Blog Archive
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Happy Thanksgiving
Nov 27, 2008
Here in the US it’s Thanksgiving, a time to eat, watch parades, watch football, eat more and eat again. Oh, and it’s also a time to be thankful. I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, the friends, the parade and the traditions. One of my favorite traditions is to have everyone say one thing they […]
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Market News
Nov 26, 2008
You asked for it. More market news. . . . When you think of Harlequin almost all of you think of romance. Well, guess what? For a long time now Harlequin has been a lot more than romance. Just ask authors like Jason Pinter, Brenda Novak, or Susan Wiggs. So what is Harlequin and what […]
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The Anatomy of a Book Deal
Nov 25, 2008
By popular request I thought I’d share with you an experience I had getting a book deal. This is just one story of many and I do promise to share more as time goes on. In February I received a query from an author who claimed (which I believed) that she had previously equeried in […]
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Do Contracts Equal Love
Nov 24, 2008
Can a book contract help an agent fall in love? At conferences we hear agents repeatedly proclaim that in order to be willing to represent an unpublished author in this highly competitive, very tight fiction market, they need to LOVE the author’s story and voice. The author needs to be congenial, easy to work with, […]
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An Agent’s Time
Nov 21, 2008
Why are there never enough hours in the day? I know everyone feels this way and I’m certainly no different, however as I watch the submission piles grow and the equeries come in I sometimes wonder what I do all day. How come I can’t get any of it done? So out of curiosity I […]
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A Home for Latina Writers
Nov 20, 2008
Is there much of a market of Latina writers? I should clarify that I do not write chicano literature nor do I write my stories in Spanish. I don’t write “chica-lit,” either, a la Dirty Girls Social Club. I do not have a political or social agenda, and my writing reflects that. I am not […]
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Rejected by Your Own Agent
Nov 19, 2008
The reason for this email is, I’m a little (okay, a lot) heart sick over the fact that my agent has turned down my most recent book. I’m feeling embarrassed and I’m starting to think, oh my gosh, what if I lost my mojo? What if she’s sorry she signed me? Can you tell me […]
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Is the Kindle the Wave of the Future?
Nov 18, 2008
It seems like it’s the only thing book people talk about, the Amazon Kindle, the Sony Reader, and how they’ve changed their lives. From editors, authors, and agents we hear about the revolution of ebooks and how paper books are coming to an end. But is that really the case? I have jumped on the […]
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Selling Statistics
Nov 17, 2008
Once I have an agent, how likely am I to be published? Do you have any books that you really like, but just can’t sell? This is a great question and one that I’m surprised I haven’t addressed yet. In fact, just the other day I was mentally going through the list of some of […]
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Call Me Professor
Nov 14, 2008
I have just accepted a position to teach in NYU’s Continuing Education program and I’m incredibly excited and nervous all at the same time. First of all, how cool is that? I’m going to be an adjunct professor at New York University! Second, what the heck have I gotten myself into? Sure I’ve taught workshops […]
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I Finished!
Nov 13, 2008
Back in July I did a post on Resistant Reading, those books that you’ve been carrying around with you for months but for some reason can never get yourself to read. It seems like I always have one of those books. Typically a book that everyone else loves and you hear about constantly, but for […]
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The Advent of the Kindle
Nov 12, 2008
I’ve finally jumped on the bandwagon and got myself a Kindle. Yippee! Since every other agent has already extolled its virtues, I think I’ll skip that for now and just tell you that it’s great. I wonder though how much I’ll use it for pleasure reading rather than submissions and client manuscripts. After all, I […]
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