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I’m sure most of you are familiar with Randy Pausch’s story and his book, The Last Lecture (co-written with Jeffrey Zaslow). In his lecture and his book, Randy spoke with great wisdom about achieving your childhood dreams. One of the things he said that resonated with me was that the obstacles to our dreams are…

This is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen!

or Get You Out of a Rut* 1. Read a chapter of your WIP aloud to someone other than your spouse, your children, or your cat. Invite feedback, if you’re brave. But mostly, just listen as you read. Do the words flow easily, roll nicely off the tongue? Do you stumble anywhere? Anything sound awkward?…

You didn’t think you’d avoid an American Idol post, did you? (Serves you right for showing up here the day after the premiere!) Can I just tell you how much fun I have with this show? It’s always such a terrific metaphor for the publishing business, and in many ways, life itself. I can’t help…

As I said yesterday, it was fun and enlightening to read your answers to Friday’s questions. One thing surprised me: the number of people who are still thumbs-down on Kindle. Now admittedly, it’s not for everyone. But it is a legitimate and valuable tool for people who read a lot. To all of you who…

O…M…G… did you READ all those comments from Friday’s post??? What fun! Y’all are so entertaining… you should be, like, writers or something. (If you haven’t read them, scroll down and do it NOW.) So I guess the little mixer was a success, what with all the chatting going on. I’ve read all your comments…

Friday is typically the day I ask you a question and let you talk amongst yourselves until we meet again on Monday. But I’ve been remiss as a hostess (as my southern readers will attest). I mean, here you are, all these strangers showing up in my virtual living room, and I haven’t even helped…

One thing I want to do more on the blog this year is let you know about new releases from WordServe clients. It’s more than just self-promotion and kudos to the author (although admittedly, that’s part of it). I also hope that by telling you a little about each book’s journey to publication, I can…

As we all settle into this new year, many of us are thinking about our resolutions, our goals, our dreams. What will we do this year that brings us closer to what we desire? This year, many of us will move ahead with concrete milestones that show we’re reaching our goals. Many of us will…

If you’ve been around publishing for long, you’ve probably heard of the infamous slush pile. Where did that term come from? It generally means the stacks and stacks of manuscripts that come in over the transom. The stacks that editors and agents do their best to read, skim, glance at, or at the very least,…

Hey everyone, I’m now on Twitter. Click here to follow me. My Twitter updates will also be on the sidebar of this blog. Because I KNOW y’all want to know what I had for breakfast and when I’m going to scrub my toilet. AND because I just couldn’t figure out what the heck to do…

The following is another re-run. Enjoy! When publishers or agents receive unsolicited manuscripts, we say it “came in over the transom.” Ever given much thought to what that actually means? There’s a varied folklore surrounding the phrase, but here’s what I’ve pieced together. A “transom” is a crosspiece, usually made of wood. The word has…

I’m on vacation… but due to the wonders of modern technology, the blog is NOT on vacation. This is a re-run. “When am I going to stop feeling so bad about rejecting people?” My husband muted the football game. “What?” “When am I going to get a thicker skin? When is it going to get…

Happy holidays! Can I just say how amazed I am that SEVEN people sent me queries on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? What’s up with that? Does an agent’s in-box EVER get a rest??? Apparently not. Well, I’m on vacation now so anything that comes in will be unanswered until January. The following is a…