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It’s Friday and I’ve declared it Help Your Fellow Writers Day. Everyone did such a terrific job earlier this week, sharing their advice on “How do you learn to write?” that I decided to keep it going. I’ve received several questions on the blog lately that YOU might be more qualified to answer than I…

Oh my gosh, wasn’t that the BEST.IDOL.FINALE.EVER???? Congratulations Kris Allen! Now for today’s post. We’re now fully into spring and that means… writers’ conferences! Many of you are probably planning to attend at least one conference in the next few months. There’s quite a bit of information available online about preparing for conferences, but I…

or… Don’t Put the Cart Before the Horse If you’re a writer, here’s what I want to ask you today: Are you getting ahead of yourself? There are seasons in a writer’s life: Seasons for focusing on the art and craft of writing, and seasons for focusing on the business of writing. And seasons where…

I just had to take a moment to tell everyone how much I’ve enjoyed reading your 100-word bios. If you haven’t read them, click on the comments for the post below. I’m impressed by the quality of writing overall, and amazed at some of the fascinating details shared. I’m so lucky to have such an…

Let’s have a little fun today, shall we? And by fun I mean word fun, of course. A little writing exercise to start the weekend right. Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Write about yourself in the third person. Tell us something we wouldn’t guess simply from the fact that you read this…

A lot of people think it’s a chicken-or-egg question: Do I pitch to agents or editors first? But it’s really not that hard. The truth is, if you want to sell your book to a commercial royalty-paying publisher, you’re going to need either an agent, or some kind of personal contact with editors. Since it’s…

Okay, first up: Allison went home. Awwww. Hard to believe, but I think we’ll be hearing that girl on the radio in a year. So that leaves us with Adam, Danny, and Kris. Remember when we made our predictions on the top three? (This post.) I was wrong on Kris—I had Allison instead. How did…

Last Tuesday and Wednesday I wrote about what happens when I decide I want to represent a project. I told you about THE CALL the agent makes to the writer, and many of you left stories in the comments about when YOU got the call. I loved reading those! (Go HERE if you missed it.)…

It’s the moment every writer dreams of: the day an agent emails or calls to say, “I’d like to discuss representation.” How does that work, anyway? Keeping in mind that each agent has their own style of doing business, and also that no two situations are exactly the same, here’s what happens. First, let’s back…

Have you noticed that agents tend to talk a lot about what not to do in a query, but less about what makes a great one? It think it’s because the good ones are each unique; it’s hard to come up with a formula that makes a terrific query. But the unexciting or badly composed…

Good morning and happy Monday! Let’s address some of the platform issues that have been coming my way lately: Q: If you have developed this wonderful platform and can do all the promotion you suggest, why would you want to give the lion’s share of the profits to a publisher? Why not use a Publish…

Okay, I know you think I hate you just because you write about zombies and martians and the apocalypse. I don’t hate anyone, I swear! And to prove it, I have a special gift today just for you. It’s a blog I found out about: “The Spectacle,” on which “Authors talk about writing speculative fiction…

Wow, I did not expect such a response to today’s post about rejection letters. Hmm, I wonder why writers are interested in this topic? 😉 I’ll spend some time mulling your comments, suggestions and questions, and will probably write a follow-up post next week. Meanwhile, thanks for your comments. This really helps me understand what…

Let’s talk about rejection letters! Lately I’ve been thinking about how writers wish they had a “reason” when agents reject their work. I’ve explained before (ad nauseum) all the reasons we can’t always give reasons. (And by the way, even though my policy states no response = no interest, I still respond to as many…