Blog Archive

  • A Reader’s Coming of Age

    Oct 08, 2008

    When I first started in publishing I was fresh-faced and fresh out of college. While I had spent my summer reading commercial fiction like John Grisham, Michael Connelly, and, yes, Bridges of Madison County, I somehow had the impression that as a recent college grad, or just an intelligent woman, I should be reading more […]

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  • No Writing Courses, Please

    Oct 07, 2008

    On a recent blog post I mentioned advice that is often given by writing instructors and how the advice can hinder an author rather than help her. One of the reactions I received from a number of readers was to avoid writing classes. And while I don’t entirely agree with that advice, I do think […]

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  • Helen Coronato on Reviews

    Oct 06, 2008

    Helen CoronatoEco-Friendly FamiliesPublisher: Penguin/AlphaPub date: August 2008Agent: Jacky Sach (Click to Buy) Author Web site: www.helencoronato.com The Reviews Are In! (Is It Safe to Come Out?) At the beginning of August my third nonfiction book, Eco-Friendly Families, was released by Penguin/Alpha Books. Since my first two books were series titles, this standalone felt a little […]

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  • The Way I Read

    Oct 03, 2008

    I’m always asked if I actually read for pleasure given that my job entails doing a whole heck of a lot of reading, and I’m actually surprised that others are surprised when I say yes. However, one of the things I’m not sure I’ve ever explained to anyone is I read differently for each thing […]

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  • Life’s Too Short

    Oct 02, 2008

    All too frequently agents will receive nasty replies to rejection letters. While this occasionally happened in the days of snail mail only, I suspect it happens much more frequently now that email makes communication so easy. Well, a very interesting thing happened this week. I received a query that sounded interesting, but was far outside […]

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  • Does Your Hook Match Your Genre?

    Oct 01, 2008

    In September I had the honor of speaking to the NYC chapter of Sisters in Crime, and one of the things that so often comes up when discussing mysteries is the importance of hook. Hook is what usually grabs an agent’s, editor’s, and even a reader’s attention. It’s what makes us pick up a new […]

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  • What Titles Evoke

    Sep 30, 2008

    Titles are important, there’s no doubt about it. When a book is published the editor, publisher, and author can often spend weeks debating over title ideas and coming up with list after list of potential titles. And titles can certainly help sell your work to an agent. I think I’ve told the story before of […]

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  • Question on Agent Etiquette

    Sep 29, 2008

    I queried Agent Jane sometime back. Agent Jane has been great. Agent Jane offered revisions and Author Me liked the changes and resubmitted. Now Agent Jane is MIA. Author Me should have gotten a response a few weeks ago as promised from Agent Jane. Agent Jane did not respond. Agent Jane did not give a […]

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  • When to Tell About “You”

    Sep 26, 2008

    I’ve been asked a number of times about the protocol of telling agents about all of those things besides the novel you are pitching. At what point do you talk about the next novel you’re working on, your ability and willingness to publicize your book, or anything else that might mark you as the perfect […]

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  • The Why Not Theory

    Sep 25, 2008

    I’m a big believer in “why not” take the chance, because what do you have to lose? I hear from authors all the time who say that they were thinking of submitting to BookEnds but figured it might not be quite right for us. Well, why not? Obviously there are areas I’d advise you never […]

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  • What I’m Looking For

    Sep 24, 2008

    Spring and fall, post-holidays and post-summer, the time when editors step forward and make lunch appointments and send out wish lists. Well, I guess it’s my turn too, and after looking at the wish lists of others as well as reading reviews of some recent releases, I definitely have some ideas of what I’d like […]

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  • What to Do Next

    Sep 23, 2008

    Some time ago I wrote a post on Freakishly Unresponsive, Mysteriously Silent, Information-Withholding, Possibly Jekyll-and-Hydeish, Raging-Headache-Inducing, No Good, Very Bad Agents in which I said, “If it is a proposal you want with another agent, the submissions you pulled should be able to be re-sent at a later date. If not, let it die out […]

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