by Janet Kobobel Grant
NOTE: The other day I happened across this blog post that I wrote in 2010. It struck me how little has changed since I posted these thoughts on publishing trends and counter-trends. Read on to see …
Authors
Keeping Your Agent Informed
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Literary agents and agencies are not one-size-fits-all…not that anything bearing that label ever truly is.
We share common ground. We differ in specialities, connections, level of hands-on or hands-off involvement in our client’s projects, and approaches to …
How to Write Great Discussion Questions
by Janet Kobobel Grant
Some authors choose to write discussion questions that will appear at the back of a book or to be available on the writer’s website. Having written a slew of such questions and having been trained in …
Good News/Bad News for Writers
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Writers often live a good news/bad news existence, toggling from one to the other. A keynote speaker at a recent writers’ conference used the “Oh, that’s good. No that’s bad” children’s book format to talk about the …
What Are Lit Agents Looking for Anyway?
by Janet Kobobel Grant
When literary agents sit on a panel at a writers conference, inevitably questions pop up about what agents are looking for. Generally a lot of heming and hawing occurs in response to the queries.
“I’ll know …
How is Writing Like Painting?
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
How IS writing like painting?
Not this kind: 
Although, yes, writing at its best is art.
For today’s blog post’s purpose, let’s think about this kind of painting and its correlation to …
The Publishing Waiting Game
by Janet Kobobel Grant
“Waiting is harder than writing,” one of my clients observed in an email to me. That was it; the email contained nothing else.
I smiled when I read it. Yup, that sums up the life of …
Can You Trust Your Agent?
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Can you trust your agent? Coming alongside a client often puts an agent in the position of saying, “Don’t do that.” Kindly, of course. Or firmly. Depends. Much like the difference between a mother who urges her …
Poets Know It: Writing Tips from Poetry’s Lips
Blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Or violet.
Whatever.
Note the violet color of these violets.
Whether you ingest poetry through song lyrics or fairytales or children’s books or the Psalms or poetry readings in …
Never-Fail Formula for Writing a Book That Won’t Become a Bestseller
Blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
(Updated)
Maybe it’s not discussed often enough in writers’ circles. We talk about what we can do to ready our work for a publisher’s eyes. We list ways to draw readers’ attention with our novels or nonfiction.…
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