This year I find myself realizing that not having a large family Christmas gathering leaves plenty of space to think about what we’re really celebrating at Christmas. To slow my heart to a more tempered pace this 2020 Christmas, I’m …
What Does an In-House Editor Do for You?
Some publishers have chosen to downsize the number of in-house editors but instead to rely on freelancers. That decision raises the question, What does an in-house editor do for you?
Having been such an editor, I have personal insights into …
Pandemic Reading
When most of the nation went into lock-down late in March, people explored all sorts of pursuits they had neither the time nor the inclination for until then. That all seems like a dream now, but last week I noted …
Picking the Right Agent for You
Once you’ve created the best query you can (a la my most recent blog post) and have your proposal ready to submit, you’re mind will turn toward finding an agent. Let’s be clear about one thing: You don’t want …
Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Query
The first thing to do in writing a query is to…not write the query yet. Give it some incubation time.
Rather than jumping into your query, take your time to force yourself to define–really define–the project.
You’re ready to write
…
Writing Hack: Sharpen Your Sentences
For the first, oh, decade or so of my writing career, I thought my writing was pretty good. So I didn’t understand why magazine editors found it necessary to take my perfectly serviceable sentences and render them “less interesting.” That …
Introducing New Agent Barb Roose
Today I have the privilege of introducing our blog readers to a new Books & Such agent, Barb Roose. Barb has been a part of our agency for seven years as a client of Rachelle Gardner. All we agents have …
I Only Cheated a Little
I recently read in the daily online newsletter Publishers Lunch about a cavalier cheat that landed UK thriller writer Mark Dawson on the Sunday Times bestseller list. The author not only admitted he bought hundreds of copies of his book …
A Virtual Writers Conference–Good or Bad?
A couple of weekends ago, Wendy Lawton, Cynthia Ruchti, and I served on the faculty of the Northwestern Christian Writers Conference, which was conducted virtually. Being on the faculty of a writers conference was nothing new, but a virtual …
How to Shape a Proposal
Most times my clients’ proposals are constructed not just by the author but also by me. I thought it would be helpful for you to see how that type of teamwork unfolds.
Consider the Challenges
This particular nonfiction project was …