BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency (Free subscription) | 18 hours ago
Not too long ago a client was going through some revisions with her editor and called me for a pep talk. She was confident that she could get the revisions done and even felt good about how she planned to do them. What upset her was that the editor had to point out these things in the first place. She really felt it was all so obvious, something she should have seen before even sending in the material,...
Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent (Free subscription) | yesterday
by Kathi Lipp, Guest Blogger Back in July, I got an email from a woman named Danielle who said she was a producer and was interested in optioning dramatic rights to my first book The Husband Project and possibly making it into a film. Uh-huh. Right. And I bet you want me to do a wire transfer to recover a prince’s fortune in Zimbabwe (and I will double my money at the same time!) Those kinds...
Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent (Free subscription) | yesterday
It's that time of year again! Time to put on your prognosticator hats and click through to vote on a poll about you and e-books and the future. Nothing less than AN UNSCIENTIFIC READING OF THE PULSE OF THE WORLD is at stake. This is a question I've now asked three years running. Here is 2007 and 2008 (okay it was technically early 2009 because I forgot at the end of 2008). Will you ever buy mostly...
BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency (Free subscription) | yesterday
I’ve found that quite a few agents who are open to representing nonfiction self-help books request a query and the proposal in the same email. My query contains a brief description of the book, how it differs from competitive titles, and a little about me. The proposal contains the same information, although in more detail (as well as sample chapters, marketing plans, competitive titles, etc.)....
Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent (Free subscription) | 12/02/2009
A little over a year ago I was in the middle of an exciting auction (the first I conducted as an agent) for a book by Julie Hadden, the 1st runner up on Season 4 of "The Biggest Loser." I'm excited that the book, Fat Chance , released this week. See the end of this post for instructions on how to receive a free copy of Julie's book . I wanted to give you a little background on how I became...
Jacob Russell's Barking Dog (Free subscription) | 12/02/2009
I listened to the speech. After it was over. After a wonderful performance/reading by Ursula Rucker at Kelly Writers House... than I listened to the speech. .. what a downer.I'd much rather write about Ursula ... I mean.. .it's not Obama. It's America. it's us.. it's what the 'developed world' has become and what it ... we... require to maintain our priviledged 'Life Style"... the human toll
Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
233 queries in my inbox today, 233 queries in my inbooooooxxxxx, take one down, request a partial, 232 queries in my inbox today. 232 queries in in my inbox today, 232 queries in my inboooooxxxxxxxx, take one down, gah rhetorical question', 231 queries in my inbox today. 231 queries in in my inbox today, 231 queries in my inboooooooooxxxxxx, take one down, aliens are you sure?, 230 queries in in my...
Jacob Russell's Barking Dog (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
If fiction is not, and cannot be, either mirror or lamp to reality, than what is it? What is the relationship of art to reality? I've written any number of posts on the problematic character of the idea of 'realist fiction.' (HERE HERE HERE). Let's take a another look at the idea of the mirror and the lamp. For M. H. Abrams, the mirror was how art was conceived before the Romantics, as
BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
In a rather controversial blog post (that I won’t link to) I was accused of encouraging writers to self-censor, and while I don’t think the reader was talking at all about what I’m going to talk about today, the comment really got me thinking. After all, as writers or, more important, as businesspeople, publishing professionals, isn’t it part of your job to know how to censor...
Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
I'm glad we had a good conversation on the blog yesterday. Yes, a few people got snarky. But I only had to delete a couple of comments. I thought we had some necessary dialogue, and it was enlightening. Do I agree with all the commenters? No. Do I like everything I read? No. But I always come away with new knowledge and ideas for improving the way I do business. It was from paying attention to the...
Jacob Russell's Barking Dog (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
Tuesday, December 1, 20090 comments:
Jacob Russell's Barking Dog (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
Standing on 13th & Morris, Catching Sight of a Starthey don't shineso muchas end as rendasunderleavingso much more than lightwe called themstarsoncestaring back through timewho knew?remembered allthat matter(s)wasand isreturningturningas simplicity itselfthe singleoneamong the manythisand thissingleshining thing
Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent (Free subscription) | 11/30/2009
I'm in the midst of editing JACOB WONDERBAR , and as always it's been very very interesting to be on the writing side of the process. As my clients know all too well, I'm a hands-on agent. I'm willing to go through multiple rounds of revisions until the manuscript is just. right. Even when I can tell my clients would rather have their toenails forcibly removed than go through another revision. It just...
BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency (Free subscription) | 11/30/2009
One of those questions that comes with a variety of answers . . . Let's say you're an agent who has fairly specific tastes for what you like to represent. You have a client for whom you've already sold three of these type of books. This client then comes to you with a book that has very little to do with the kind of fiction you normally represent. (Not genre-jumping, but a different style.) It's a...
Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent (Free subscription) | 11/30/2009
Ever since I've been an agent, I've listened to writers complain about the unpleasant aspects of the publishing industry. Part of my job is helping authors navigate these difficult waters. I try to talk my clients through the hard parts of publishing; and on this blog, I do the same for many writers who aren't my clients. Believe me, I know there are frustrations, and I know people need a chance to...
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