If any writer did this during their writer’s conference appointment we would have to call the paramedics for the editor or agent. Remember to be kind to the poor editor.
And she is 13 years old.
If that wasn’t enough…here she is at age 11.
Blog
Choosing the Best Agent
Selecting the best agent is pivotal to the career of any author seeking a traditional publisher. A few traditional publishers accept unsolicited (read: unagented) proposals, but as submissions increase thanks to efficient technology and the growing number of aspiring authors, those publishers are becoming fewer. Most traditional publishers prefer agented submissions. In fact, at many conferences, …
A Literary Agent’s Prayer
God, Who used words to speak the whole universe into existence, Who chose human language to communicate Divine truths, Who wrote your commandments on tablets of stone, And inspired mere mortals to publish your immortal and eternal Word, hear my prayer. ___ I am your servant, and I am a literary agent. Lord, help me. Grant that even with all the words and sentences, paragraphs and pages I must read …
The Literary Agent: How Does This Work?
While literary agents have been part of the publishing eco-system for decades, it wasn’t too many years ago agents in the Christian publishing market were rare. Fast forward to today when most of the larger Christian publishers require an author have an agent before they will consider publishing them. Before agents became part of the publishing landscape, authors would often hire attorneys to …
Amazon Rank Obsession
Admit it. You've checked your Amazon.com sales ranking at least once since your book was published. You feel the need to have some outside confirmation of the sales of your book. And Amazon's ranking are free to look at.
I've even seen book proposals where the author has gone to great lengths to include the Amazon ranking for each title that is competitive with the one the author is proposing. …
Fun Fridays – July 27, 2018
The original “Cup” song done by Rich Mullins in 1987. (Some think the original is Anna Kendrick’s “Cup”…the below is video proof otherwise.) Lyrics below the video: A more modern rendition: “It’s about as useless as a screen door on a submarine Faith without works baby It just ain’t happenin’ One is your left hand one is your right …
How Much Time Should I Budget to Write My Book?
New authors have a distinct advantage over established authors under deadline: no deadline. As a new author, you may have fiddled with your novel for years. Perhaps you’ve entered contests and incorporated feedback. Maybe you’ve read books about writing and attended conferences. After all this effort, you landed a contract. Congratulations! Now you may have another happy problem: estimating how …
How to Annoy Your (Fiction) Readers
Some people are more annoying than others—and you know who you are. And some writers are more annoying than others—and you may not know who you are. So I’m here to help. Here are six ways writers of fiction can annoy the heck out of the readers: Give your characters similar or hard-to-pronounce names Fantasy writers, I’m talking to you. How in the world am I supposed to pronounce Fleurxgh? Sure, I …
Two Ways to Think About Your Book
Two of the many complexities within book publishing are how often the book buyer and the book reader are different people and how books may sell only in limited locations. Some people read only what someone else buys for them. Some books sell primarily in one city at one retail location. Adults will always be the ones to buy a book for a small child. (A child might latch onto a certain book while …
Promotion: Faithful or Self-full?
"What's the difference between promotion and self-promotion? How do we promote ourselves/our books so that we honor God, respect others, and use common sense?"
The constant tension between marketing and ministry has plagued the Christian author, speaker, bookseller and publisher forever. Why? Because Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple. Because we are commanded to die to self and to …