Where I Write: John Gaudet
Our next Where I Write, in which our authors share their favorite writing spots, is from John Gaudet. “Nothing takes the place of a bare, dank, fifth floor, cold water garret in Paris in December (as exemplified by James Joyce ‘s digs in 1902. He said he ate from one pot, never cleaned it, just added […]
Where I Write: Lindsey Palmer
Our next Where I Write post is from Lindsey Palmer, author Pretty in Ink just published from Kensington. “My favorite place to write is the Park Slope coffee shop Kos Kaffe. Kos has good, strong coffee, plenty of sunshine, and just enough background chatter—often clearly from other writers and artists—to make me feel like I’m […]
The Query Letter: Start with a Stop Sign, Guest Post from John Paine
You need to arrest the agent’s attention with the first line. She does not want to read about the fact you actually completed a novel. Everyone who queries her has done that. She doesn’t want to know anything about you personally, at least not at first. She wants to know: why does this book […]
From Author to Marketer–the All-Important Query Letter
I invited freelance editor, ghostwriter, and blogger John Paine to contribute advice on how to approach the query letter. Here he focuses on how to switch hats–from author to marketer–when formulating your pitch to agents. You feel a tremendous relief when you finish your novel. All those months, all those snatches of stray time you […]
The Author Photo
So you’re one of the lucky ones. You are getting published! Your publisher asks you for an author photo. You get your best friend or your son to snap a shot of you on his phone. Voila! There was a time when publishers would invest in an author photo. Yes, they would actually hire photographers […]
Cold Calling Agents
I can only speak for myself. I’d rarely recommend cold-calling an agent. Agents generally do not answer their own phones. Even if they do, they reserve phone calls for conversations with editors and others at the publishing houses where they either already have deals or hope to make a sale, as well as with their […]
Where I Write: Ben Winters
Our next Where I Write post, in which our authors tell you about their favorite writing spot, is from Ben Winters “I write in a lot of places; a local coffee shop called Hubbard & Craven’s, the Central Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library, various other branches of the Indianapolis Public Library, the writing center […]
Where I Write: John Temple
The next writer in our Where I Write series is John Temple “My usual writing spot and position is feet up on the desk of my home office. It’s a smallish room with a window flanked by two big bookshelves that looks out on our hilly backyard where the boys play baseball. I have to […]
Staying in Touch with Your Agent, Editor and Publicist
I’m often surprised to see how quickly, once a book has been published, an author falls out of touch. Perhaps the author feels that he or she doesn’t want to bother me, that I’m super-busy. While I am always very busy, I love hearing from authors even long after their books have been published. I […]
When to Submit to a Literary Agency: It’s Like Baking a Cake
Submissions are a bit like baking a cake. You don’t want to send out your proposal or manuscript until it the toothpick comes out clean. While it may be tempting to jump the gun (yes, I am mixing my metaphors here), you want to show your work in the best possible light. If you are […]