Posts

Last week, you may have noticed some interesting happenings over on Twitter. Several agents participated in “queryfail” day. They posted “turnoff” lines from query letters, in hopes of helping to educate writers about what we don’t want to see in a query. At first, I wasn’t going to participate, concerned that people might think we’re…

So, you know I love writing this blog, right? I enjoy the dialogue with writers, and sharing tidbits of information, and hearing about your experience as a writer in this crazy publishing world. But I have to tell you my #1 frustration with this whole thing. It has nothing to do with you. Nope. It’s…

Lately I’ve been incorporating interval training into my workouts. When I’m at the gym, I use the interval setting on the treadmill. When I’m outside jogging with Reagan and my iPod, I alternate a faster and slower pace. Since it’s annoying to look at my watch, I use music to time my intervals. I might…

I have to admit I was overwhelmed by the responses to Friday’s Q4U post. I wasn’t able to read them as they were coming in since I was busy on the ski slopes (someone has to support Colorado’s #1 industry), but I read them all on Sunday and took some time to think about them.…

Being Proactive about Your Cover and TitleOftentimes I hear that an author is frustrated because they don’t like the title or cover the publisher chose for their book. While you probably won’t ever have the final say over your title or cover (unless you’ve already sold millions), here are some ideas that may make the…

If you read Michael Hyatt’s blog or Twitter posts, you’ve probably noticed he frequently refers to his zero-inbox status. Awhile back he wrote a blog post on how to stay on top of email, and occasionally he Tweets about it. My good friend Mary DeMuth also regales Twitter friends with her own zero-inbox status, and…

Yesterday I was listening to Tim McGraw’s great song, “Live Like You Were Dying,” and it got me thinking about my proverbial Bucket List, the things I really hope to do or see before I die. I’ve already done some cool things like jump out of an airplane (parachute opened just fine, thank you) and…

As I mentioned on Friday, I’m getting an awful lot of queries these days, and most of my agent colleagues are experiencing the same thing. It’s a lot of work going through them, but there’s nothing more exciting than finding a gem buried in the inbox. I know many of you get frustrated with agent…

Did you know that the official designation of today’s holiday is Washington’s Birthday? (Not Presidents Day.) Read a long and involved explanation here. Whatever! Here are some presidential quotes for you today. In honor of all our Presidents. If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like…