When your book isn’t selling…what’s an author to do?
There’s the exhilaration when your agent sells your book. Suddenly, you are real! You are going to be a published author. The contract comes. Now it is truly official. The manuscript is delivered, edited and accepted. Yes! You send in answers to an exhaustive questionnaire listing every contact you have. If you are one of […]
Writing with a Positive Attitude–It May Get You an Agent or Publisher!
There are many reasons why writers write, but one is that that they wish to be read. Most writers want to find their audience and connect with their audience. Whether it is because they have something to say, information to share, or are creating an experience, through memoir and fiction, most writers–at least those who […]
How Authors Can Better Use Facebook to Promote
Random House has an excellent newsletter for authors and agents. Here’s an article from the latest issue that every author who is on Facebook should read: http://randomnotes.randomhouse.com/facebook-changes-you-should-know-about/?Ref=Email_B2C_2014-12-3Agents_Dec2014 –Joelle Delbourgo
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 […]
Has the long novel made a comeback?
Today’s New York Times (November 11, 2013) reports on the recent sale of a 900-page novel, CITY ON FIRE, by Garth Risk Hallberg, for “close to $2 million.” The article headline grabbed my attention: “A Long Debut Novel Fetches About $2,200 Per Page.” The article points out several long novels that are currently enjoying strong […]