Today I want to share with you the one fact in writing: something else will come up when you are trying to write a book. For you it might be something like an emergency home project that simply needs to be done, or you could have a school paper that you must do. For me, … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: “Something came up” and Writing Descriptions (Series #7)
Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com How do I find the right agent? I was asked this question by several people and I wanted to spend some time on it. I was also asked the process of a manuscript from being written to getting published, so I plan to explain how to find the right agent … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Twenty-three: Finding the Right Agent/Publishing A to Z (Twitter Series #3)
Photo by Nick Demou on Pexels.com I overheard an author friend of mine the other day learn to take the word “that” out of his writing and I was surprised he hadn’t heard this before, as we’ve been in writing groups together for several years. So I thought I’d make this week’s blog about words … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Nineteen: 28 Words to Cut From Your Manuscript
I want to answer this question thoroughly, but I hope not to step on too many toes. If I offend you, please feel free to comment. Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com First, there is no course, no test, no certification to be an agent. This is not known to all aspiring authors. There are bad … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Eighteen: How Do I Choose My Agent?
When do you start the process of getting an agent? What should my expectations be? In my opinion, when the book is fully written, then you begin edits and research for an agent. There are different ways to do this. One, you can look up http://www.manuscriptwishlist.com, http://www.mswishlist.com, http://www.querytracker.net, etc. Search Google. You will be … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Fourteen: When to Get an Agent
This week's author question: What is a pitch? What exactly goes into a pitch, how do you pitch, and how do you decide whom to pitch? As far as a "pitch" goes, let me try to explain. When an author wants to hook an agent, they write a query letter. But when an agent wants … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Eleven: What is a pitch? How do you pitch? And to whom do you pitch?
How to write a query letter- or the Haskin Query Formula See the query letter as many things. It is the hook to woo your potential partner in the publishing business, it is partly that blurb that you need to have memorized when someone asks you what your book is about, it is also the … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Nine: How to Write a Query
Why do agents ask for a query, plus a synopsis and a sample of my manuscript? Isn’t one enough? I have had a lot of questions about submissions, so let’s back up and get into some detail. First, and I can’t stress this enough, you need to run your story through beta readers and/or an … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Four: What Goes into Submissions And Why?
