Blog Archive

• Defining Genres, Part Deux

  Jan 30, 2008

  We did a post last year defining different sub-genres, and not surprisingly I got a lot of flack. Interestingly enough, the questions keep coming. The first is what qualifies a book to be a thriller or suspense versus a traditional mystery, and what differentiates a thriller from suspense? I consulted Jacky and Kim on this […]

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• Pitch Critiques Round 21

  Jan 29, 2008

  Continuing on. I vow to end this before summer. So here we go again . . . Perfecting Your Pitch. 125. ASNAmy never expected to get divorced, let alone sit Shiva for her ex-husband in a house with a Christmas tree, yet there she was. Just two years after her divorce when she had hit […]

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• The Agent Submission Process, Nonfiction

  Jan 28, 2008

  I never intended this to be a series of posts, let alone a three-part series. Amazing how things can take on a life of their own. I was asked if I could show what my pitch might look like for nonfiction and how much I would stress the platform, etc. Keep in mind this would […]

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• BookEnds Talks to Kathryn Lilley

  Jan 25, 2008

  Kathryn LilleyDying to Be ThinPublisher: Signet/ObsidianPub Date: October 2007Agent: Kim Lionetti (Click to Buy) As a preteen, I had two passions: Nancy Drew mysteries and Pralines ‘n Cream ice cream. So it was perhaps inevitable that I grew up to write a mystery series called The Fat City Mysteries. And like my protagonist, Kate Gallagher, […]

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• The Agent Submission Process, Part Deux

  Jan 24, 2008

  Yesterday I gave you some idea of how an agent submits your work to publishers. A couple of you wondered what my pitch would be if the author were unpublished, since my pitch so heavily stressed Linda Lou’s previous publishing credits. A great question, so here we go. . . . With a previously unpublished […]

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• The Agent Submission Process

  Jan 23, 2008

  I’ve been asked before how an agent, or more specifically, I guess, how I submit a client’s work? I believe I’ve done posts on this before, but it never hurts to repeat or to delve a little deeper into the process. Once a work is ready to go, my first job is to draft my […]

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• Agent Research Sites: An Agent’s Perspective

  Jan 22, 2008

  Let’s face it, there are a ton of Web sites, books, and magazines devoted to finding an agent. Just type into Google “finding a literary agent” and you’re sure to come up with hundreds of hits. So where should authors begin their search? That I can’t tell you for sure. Not having been in your […]

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• Pitch Critiques Round 20

  Jan 21, 2008

  There was a point when I assumed 20 critique rounds would be the end. But no, you kept adding your pitches! So here we go again . . . Perfecting Your Pitch. 117. Deborah K. White The Queen of Santor is well-protected from physical harm by her god, but agents from Karella are spreading rumors […]

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• D. H. Dublin on Writing, Agents, and . . . Sleep

  Jan 18, 2008

  D. H. DublinBlood PoisonPublisher: BerkleyPub Date: September 2007Agent: Kim Lionetti (Click to Buy) Jonathan McGoran—writing as D. H. Dublin—is author of the forensic crime thrillers Body Trace, Blood Poison, and the soon-to-be-released Freezer Burn, all from Penguin Books. Writing under his own name, McGoran is currently finishing up Pig Latin, a sprawling and raucously humorous […]

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• Pitch Critiques Round 19

  Jan 17, 2008

  Here we go again . . . Perfecting Your Pitch. 109. AbiXXX blends the quirkiness of small town life with that of a magical world, and offers recipes scattered throughout the book. XXX takes you on the journey of eleven year-old Stormy Reed as he grapples with being raised in a family not his own, […]

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• How Long to Wait for a Response

  Jan 16, 2008

  I’m new to your blog and hope this is not an inappropriate question. At a small conference I met with an editor and pitched my psychological thriller. She spent extra time with me and said if I could do what I was attempting, I was a ‘friggin’ genius’—her words, not mine. She requested a full […]

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• Pitch Critiques Round 18

  Jan 15, 2008

  Here we go again . . . Perfecting Your Pitch. 101. ElloPrivate George Waterson saves the life of his enemy Captain Shiro Kawamoto on the Bataan Peninsula. Two years later, his act of compassion is returned when he finds himself a POW in a prison camp run by the same Captain. For Kawamoto, no amount […]

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