Update
| Publishing
How Long?
One of the most frequent questions I get is, How long will it take? How long should I wait before following up with an agent on a submission? If I get an offer from a publisher, how long before they send a contract? How long until I see my first check? When will my manuscript…
Read More | A Writer's Life
Perseverance Really Is Key
A few weeks ago, author Sandie Bricker wrote a guest post about how she followed her “writer GPS” to find the genre in which she could successfully break into publishing. There was an important lesson in the comments to that post. Sandie’s former agent, Steve Laube, chimed and and mentioned that when he’d been representing…
Read More | Submitting
Query Critique: Circle of Reasoning
The Query: Hello, Ms. Gardner, I am seeking representation for A Circle of Reasoning, a 77,000 word women’s mainstream novel. Catrine Teddi and Austin Sanchez have been separated for over four years because of a misunderstanding. They are reunited by the disappearance of their child because of someone’s mistake. Between the anger and blame, romance…
Read More | Submitting
Query Critique: Iron Makeover
(This is the first of the query critiques I’ll be doing over the next few weeks, probably one or two a week. Look for them on Wednesdays and sometimes Thursdays. Please bear in mind that these will be longer than my typical posts. ) The Query: Hi there! I’m seeking representation for my 60,000-word non-fiction…
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My Approach to Christian Worldview
Lately people have been confused about what I mean by “Christian worldview” and what kinds of projects I’ll consider representing. My experience the last seven years has been in CBA and for the first couple years of being an agent, most of my sales have been to CBA publishers. As many of you know, I’m…
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Common Questions Answered
Thanks for all the questions you sent me on Friday’s post! I answered most of them in the comments, so be sure to check that out. But there are a few questions that I seem to get repeatedly, so I’m addressing some of them here. What is the appropriate length of time to follow up…
Read More | Q4U
Go Ahead, Ask Me Anything
Really, anything.I’ll answer some questions in the comments… others on the blog over the next couple weeks. And others I’ll completely ignore.Fair warning – I’m a little unclear on quantum physics. I can’t explain why men don’t like to talk about feelings. And you already know my favorite TV show. Anything else, give it a…
Read More | Self-Publishing
Think Hard Before Self-Publishing
I recently received an email from a guy who had self-published a book. He’d paid to print 500 hardcover copies, and was pursuing local and national bookstore chains and distributors. But he’d hit a brick wall, finding that most buyers and distributors were not interested in talking to him. He was flummoxed; he needed to…
Read More | Agents, Submitting
It’s a Relationship
Last month I wrote a post on the Top Ten Query Mistakes. The first two points were all about personalizing your query to the agents. They were: #1. Not making me special, and #2. Not caring who I am. Now if you didn’t know me, those might seem like kind of narcisistic statements, and believe…
Read More | Publishing
Let’s Hear it For Old Fashioned Books
As most of you know, I’ve been a devoted Kindle fan since soon after it came out, and I’ve waxed poetic about my love for it several times here on the blog. And ever since iPad came out, I’ve been sorely tested in my attempts to avoid coveting. It looks really cool. Every time I…
Read More | Q4U
Q4U: Who Are You as a Writer?
Let’s find out who’s reading this blog. First, take the two polls in the sidebar. Click as many answers as apply, then click “vote” on each of the two questions. Note: If you’re contracted but not published yet, let’s count that as published. Then in the comments, tell us more. If you write fiction, what…
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| Popular Posts, Writing
How To Title Your Book
Lately I’ve been coaching several of my clients through the process of coming up with a good title for their book, so I thought I’d share my tips with you. Let’s start by acknowledging a few things. The publisher is usually responsible for the final decision on title, and in the query stage, it’s not…
Read More | Publishing
Q4U: Learning the Biz
Like everyone else in this business, published authors included, I frequently receive emails asking for advice. Not specific advice, but sweeping, general requests for advice like: “How do I get published?” Usually the person writing has just finished writing either a novel or a memoir, and somehow they got my email address, and they want…
Read More | Publishing
Dang Greedy Agents… (Not)
So here’s my response to Chuck’s post yesterday: Personally I wouldn’t favor the kind of fee structure he proposed. But I thought Chuck did a great job of thinking outside the box and proposing some options, and I liked the idea of putting it out there to stimulate some discussion. (Chuck’s not even an agent,…
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