Posts

We’ve had a lot of talk about genres lately, and I’ve tried to discuss which genres you’re writing as well as which genres seem to be selling best. But recently a blog reader mentioned it would be interesting to see which genres you’re READING, not just writing. This is actually a good point, because while I always…

7 Reasons to Consider an Internet Phone Service Time once again for me to encourage you to take advantage of technology! Are you using Skype yet—or another Internet phone service? It’s not a necessity, but it can save you money and be fun, too. Skype is super easy to use, and probably will work without any…

4 Reasons You Should Write Several Books Before Seeking Publication There is a cliché in publishing that by the time a writer finally gets published, she already has a whole stack of novels completed and hidden in a drawer, never to see the light of day. No writer gets their first book published, right? Well, there…

or… Don’t Shoot the Messenger Did you know that I invented publishing? Seriously—book publishers, agents, querying, marketing—the whole shebang, I thought of it, created the system and built it from the ground up. Wait—what? I didn’t build the publishing industry? You mean I’m not responsible for the lousy query system, and the difficulty getting published, and the…

We’ve had lots of discussions on this blog about “why we write.” But since I’m in the business of publishing, I often ponder the link between wanting to write—and wanting to be commercially published. It’s difficult to separate the desire to write from the desire to be read. For many, the urge to write is linked to the…

Guest Blogger: Jennifer Wilkov Society loves moving pictures. Movies and television have been around for a long time, but then along came the Internet—and YouTube is right up there with Google and Facebook as the most visited websites in the world. Vlogging, or video blogging, is a great way for you as an author to…

“Jsfrog” left me this note: If you get an agent, how do you decide what form of publishing to pursue? Do agents typically have a list of preferred houses to pitch to or do they take input from the author? And if you are lucky enough to get a few offers, how do you decide…

I’ve belonged to several book groups over the years, and some time ago one of my groups started a new book that I hadn’t helped select. I began reading and quickly pegged it as a Really Bad Book. Not that I’d tell anyone, of course. (Just you.) But I couldn’t stop thinking about how poorly…

I had fun collecting stats on my sidebar polls last week. Thanks to all 1,453 of you who answered the questions! Turns out: → 93% of you are writers→ 85% of you are writing fiction→ 73% of you are not yet published→ 77% of you are writing for the general (not Christian) market By far…

1. What’s the best book you’ve read lately? 2. What are you sick of reading about on blogs? 3. Who are your favorite publishing bloggers? (Besides me, of course.) 4. Are you excited about the all-new-and-improved blog design I’m going to debut in a couple of weeks? and most importantly… 5. Who is going to…

13 Ways to Screw Up Your Query 1. Address your letter to Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Agent or To Whom It May Concern. 2. Write “I believe you are the perfect agent for me” even though it’s obvious the same email was sent to fifty agents. 3. Pitch a mainstream novel of 40,000 words… or 250,000…

It’s time once again for me to learn more about you. To the right in the sidebar, there are FIVE questions. Please answer each one as accurately as you can by clicking in the bubble. Then in the comments, tell us either: –Something interesting about your current work in progress (WIP); or –Something interesting about yourself.…

(Maybe Not) Continuing on the theme of how publishing is evolving, you probably know that many people are comparing our current situation to the music industry’s revolutionary changes over the last dozen years. If we’re smart, the wisdom goes, we’ll carefully study how things have gone in that medium and see what we can learn from it. I’ve read many, many articles…

In the midst of all the talk about the changes in publishing, the question often arises: What will the role of agents be in the future of publishing? I’ve received emails and blog comments from those who assume agents must be running scared because we’re going to be out of jobs soon. I’ve heard from…