Posts
Contests, Just for Fun
|Straight from the Source
I had a conversation with Sue Brower, Senior Acquisitions Editor for fiction at Zondervan, about the Mt. Hermon contest, and she had some clarifications for us. First, there was a question from a blog commenter about ChristianManuscriptSubmission.com, a service that Zondervan sometimes uses to find fiction. Sue says, “the writer still has a better chance…
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|A New Writing Contest
Passing along a press release… Zondervan and Mount Hermon Writer’s ConferenceSponsor Competition for Aspiring Fiction AuthorsWinner Receives $10,000 Publishing Contract GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., September 3, 2008 – Unpublished Christian fiction writers, get your manuscripts ready. Zondervan, a world leader in Christian communications, today announced All About the Story, a writing competition for first-time novelists. The…
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|The Agent Process
Today I thought I’d answer a few recent questions about the process of agenting… When you read a query, can you tell from ten pages or less how much work might be involved in making a manuscript publishable if it’s not already? When I read the sample pages in the query, I’m asking myself more…
Read More Agents, Publishing, Submitting
|Ask the Agent: Query Publisher or Agent?
Chatty Kelly asked a common question on Friday: Why would you query an agent over a publisher? What are the pros & cons? Okay, in the first place, fewer and fewer publishers are accepting unagented submissions. So if you want to get published, it’s becoming less viable to do it without an agent. Agents are…
Read More Editing, Publishing
|The Editorial Process
Several of you have been curious about the editorial process inside a publishing house. Rosslyn asked:What is the role of freelance editors in the publishing process these days? I’ve noticed cases recently in which published authors had in-house editors AND freelance editors working on their novels. Do publishing houses hire these freelancers, or do the…
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|Ask the Agent: Submitting an Improved Version
Lately I’ve received quite a few questions like this: So, let’s say I submitted a proposal that was requested by an agent. While waiting for the agent to respond, the novel was significantly improved (not just a few spelling errors, but bigger things like tightening, deepening the POV, author affiliations/platform, etc). Would you suggest a…
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|Agent Priorities
First off, I’m still feeling like I need a vacation from my vacation. I’m working like crazy playing “catchup” and hope to be back to normal in the next couple of days. Phew! As for my micro-contest yesterday (yeah, the one with no prize), I asked you to guess how many unsolicited submissions (queries) were…
Read More Contests, Just for Fun
|Oh Yeah, We Had a Contest…
I’m back! This vacation was… well, fantastic. I can hardly explain it. I had an amazing time. It’s going to be difficult getting back into work mode. But here I am, nose to the grindstone as usual. So, I have a couple of things for you today. First, a teeny-tiny contest. It’s so small, it’s…
Read More Agents, Publishing
|Online Agent Listings
I am getting increasingly frustrated with people querying me, acting like they know about me and about our agency, while they’re pitching something we don’t represent. Usually this means projects clearly outside of a Christian worldview, like astrological self-help, or memoirs of drug abuse and debauchery (without redemption), but that doesn’t bother me. The frustrating…
Read More Publishing
|A Whole Lotta Questions
I was going through some old posts and found several questions people have asked that I’ve somehow neglected to answer as of yet. Here are a few random ones. Do more people get a yes or an “I want to read your ms” from sending sample chapters per your website’s guidelines, or by meeting you…
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|Ask the Agent: An Offer in Hand
If a writer sends you a query, even a few sample chapters, and you turn it down, but think the writing is good, and then the writer is offered a publishing contract with a large CBA publisher, would you reconsider your rejection? Should a writer reapproach an agent if offered a contract? I don’t think…
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|Ask the Agent: Banking on Potential
I was so tempted to blog about the Olympics today… I can’t help it, I’m watching it as I write this! I loved all your comments on Friday, bringing out all the ways the Olympic journey can be compared to writing and publishing… or anything we work hard at and strive for. BUT… I’m not…
Read More A Writer's Life, Q4U
|Let the Games Begin!
Happy Friday everyone! I am SO excited that the Olympics start today. I’m going to be glued to my TV for the next two weeks. You KNOW I love a good competition. I’ll be focused on gymnastics, diving, swimming, and track. What are YOUR favorite Olympic sports? I was trying to come up with a…
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|Projects Under Consideration
When I reported my stats last Friday, you may have noticed I have 50 “Projects Under Consideration” and you may have wondered exactly what that meant. Well, I’ll tell you. But keep in mind, all agents do things their own way, and I don’t know if anyone else does this, so this is just ME.Basically…
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