These famous brothers are so entertaining to watch. Especially when playing their instruments.
I encourage those of you with kids to show a couple of these classic films…make it a family night. We don’t want them to be lost to the next generation.
Blog
What Keeps You from Following Up?
You’ve been to a conference, probably at great expense and some trouble. You’ve met a few agents and editors. And you probably got at least a couple of requests to follow up with a manuscript. Now you’re home. And it’s time to follow up. Will you? If not, why not? Fear Fear is a natural emotion. In fact, if you don’t feel any fear, maybe it’s time to be scared. Or at least, worried. When you …
Don’t Let an Editor Ruin Your Book!
I’ve worked in almost all the different aspects of publishing. Editor, writer, agent. Seen and done almost all there is. And it’s always fascinating when I hear writers talk about editors as though they’re these mean, rigid despots who just want to ruin their books. That is SO not who I, or the other editors I’ve known all these years, are like. We don’t want to ruin anything. We want to help. But …
Best Selling Books Sixty Years Ago
Continuing my early 2016 focus on sixty years ago, today we will look back at the New York Times bestseller list for January 15, 1956. Fiction ANDERSONVILLE, by MacKinlay Kantor (Won the Pulitzer Prize for 1956) MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR, by Herman Wouk (Made into a 1958 film with Gene Kelly and Natalie Wood) AUNTIE MAME, by Patrick Dennis (Made into a 1958 film with Rosalind Russell playing the lead. …
Every Day is a New Day in Publishing
Eternal optimism must be the attitude if one is to survive the roller coaster ride of the publishing business. There seems to be some new change every month if not every week. For example, this past week we got word of three different editors at three different publishers leaving their current position. One shifted to another publisher who is glad to fill a needed role. But that means the current …
Fun Fridays – Jan. 8, 2016
Some book covers use stock photography as their foundation, but others are original and have a dedicated photo shoot. Take a look at this behind the scenes video of what has become the new cover for Lynette Eason’s February release, Always Watching. (Lynette is one of Tamela’s clients.) It is book one in a new series published by Revell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApUhRmpBU_A
Fiction: Don’t Order Flowers Yet – An Evaluation of 2015
An Evaluation of 2015: Ours is a tough industry. A lot of writers are rejected. Over and over. The journey to publication seems harder than ever. Available slots in a publisher’s list are fewer and harder to secure. It’s more difficult than ever to make books profitable. Competition is tougher. Only the top authors seem to be making money. What year am I talking about? I think it is 1998. Or was …
I Hate the Church (?)
Wow. Another year ended, another new year begun. As I considered what to say about 2015, something struck me: I heard more hard words from believers in 2015 than ever before. No, not “hard words” as in hard things the Lord told people to say. Just hard words. Words spiked with negativity, frustration, even a tinge of hatred. I’m a PK. A preacher’s kid. What’s more, I’m a PGK—a preacher’s grandkid. …
Tomorrow Starts Now
1956 was an interesting year (other than the year of my birth). There were wars and rumors of wars, great music, movies, books, political campaigning, controversy involving Islamic control of various nations and trouble in the Middle East. Sound familiar? Woody Guthrie’s song “This Land is Your Land” was popular, Norman Vincent Peale’s book on The Power of Positive Thinking was still hot and …
2015 – A Year in Review
I like to take a look at the past year as an exercise in measuring success and failure – all while counting God’s blessings. (If you’d like to look at previous annual reports they can be found here: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2009.) The Agency Thrives The agency continues to thrive in the midst of some tough economic challenges. It was exciting to secure contracts for over 130 forthcoming …