Here go, skipping off into a brand new year. But before we travel too far into 2023, I’m continuing my tradition of my first blog post each year being a retrospective of the books I dwelled within the year before.…
Fiction
End Your Book Well
Last week I read an articulate article on how to end a book well. I distill the essence of the article below, but if you want to read if for yourself, it’s located here.
To End Your Book Well:
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Small Changes
Don’t small changes sound like they should naturally connect to small impact? Listed here are ten small changes with surprisingly potent impact on both nonfiction and fiction.
AND
And is a useful word. It can, however, become as unsightly …
A Social Media Platform that REALLY Sells Books: TikTok
I need to start out by apologizing. I know writers are weary of being told to build their platforms, to promote their books on social media, to, well, work magic at something most don’t particularly enjoy. I’m one of those …
A Social Media Platform that REALLY Sells Books: TikTokRead More
Five Ways to Wrangle Dialect
I almost stopped reading the book that eventually opened my eyes to the power of inspirational fiction and set me on a path to author and agent. Almost set the book aside after a few pages.
Why? Because the dialect …
8 Ways to Make Your Book More Accessible
While an author hopes that the text of his or her book is all that’s needed to clearly communicate with the reader, in actuality, sometimes ancillary parts of a book can add much to the reader’s engagement with your book. …
A Writing Contest and Some Hints on How to Win
I’m interrupting our normal blog schedule to insert an important announcement: Our agency is sponsoring a writing contest, and we want YOU to enter!
The Writing Contest Why
We’re celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, which signifies 25 years of …
The Lost Art of Hand Selling
At a recent staff meeting, Janet Grant filled us in on a Bookspan/Publisher’s Marketplace webinar she attended a week or so ago. She took great notes on many topics but one point stood out to me. The presenter observed that …
The 10-Novels Rule
In the past week I’ve read more than 650 pages of royalty statements for our clients from a variety of publishing houses. Such an activity gives me a bird’s eye view of how the industry is doing, as I’m looking …
Five Flagrant Fiction Flubs
When I read fiction for pleasure I strive to turn off the “internal editor” as I read, but lately I’ve come across a number of glaring mistakes that pull me right out of the story. Let me address five of …