Search Results: writers conference
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Your Verbal Pitch
10 Tips for a Winning Elevator Pitch Continuing on our theme of pitching your book… today I’m going to give a few tips on creating a brief verbal pitch for your book. 1. Remember that you are going to be talking to someone. While many of these tips can apply to written pitches, pay attention to the fact…
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| Submitting
Pitching Your Novel
Last week we discussed pitching your project to agents and editors at a writers’ conference. Today I wanted to address that a little more. One thing I’ve noticed lately in fiction pitches – verbal pitches or queries – is that some writers want to tell all about the theme or the emotional journey of the…
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| Marketing, Publishing
Meet Author Media
Author Media , owned by Thomas Umstattd, Jr., is the company that built my new site - and all authors should know about them! They do so much more than build websites, and you can benefit from their incredible knowledge for FREE by following the blog, Author Tech Tips, and following them on Twitter (@AuthorTech). You'll get a constant influx of up-to-the-minute tips, all aimed specifically at authors.
Read More | Writing
Vlogging, Anyone?
Guest Blogger: Jennifer Wilkov Society loves moving pictures. Movies and television have been around for a long time, but then along came the Internet—and YouTube is right up there with Google and Facebook as the most visited websites in the world. Vlogging, or video blogging, is a great way for you as an author to…
Read More | Just for Fun
Friday Fun
I’m off to teach at a writers’ conference, so I thought I’d leave you with some inspiration for the weekend. If this whole “getting published” thing doesn’t work out, you could always get a job writing instructions on the packages of commonly used products. Just think, you could be responsible for gems like this! On…
Read More | A Writer's Life, Submitting
Can’t Hit Send?
A writer emailed me:The novel is finished, the query letter is drafted, the synopsis is as tight as I can get it, and I still can’t bring myself to hit that damned “send” button. I’m sure you see the work of many writers who query too eagerly and make bone-head mistakes… I’m trying to avoid…
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Margaret Atwood on "The Publishing Pie"
If you have some laundry to fold, or shoes to shine, or possibly some pencils to sharpen… whatever busy work you need to do this weekend, set your laptop next to you and play this video. It’s totally worth it. At the O’Reilly Tools of Change conference, amidst techies and marketing people and CEOs, Margaret…
Read More | Agents
You Have an Offer From a Publisher…
But You Don’t Have an Agent There are numerous situations in which you may find yourself unagented but having an offer from a publisher. A nice situation, to be sure! It may happen because you met an editor face-to-face at a conference, or through a referral. In any case, at this point the question will…
Read More | A Writer's Life
You Thought YOUR Rejections Were Tough?
Rejection is part of the process of pursuing publishing, and I had to give my share of it at the writers’ conference this weekend. But lest you think rejection ends once you get through the query stage… just wait till you have a published book! Below are some book-reviewer quotes that I found compiled on…
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Authors We Love
Right now I’m at the conference of the South Carolina Writers Workshop. We’re slumming it at the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort. It’s a rough gig, I tell ya. One of the big draws for me this year was the keynote speaker, author Joshilyn Jackson. I’m a huge fan of southern fiction in general, and I’ve…
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11 Questions for Crafting a Pitch
This weekend I taught at a writers’ conference and my topic was “Selling Your Stuff,” creating those all important sales materials for your book: The one-sentence summary.The query.The pitch paragraph.The elevator pitch.The proposal. I was talking to a room full of novelists, so I focused on fiction. I told them that the main elements of…
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When You Just Want to Disappear
Right now I’m at the American Christian Fiction Writers conference in Indianapolis. This is one of my favorite events every year because it’s like a huge gathering of my friends. I’m sure there are a lot of writers here who are nervous, and there will be more than a few awkward moments. So today let’s…
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Your Questions, My Answers
Okay, here are more questions I’ve received lately. I’ll warn you right now, my answers are NOT FUNNY. They are, in fact, boring. Sorry. JR Beasley said:I have queried multiple agents. One agent has requested a full manuscript and three others are reviewing partials. When offered representation by an agent, what is the proper protocol…
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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.…
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