Query Killers
Writers are always asking for advice about how to write the query that will help them land an agent. I used a recent mega-session of reviewing submissions to draw up a list of reasons why I say no. So here it is, in no particular order, my list of Query Killers to avoid if you […]
An encounter with an unexpected lover of books
It was a Saturday night and alas, I was doing laundry and continuing to unpack boxes from a recent move. When I discarded some cartons in the recycling room on my complex, I noticed that someone had neatly stacked scores of books–good books–including pristine hardcovers and a tasteful selection of trade paperback fiction. I could […]
Martin
Chuck Martin The first screen, television, ushered in the age of Mad Men and allowed companies to communicate with consumers via carefully crafted messages that millions saw simultaneously. The second screen, the PC, allowed companies to provide service and information while receiving instant feedback. Now the third screen, the Smart Phone, is turning the company-consumer […]
David Monagan’s IRELAND UNHINGED pubs today in time for St. Patrick’s Day
Fittingly, today marks the official publication for expat journalist David Monagan’s whose IRELAND UNHINGED: Encounters with a Wildly Changing Country releases from Council Oaks Books. A rollicking and penetrating look at how the boom-and-bust of the last decade has impacted the very heart and soul of modern Ireland, this is a must-read for anyone with Irish […]
I TWEET, THEREFORE I AM!
I TWEET THEREFORE I AM I have to confess, until recently, I didn’t quite understand what all this fuss about Twitter was. I felt I had to tell authors to do it because I knew that publishers consider it to be a critical part of their platform and a key to marketing their books when […]
It’s no secret: Ms. Finkleman Rocks!
I’m thrilled to announce that Ben H. Winter’s THE SECRET LIFE OF MS. FINKLEMAN has been nominated for an Edgar Award for Juvenile Fiction! The award, sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, honors the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television and is named for Edgar Allan Poe. This year marks the 202nd anniversary […]
I HAVE TO KVELL!
What a start to the New Year! I have to confess, I’m in love with my books. By “my,” of course, I’m referring to the agency’s latest and greatest. But for today, I will focus on one very special book and author. Philip Freeman, respected historian and raconteur extraordinaire, has outdone himself with his glorious […]
Blog
Launching into 2011 It’s pretty much commonly accepted now that 2010 was, as Sourcebooks Founder and digital media maven Dominique Raccah has stated, the year when publishers finally really woke up to the extraordinary potential of digital media. Sales of e-books soared in the second half of the year, and with a record number of e-readers […]
Blog
Before You Try to Get an Agent, Ask Yourself: As an agent, I see proposals and manuscripts at all stages. Some of them are just a glimmer of an idea hidden inside a lot of text; some are polished to a gleam, ready to be sent out to publishers. Often it’s difficult to see the […]
BUILD A PLATFORM–AND THEY WILL COME…
“If you build it, they will come…” That proves to be true about a baseball diamond carved out of a cornfield in Iowa in William Kinsella’s novel, SHOELESS JOE, which became FIELD OF DREAMS, the film. And it is equally true for authors about creating and sustaining a platform. The word “platform” began rearing its head […]