Publishing
| Publishing
To Endorse or Not to Endorse
Dear Rachelle, Do you have any feelings either way about the value of endorsing someone’s book? Publisher X has sent me a request. It’s an average book but I could probably find something good to say. Thoughts? Signed,Your Totally In-Demand Client *** Dear Ms. In-Demand Author: It’s flattering that someone believes your endorsement might help…
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Writing Online Book Reviews
Many of you are involved in the writing community, and as part of that, you write book reviews on your own blog or other websites. But writing reviews is not always an easy task, so I thought I’d offer a few tips. 1. Primarily review books you’d recommend. There has been some debate about whether…
Read More | Announcements, Publishing
Not Accepting Queries Until Further Notice
“When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.” I’ve been reassessing my client list and workload lately, and have had to make some tough decisions. I’ve decided to stop accepting queries until further notice. This could be two months or it could be the rest of the year.…
Read More | Agents, Popular Posts, Publishing
What to Ask an Agent
I’ve received several questions lately about how to handle things when an agent calls (or multiple agents call) offering representation. How do you decide what to do? It’s exciting to get The Call, but it also means you’re going to want to find out as much as possible about the agent before agreeing to representation.…
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Q4U: Too Much Information?
I’m wondering if the plethora of publishing blogs and the wealth of advice available for aspiring writers is making it more difficult for you, rather than easier. It seems the more information and advice we give via our blogs, workshops, webinars and books, the more writers clamor for even more detailed advice. It also seems…
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No post today, but I liked this…
Cartoon from xkcd.com. Click for many more. Thanks to Rachel Held Evans for the link to the site! (Comments are closed.) .
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Managing Expectations
(Encore presentation.) A big part of dealing with this business of publishing is managing your expectations. If your expectations are out of whack to begin with, your publishing journey will disappointing. I realize there is so much information and misinformation out there that it’s hard to know what realistic expectations are. And when you first…
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Mythbusting
(Encore presentation.) There are always myths floating around in publishing, so today I’m going to try and explain just a few of them. Myth: Publishers & agents know exactly what they’re looking for.Back in 1964, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart was wrestling with what defines obscenity and pornography, and in his famous quote, he said…
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It’s Just One Opinion
(I loved all your responses on the Friday Free-For-All, and will answer questions next week. I’m taking a blog hiatus and will re-post some oldies but goodies this week. Hopefully they’re just as good the second time around!) Last week our book group had our monthly meeting. We were discussing The Forgotten Garden by Kate…
Read More | Just for Fun, Publishing
Friday Free For All
Every once in awhile I want to stop talking on this blog, and just listen. Today’s one of those days. You get to say what YOU want. You could tell us all a joke. You could ask a question (I don’t know much about anything but publishing, so good luck there.) You could make an…
Read More | Agents, Just for Fun, Publishing
You Might Be an Agent If…
You know Jeff Foxworthy, right? You might be a redneck if…You think “loading the dishwasher” means getting your wife drunk. You ever cut your grass and found a car. You own a home that is mobile and 5 cars that aren’t. You think the stock market has a fence around it. Your stereo speakers used…
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How Do Agents & Publishers Make Decisions?
I was talking with our intern Sarah the other day (hi Sarah!) and she had some questions about a couple of my recent posts. In It’s About What’s Selling I explained that publishers tend to make future decisions based on what has sold well for them in the past. Yet in Don’t Ask Me About…
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Stuff You Pay For
A client of mine was reading over his contract with a Big Six publisher and he emailed me wondering, If my book needs an index, do I really have to pay for it myself? “Yep.” And how much would it cost? “Depends, but most likely in the neighborhood of $500 to $1200. Don’t worry, the…
Read More | About Me, Publishing
Don’t Ask Me About Trends
We’ve talked a lot on this blog about trends in publishing, what’s hot and what’s not, and the fact that agents and publishers are always basing acquisitions for the future on what has sold in the past. Because of this, people are always asking me: So what’s hot? What are the trends? But I’m admitting…
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