Quandrum. If a quandry (perplexity in a difficult situation) and a conundrum (vexing question) had a baby, it would be…a quandrum.
Writers love words, but they’re less in love with words that are quandrums. “What does that mean?” “How is …
query
Four Things Agents Look for When Checking Out Your Website
While social media seems to be where everyone is gathering online, your author website is still important for your writing career. Social media is like the car you drive around in to invite people to join you on the journey. …
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Eight Questions to Get to Know Your Audience Better
Who is your book for?
While this isn’t intended to be a trick question, the quizzical looks that I often receive from writers during pitch sessions suggest otherwise.
After a few moments of chin-tapping or staring into space, here are …
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Getting an Agent to Read Your Entire Query
As a literary agent, I love seeing stacks of queries in my inbox. Like the other agents at Books & Such, I enjoy discovering unique book ideas, moving memoirs and fresh new voices. However, all literary agents must balance limited …
The “Perfect” Query
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
You’ve seen a number of agent blogs and agent twitters talking about query tips and #queryfail. Agent websites are filled with instructions on how and how-not to query. Nearly every writers conference offers a session or two …
Swipe Left, Swipe Right
Blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Swipe left or swipe right? People who’ve used Tinder (the app, not scraps of wood and dried leaves) are familiar with those questions.
MedicalXpress.com notes, “Anyone who has used the dating app Tinder knows that swiping …
The Broken Query System
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Broken things drive me crazy. Just call me the Fix-it Fairy. If something is broken–be it an object, a person, or a system–I have trouble accepting the state of brokenness. I want it fixed.
Last week I …
Query Guidelines
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
It’s been over 100˚for so many days even my brain feels hot. (Next few days? 104˚, 101˚, 100˚, 101˚, 100˚, 104˚, 106˚, 105˚.) In spite of sizzling summer I thought I’d tackle the question of queries again.…
Quiz Time— How to Get an Agent
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
You expected Janet Grant today, didn’t you? Janet let me have her blogging day so that we could do a two-day quiz. (And you thought you were through with finals forever.)
We’ve often said that members of …
Selling Tools
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
This month is the now famous NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. This is the month many around the world will be focusing on writing a first draft of their novel. I don’t want to pile more …