A recent question from a writer has inspired my thoughts on how to choose a literary agent. The question: “I have an agent who is new interested in my manuscript. Based on her existing clientele, I feel I have a good chance of sparking this woman’s attention. I also have a well-known agent sitting on…
Editors often talk about how much they love stories as if this is a reason why someone should hire them. But loving stories is kind of a bottom-line thing, like having a medical degree is the bottom-line for being a physician. No one is going to hire you because you love stories. They’re going to hire…
You’ve probably heard that to get people to sign up for your newsletter list, you should create an information product of some sort (an ebook, a white paper, a collection of templates) to give away in return for their signing up for your newsletter. This is certainly a tried-and-true strategy (and I do it myself…
If you’re interested in trying to land a traditional publishing deal, you need a plan. You will have to be prepared to query many agents. Getting started I always recommend starting with a list of 100 agents who represent work in your genre. I recommend making the list of 100 ahead of time because the…
The 3-Step Process for Developmental Edits The process for developmental edits is very straightforward and easy to follow. It includes these three basic steps: Step 1: First Read-Through The first step in the process for developmental edits is doing a first read-through. During the first read-through, I recommend just reading the ms for content. You…
Recently a writer wrote asking for help. He’d sold several novels to a small press, and despite winning a number of awards, the books did not sell well. He wanted to know what that meant for his career. Would he be able to get an agent and sell to bigger publishers? Should he hang up…
Recognizing Story Pattern and Story Structure Let’s dive in to a discussion showcasing story pattern and story structure. One common story pattern in fiction is the quest, such as this example: Huckleberry Finn is a quester; Dante (The Divine Comedy) is a quester; Charles Marlow (Conrad’s Heart of Darkness) is a quester. A reader seeing…
“Tell me about this story idea,” the woman at the next table says. She’s talking to a young man, mid- to late twenties, and he responds with a description of some things that interest young men, hot women and sexy cars or vice versa, and the woman says, “But what’s the story?” and he pushes…
People like to pretend that you can write a book and make passive income from it. You can’t. If you write a book and stick it up on Amazon and never do anything to promote or market it, you’re not going to sell any copies. Okay, you might sell three or four from people who…
The querying process can be very hard mentally and emotionally. If you want to be traditionally published, though, it is one of the ways you’re most likely to land an agent. You can participate in Twitter pitch wars, attend a conference with pitch sessions, and so on but you don’t need to wait for a…