Blog Archive

  • Query Critiques

    May 11, 2007

    Are done! Whew! Look out next week because here they come. I did five as promised and if I’m feeling kind I might do a few more and give you some bonus critiques. Thanks to everyone who participated. I haven’t decided whether I’ll do queries again, but I do have some other ideas for critique-like […]

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  • BookEnds Talks to J. B. Stanley

    May 11, 2007

    J. B. Stanley Book: Fit to Die Publisher: Midnight Ink Pub date: May 2007 Agent: Jessica Faust (Click to Buy) J. B. Stanley is a former middle school teacher. An eBay junkie and food lover, Stanley lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, two young children, and three cats. She is the author of the […]

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  • Publishing’s Dark Side

    May 10, 2007

    I know I should be heading home but before I go I needed to log in and talk a little bit about the negative side of getting published. I know I’ve touched on this before, but I think it bears repeating. I spent almost my entire day boosting the confidence of some of my clients. […]

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  • The Evolution of the Rejection

    May 10, 2007

    When authors submit to agents, I always say there’s an evolution that the authors and their works go through. Now of course there’s always the possibility that some of you might skip a step or two, but for the most part all of you will go through this evolution in some form or another. 1. […]

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  • Title as Billboard

    May 09, 2007

    Yesterday I pointed out that you shouldn’t get too stressed about your title. Ultimately, it’s the content that should speak for itself. However, if you happen to be a PR-savvy kind of gal/guy, a great title can indeed help you sell a book—most notably in nonfiction. Let’s use the inevitable example: The Secret. Face it, […]

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  • A Book by Any Other Name

    May 08, 2007

    Titles can be a real source of angst for a lot of writers. Sometimes I think my clients spend as much time trying to come up with the perfect title as they did writing their masterpiece! It’s true that titles can be important, but I’m not sure that all writers get just HOW it’s important. […]

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  • Know When to Fold ‘Em

    May 07, 2007

    In response to a recent post I wrote on whether or not to hire an editor, I received this email: My quandary is that I have a thriller that has gotten extremely positive feedback by my writer’s group (a harsh group of folks, some of them published) and two college professors (one of whom I […]

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  • Malice Market News

    May 07, 2007

    Okay, confirmation has been made so I can now report some of the news I heard at Malice… Rumors flew at Malice that Avon was cutting its mystery program. In talking with two editors today we learned that things have been greatly exaggerated. Avon is not cutting the mystery program. According to one editor they […]

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  • Congratulations!

    May 07, 2007

    Back from Malice and slowly recovering from the late night and early mornings. A big congratulations to Sandra Parshall for her Agatha win for Best First Novel. It was really fun to have two nominees–Sandra and Karen MacInerney were nominated in the same category–but extra fun to have a winner. I love attending a conference […]

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  • Malice Domestic Mystery Conference

    May 05, 2007

    Right now I’m sitting in my hotel room at the Malice Domestic conference scrambling to get out to the cocktail party (which I’m already late for) and the banquet. I didn’t arrive until 10am this morning, I hopped on the 6am train) and it’s been go, go, go since I got here. I’ve had great […]

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  • New Submission Policy

    May 04, 2007

    Earth Day has come and gone, but the work we do to help the earth stay healthy needs to be an ongoing process. That’s why BookEnds is announcing a new, greener submission policy. No longer will we be accepting unsolicited proposal submissions. Like most agencies, BookEnds now only accepts queries or e-queries. Our updated guidelines […]

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  • BookEnds Talks to Bella Andre

    May 04, 2007

    Bella Andre Book: Red Hot Reunion Publisher: Pocket Pub date: March 2007 Agent: Jessica Faust (Click to Buy) Before writing romance, Bella Andre got a BA in Economics at Stanford University, worked as a marketing director, and strutted hundreds of stages as a rock star. She is also a Feng Shui consultant and gives the […]

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