Is this a metaphor for the writing life? If so, explain in the comments below.
HT: Carol Ashby
Blog
Why I Don’t Critique Your Work
A fantastic blog post from Ramona Richards reminded me why I, as a literary agent, don’t offer critiques on rejected proposals. Believe me, as someone who used to write books, I understand the disappointment of the unhelpful rejection letter. So much that I blogged about it (click to read it). I appreciate writers who are looking to learn more about craft, style, and what will make their books …
What Editors Wish You Knew about Meeting with Them at Conferences
Thanks to Becky McCoy for requesting advice for conference meetings with agents and editors at conferences. You can find a lot of counsel for meeting with agents on the different agency blogs, but I thought I’d supplement those posts with advice from some of the in-house editors you’ll find at this years’ conferences. So I emailed said editors and asked them to share their wishes with you. Here …
The Best Selling Christian Books of all Time
I realize attempting to compile a list like this could ruffle some feathers from both publishing and literature purists, not to mention the theological issues raised in the process of determining a “Christian” book. But I thought I would take a stab at it anyway. The list of the best-selling Christian books of all time almost demands every single title carry some sort of disclaimer, but that …
Inspiration or Perspiration?
Thomas Edison was to have said that “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Apparently he made 1,000 failed attempts to invent the light bulb. After accomplishing it he was asked about all the previous failures. Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” The exercise of writing can be somewhat similar. If you …
Fun Fridays – June 24, 2016
“How NOT to get published!” Karen Porter of Bold Vision Books put together this hilarious video of the wrong way to pitch your book at a writers conference. As she says, every incident is based on real events. I can attest to that truth! Enjoy!
The Why and How of Selecting Endorsers
Some authors find the endorsers section tricky when they write book proposals. If this describes you, or if you would like a refresher, I hope this post will be helpful. The Why: I can’t say I’ve ever sold a book based on an endorsement alone. Content is king. But the endorsers (or you can call it Potential Endorsers) section is important. To wit, here’s a quote from Mallory Ortburg’s May 3 …
Show Off Your Emotions!
You’ve heard it over and over: Show, don’t tell. Well, I agree with that sentiment when it comes to important emotional scenes. Fiction, nonfiction, doesn’t matter. If you want to stir your readers, learn to show powerful emotions. As I thought about this blog, though, I figured you all don’t need yet another how to. Instead, I want to challenge you to share the most powerful emotion you felt this …
What’s Your Third Book?
At some point, whenever I speak with an un-published author I will ask the question, “What is your third book?” The purpose of the question is to elicit a response to get an idea if the author is interested in being a professional author or simply publishing a book. Those are different goals entirely. Agents mostly represent professional authors, not books. Agents are “in this” for the long term …
Confusing Industry News in Bookselling
Last week the Hastings, a chain of 126 retail stores, declared bankruptcy. Approximately half of their sales are from books (the other half are movies, music, games, etc). They claim “a decline in the market for physical media properties like music, movies, books, games and media rentals.” They had losses of $16 million on sales of $400 million. Among their largest unsecured creditors …