With the publication of my first book looming, more and more I get questions from other writers who are starting to navigate the publishing waterways. They have a mistaken notion that I have some secrets or know what I’m doing. One of the most common questions I hear is: “Where did you get your agent?” Why WalMart of course – the aisle near office supplies. No – don’t be foolish,…
Debut fiction author, about to be published, seeks literary representation after ending it with current literary agent. Must be willing to discuss possible story ideas, be open to light editing or comments. Similar philosophy on writing, publishing, and marketing preferred. Has time for me. Laughs at my jokes (I promise to laugh at yours!). Firm but flexible. Responds promptly. Current list should be impressive but manageable, with a view that…
Like many writers, I dreamed about getting the phone call from an agent who wanted to represent me. But I’d never pictured it quite the way it happened… My family and I had driven our old Volvo station wagon down to Ellicottville, NY, for a long weekend of skiing with friends. The tires were no match for the end of season blizzard that hit that day, and after skiing, the…
I’m someone who’s been around the block with agents. Before I came to my senses, see, I dabbled (mostly unsucccessfully) as a screenwriter and so I’d been through every version of despicable agenting. After being lied to, misled, hit on and even worse — ignored — I’d come to believe that an agent, if you wanted to do anything that required one, was a necessary evil, a person who always…
All right, all right. I’m going to ‘fess up here. As a writer and author on the brink of publication, I am constantly lamenting to anyone who will listen about how I don’t have enough time to write. If only I had more time to write, my second novel would be done! If only I had more time to write, my agent would see that I’m not a slacker, but…
First we’ll review a few of the things a good agent does: Guides your career Looks for potential problems with contracts Negotiates on your behalf Edits the drivel you might otherwise release into the world Tells you you don’t suck when you’re fairly sure you do I could have used this kind of support from the start. On my first day of school, my parents dressed me up in an…
I am being a bad deb and should absolutely have my pearls — not to mention ball gown — yanked away for this, but I’m ignoring this week’s scheduled topic and writing instead about the week I had writing my acknowledgments for my book. I hope I’m not the only writer who started thinking about this before the book was even a book. It was surely before I wrote my…
Things I’ve learned about the publishing industry thus far: • Publishing is not for sissies – If you want to publish, you actually have to send things in, even though this means risking rejection • There will be rejection, count on it – If you ask five people their opinion, you will get five different opinions
The day I landed my first agent, I thought I had it made. She was one of my top choices – a reputable agent who’d had some big name clients. And she loved my novel. She gushed. She said she didn’t want to change a thing and planned to send it out just as it was. She did warn that it would be a tough sell. But she sounded so…
