Search Results: query

To have your project considered, it’s important that you do two things: (1) Make sure you know if your project fits into what I’m looking for, and (2) Read and follow our submission guidelines.

Rachelle Gardner is an agent with WordServe Literary Group, representing both fiction and non-fiction. She’s looking for mainstream commercial projects for both the Christian and general markets.

Dealing With the Tough Stuff, Part 1 If you read my blog regularly, you might be tempted to think the pursuit of publishing is all rainbows and butterflies. (‘Cause I’m just so darn nice all the time.) But think again. Sometimes it’s barbed wire and snarling dogs. This week we’re going to talk about the aspects of being a writer…

Updated January, 2012 I represent books for the Christian market (CBA) as well as for the general market, and I’m now accepting queries for both. Please note: Read our Submission Guidelines before sending a query! My query policy: While we would like to respond to all queries, our policy is that if you do not…

Myths About Agents Myth: Agents don’t read submissions. Truth: Most agents who are accepting queries actually read and consider them. If they don’t want to read queries and they don’t need new clients, they’ll usually close to queries (like I have). Myth: Agents have reading software that scans query letters. If the query contains a…

More mail! Dear Rachelle, an agent I’m interested in querying requires “a brief bio or résumé.” For published authors, this has got to be a leg-up, and I completely understand why an agent would want this, but for those of us with no prior publishing experience it’s a nightmare. How do we stay professional and…

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…

John said…Do you welcome queries from England in the same way as you would from America? I welcome fiction queries from everywhere. Non-fiction is tougher, because most non-fiction books are more dependent on the author being able to promote the book here in the US, but if I loved the book I wouldn’t say no…

Last Wednesday I received an email containing three brief sentences saying that the writer was inquiring about my services, wanted help, and would not tell me anything else until I responded. I set the email aside thinking that later when I had time, I’d respond with a link to my blog and website, and some…

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” ~Ancient ProverbI frequently receive emails from writers asking me if the process they’re experiencing is “normal.” Maybe they’re seeking an agent, and they’re in the midst of a convoluted and confusing…

(Repost) My query box is getting filled faster and faster these days. I never cease to be amazed at how many people are writing books. Someone recently asked whether I thought that, with all the competition, will all the good writers eventually get published? With persistence and continued improvement of their work, will there be…

Blog reader Melanie asked: How much say does an author have in the final decision regarding the title of a book to be published and in the artwork for the cover? And who are the people that come up with the design/photograph for the covers. Does each publisher have a team of people or a…

I love answering questions about writing and publishing. For example, blog reader R.D. Allen asked: Once you have an agent, do you have to query them the same way for your next books as you did the first? And my answer is this: It depends on whether your agreement was that the agent would represent…

Last week I did a post giving a cursory glance at a few important clauses in publishing contracts. It would take a whole book to go into detail on contracts, so on this blog I’m just trying to get you familiar with some of the basics. Today I’m going to answer some of the questions…