Posts

“The best time for planning a book is when you’re doing the dishes.” -Agatha Christie Lately I’ve been having conversations with a friend about the importance of the menial, everyday tasks in our lives, and how they provide wonderful opportunities to let our minds loose to roam, explore, and process. We live in such a…

Yesterday we discussed advances and there were several questions, so today we’ll talk about them some more. First, what is an “advance” anyway? An advance is a “pre-payment” of the royalties the publisher expects you to earn on your book. Let’s say the publisher has agreed to pay you a royalty of 8% on the…

I’d like to know your perspective on advances. What is the average advance, in CBA versus ABA? How are advances paid out? Is an advance negotiable, and if so, to what degree? It’s impossible to give an “average” advance in either CBA or ABA. They’re wildly all over the map depending on so many factors.…

That “no blogging on Wednesdays” thing didn’t last very long! I couldn’t help myself, had to post a blog today. You’ll see why… Another milestone to report! Today marks exactly one year since I made my first submission to publishers in my role as agent. In celebration, I wanted to share some impressions of the…

Kristi asked: How often do you turn down projects from your clients because you don’t think you can sell them? If you have a client who’s written a good book, will you submit the book even if you think it might not sell? If you won’t submit it, is the client free to sell it…

ANNOUNCEMENT: I will only be blogging FOUR days a week until further notice. I plan to blog Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesdays and weekends are off. Thanks for being here! We’ve had a lot of talk on this blog about publishers and bookstores wanting “more of the same” rather than unique and original books.…

My blog just crossed two milestones and I didn’t even notice! First, last weekend marked ONE YEAR since I started the blog. Happy blog-birthday to Rants & Ramblings! Second, my cumulative “unique visitors” count just rolled over 100,000. I sure never expected that! So, thanks to all of you who visit the blog, whether you…

Yesterday, Pam sent a question about Tuesday’s post on The Process of Acceptance: Rachelle said: “At Pub Board, the sales and marketing people usually have the final say about whether to accept the book for publication or not. They have to strongly believe they can sell it.” This is the part that confuses me. If…

Internet Marketing for Authors I can only be described as “technology challenged” when it comes to the latest and greatest on the Internet. Yet, I know that the Internet offers a multitude of ways to promote your books and to develop a community of fans. It’s more than just gathering email addresses for a newsletter,…

Laurie wrote: A publisher requested my manuscript several months ago. I suspect he’s passed it to someone else to read. Does the reader make a report? Is it discussed by a committee? I’m wondering if my “precious” writing is on a shelf somewhere or being used as a convenient footrest under someone’s desk. All I…

“How rare, men with the character to praise a friend’s success without a trace of envy.” -Aeschylus Last week when I was reading my daily Publishers Marketplace update, I saw that a friend of mine, an agent, had just completed a really great deal. I simultaneously felt a few different things… amazement, happy for my…

Since we’ve been on this topic of Showing vs. Telling, I wanted to highlight an important tool at your disposal when you’re working on “showing.” Ironically, it’s called the Telling Detail. The Telling Detail is a word, phrase, or image that helps the reader “see” what you’re describing. It must be precise and illuminating, and…

Congratulations to Christy for winning the contest! (Please contact me via email.) Kudos to all of you in the top six – great job. Thanks to EVERYONE who entered, commented and voted. I hope this was a little bit helpful and instructive. (Scroll down for today’s actual post.)

I want to talk a little bit more about this all-important aspect of writing, which is crucial to understand in both fiction and non-fiction writing. One of the great things about the written word, as opposed to the dramatic arts like theater, movies and television, is that we have the freedom to “tell” the audience…