Learn how and why you need to choose a genre, and find out what to do if your book doesn’t conform to one specific genre.
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Is the Biggest Publisher the Best Publisher for You?
I’ll respond to this question the same way Steve Laube responds to many publishing questions: “It depends.” Offers First of all, it depends on what offers you’re receiving. In choosing between several or even two offers, look at the overall offers to decide which course to take. This is where a savvy agent, who sees many authors, publishers, and contracts, can discuss your options. Situation The …
Food vs. Medicine Books
Even though this topic could be applicable to just about any type of book, we’ll be looking at those in the Christian publishing category today. Categorizing books has been part of publishing for a very long time. Officially, there are over four dozen primary book categories designated by the BISAC coding system, which spin off to thousands of subcategories. For example, one of the primary …
Labor Day Holiday
Today the U.S. celebrates Labor Day as a national holiday. It’s a perfect day to make and eat popcorn, a favorite snack! Enjoy this insightful video with the Muppets Swedish chef attempting to make enough for everyone.
Fun Fridays – September 2, 2022
Tomorrow is International Bacon Day! Celebrate the bacon! A few years ago, there was a fun online thread with creative people replacing movie titles or book titles with the word bacon. For example: The Lion, the Witch, and the Bacon Pretty in Bacon Harry Potter and the Goblet of Bacon Eat, Bacon, Love The Lord of the Bacon So I thought, “Why not apply the same to bestselling Christian …
10 Reasons Bob Doesn’t “Close” Submissions
Some literary agents “close” submissions periodically. That is, they announce that they won’t accept or respond to “over-the-transom” queries or proposals for a set period (usually a month or two, sometimes a quarter). For you young whippersnappers who don’t know what “over-the-transom” (or “whippersnapper”) means, it’s a throwback to the days before air conditioning, when offices were vented and …
Grammar Refresh
By popular demand, here is another grammar refresh. Lie/Lay “Lay” means to place something, whereas “lie” means that the object of the sentence can lie on its own. I will lay my blanket on the bed before I lie down. A trick I use to distinguish between these quickly is to use the word “place” as a substitute. If you can say “place” then you can say lay. If not, then it’s lie. I will place my …
7 Tips for Pitching Your Idea
You have a chance to pitch your book idea to an editor or an agent at a conference. I’ve written about this before (see “That Conference Appointment”) but thought it may be helpful to come at the topic from a different direction. The pitch itself. These tips can help whether or not your appointment is virtual or in-person. 1. Relax. Seriously. Relax. This 15-minute appointment won’t make or break …
Fun Fridays – August 26, 2022
You may not enjoy this video as much as I do. The reason is that I played basketball in high school and was able to dunk. In addition, I had the fun of going to State as a high jumper. But this video is highest-level stuff (pun intended). When I see things like this I’m stunned at the sheer athleticism. Metaphor? You may be good, but there will always be someone better based on certain …