. Typically my authors at that time were new and unpublished and thrilled beyond […]
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What Is a Book Proposal for Fiction Writers
Jan 06, 2009
Once you’ve mastered the query letter it’s time to move on to the book proposal. For fiction writers a proposal if fairly easy compared to what nonfiction writers have to do. And keep in mind, if you are writing narrative nonfiction, like a memoir, you should think of your work as fiction. In other words, […]
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What Is a Book Proposal for Nonfiction Writers
Jan 05, 2009
Welcome back everyone and Happy New Year! I can tell by my inbox that many of you have made a New Year’s Resolution to get your book out on submission this year and for that reason I think today’s post and tomorrow’s are awfully timely. One of the nice things about being a nonfiction writer […]
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Holiday Critiques #6
Dec 31, 2008
Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope everyone has been able to take some time off and enjoy a holiday vacation. I know I’m happy to report that I’ve enjoyed vacation and been very productive at the same time. Here’s yet another critique and here’s your link to the original post. Don’t hesitate to make your […]
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Holiday Critiques #5
Dec 28, 2008
Back again… Here’s your link to the post that started it all, the final pitch critiques of 2008. If you’re new to the site you might want to read that post so you have a sense of what’s going on. For those who have already been following along, let’s just get started. Katherine E. Hazen […]
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Holiday Critique #4
Dec 27, 2008
I’m back with more critiques and I was amazed this morning when I opened the original post to see that there are 256 comments. Wow! Now, I realize not all of them are pitches to be critiqued, but that is certainly a little daunting and I definitely know I won’t be getting to all of […]
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Holiday Critique #3
Dec 24, 2008
Merry Christmas Eve! Before I start to cook the Christmas Feast I had some time to slip in some critiques. What’s funny about the reader who criticized me for typos and other grammatical errors is that I did mean to comment on the last post about that. Since I am doing this on my holiday […]
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Holiday Critiques #2
Dec 22, 2008
Thank you everyone for your kind words. Continental did not come through so we’re home for Christmas. I’m over pouting though and looking forward to a different holiday then what I had planned, but something magical nonetheless. Here’s the link to the original post. Once January 5 hits I’m done with critiques so if you […]
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Holiday Critiques #1
Dec 21, 2008
I think by reading through the comments on my original post many some of you might have gotten a taste for what it’s like to be an agent. You’re right that there are no rules and it never hurts to break them, but do you see how frustrating it gets when no one even seems […]
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My Gift to You
Dec 19, 2008
I love Christmas. To me, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year, and the best part of Christmas to me is the giving. So while this is the last official blog post of the year (BookEnds is closed December 22 to January 5), I decided we should go out with a whole […]
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Unwritten Rules: Keep the Innocents Alive
Dec 18, 2008
When I read your post about “Unlikable Characters,” it sparked a question about likable characters who die. Although we know almost immediately the narrator in “The Lovely Bones” has died a violent death, Sebold’s novel went on to become a mega-bestseller. This seems to fly in the face of an unwritten rule, I thought existed, […]
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Starting an Agency
Dec 17, 2008
I get a lot of questions about how to start a literary agency and it’s taken a long time for me to come up with an answer. What intrigues me about the question is that there seems to be an implied easy answer, that one with no publishing experience can simply set up shop one […]
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