Blog Archive

  • Agent Response Time

    Oct 10, 2006

    In response to a recent post on Maintaining Enthusiasm, a reader asked: So if a writer doesn’t receive a request for more material or an offer if they sent in a full manuscript, fairly quickly after they submitted, does that mean the agent in question probably isn’t interested? I understand your agency gives a 10 […]

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  • Author Beware: Do Your Homework

    Oct 09, 2006

    Over the years, as an editor and agent, I have built a pretty good-sized author beware file. This file is made up of interesting and usually angry letters and emails from authors. Often they are in response to rejections or other correspondence we’ve had. No matter what the situation, the letters always give me insight […]

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  • BookEnds Talks to Salvatore R. Maddi & Deborah M. Khoshaba

    Oct 06, 2006

    Salvatore R. Maddi & Deborah M. Khoshaba Book: Resilience at Work: How to Succeed No Matter What Life Throws at You Publisher: Amacom Pub date: February 2005 In order to help others, Maddi and Khoshaba obtained their doctorates in clinical and health psychology, teach at the University of California, Irvine, and engage in psychotherapy, consulting, […]

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  • Knowing Your Market

    Oct 05, 2006

    A recent response to my post Submitting Before Completion elicited a terrific question: I was wondering if you could answer a question for me—It has to do with the query letter to an agent. I realize that my question is not something that boarders on the “necessary” to include in the letter, but I once […]

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  • Rejection = Unpublishable

    Oct 04, 2006

    As you know by now, my article on Maintaining Enthusiasm has given me a lot to talk about. While this particular comment wasn’t directed as a question, it got me so riled I had to say something: The concept of “luck” and timing appeals to me and gives me hope. I read a blog yesterday […]

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  • Book Tours and Signings

    Oct 03, 2006

    A client of mine recently let me know that the MWA (Mystery Writers of America) listserve has been having an active discussion about the value of book tours and signings, and she thought my opinion might make an interesting blog post. I’ll let you decide whether or not she’s right. The legendary book tour. It’s […]

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  • Growing Pains

    Oct 02, 2006

    Observing the past few posts about busy agents and the responses we’ve received, I felt the need to address this same topic of an agent’s workload. Jessica detailed all of the responsibilities that come first in our job: the obligations to our clients. Something I don’t think we’ve addressed quite enough is the enormous volume […]

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  • BookEnds Talks to J. B. Stanley

    Sep 29, 2006

    J. B. Stanley Book: Carbs & Cadavers Publisher: Midnight Ink Pub date: September 2006 J. B. Stanley taught sixth-grade Language Arts in North Carolina for the majority of her eight-year teaching career. Raised as an antique lover by her grandparents and parents, Stanley also worked part-time in an auction gallery. An eBay junkie and food […]

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  • Deb Baker’s Book Launch Party

    Sep 28, 2006

    As mentioned in the post on self-promotion, our authors have come up with many ingenious ways to promote themselves and their books. This blog entry comes from Deb Baker, author of the Yooper Mystery Series, who describes the book launch party she put together for her latest release, Murder Passes the Buck (Midnight Ink, August […]

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  • Busy Agents and Their Obligations

    Sep 27, 2006

    As I wrote yesterday, the post on Maintaining Enthusiasm garnered many great comments. One of the most interesting and upsetting to me was from a poster named “stressed and confused.” I hate to think that I’m making anyone even more stressed and confused, especially since my hope for this blog is to help clear up […]

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  • Requested Full

    Sep 26, 2006

    A recent post, Maintaining Enthusiasm, garnered a number of great comments and questions and gave me a lot more to talk about. One poster asked (actually in response to another poster): Does that mean if you wanted to read a full and it arrives, does it get a quick read, or is there a teetering […]

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  • Shameless Self-Promotion

    Sep 25, 2006

    Confessions of Shameless Self-Promoters, a book by Debbie Allen, a client of mine as well as one of the world’s leading authorities on self-promotion, got me thinking about the shameless work all successful authors do to promote their books and brand their names. I’ve been asked a number of times what an author can do […]

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