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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…

A writer died and was given the option of going to heaven or hell. She decided to check out each place first. As the writer descended into the fiery pits, she saw row upon row of writers chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they were repeatedly whipped with thorny lashes.…

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…

Yesterday I was chatting with my friend, literary agent Sandra Bishop, and we found ourselves pondering whether it was our imaginations, or have the number of incoming queries really skyrocketed over the last couple of months? We’re both receiving incredible numbers, and as my post yesterday illustrated, most of them are simply not ready for…

I was watching American Idol last night (duh) and the judges were bringing contestants in one after the other and telling them either “You made it through” or “You’re out.” That’s how it feels when I’m going through my query box, reading them one after the other. You’re in, you’re out. Just like contestants on…

Stephanie Reed wrote: A fellow CBA children’s author and I heard that, because there are already so many good mainstream children’s novels, there’s not much need for CBA children’s novels. Do you agree? And if so, please tell me how great mainstream novels and great CBA novels for adults have peacefully co-existed for years. My…

I always get questions about how long the publishing process takes. Of course, the biggest question is why does it take so long? My answer: it just does. There are a lot of reasons, but even if I tell you the reasons, it won’t change anything. It won’t make you happier about the length of…

One of the most common questions I receive is: Can I write books in more than one genre? Well, sure, write whatever you want! Can I write books in multiple genres and expect to build a successful publishing career? No. A lot of people have asked me this question, and they don’t understand my answer.…

Thanks For Participating! I’m pretty stunned by the plethora of responses to Friday’s post. Who says we’re not supposed to talk about politics or religion? Apparently everyone likes to talk about it. I appreciate the numerous well-expressed thoughts you shared. Thanks for the conversation! I’d like to thank Michael N. Marcus, who so kindly gave…

So yesterday I got an interesting email from a guy who wondered why my Blogger profile identifies me as a Christian. He wrote, in part: Are you hoping that the fact that you are not a Jew, Hindu, Muslim or atheist will influence people to read your blog, or to turn away? Are you trying…

Seems I opened up a can o’ worms or two with my post yesterday. I don’t have all the answers, but I’ll do my best to clear up a couple of things. There were some questions about whether self-publishing would ever lose its stigma. Truthfully, I don’t think the stigma will fade until most self…