Literary agent Rachelle Gardner: You’re reading my blog, aren’t you? Gardner blogged this week about the importance of not putting the cart before the horse. In other words, writers need to get their writing up to speed before worrying about the details of publishing. The post seemed like it was written for me. Until a […]
I know what you’re thinking: It’s an oxymoron. Novels are fiction. But when it comes to narrative nonfiction, the genre of my book, labels aren’t that simple. My travel memoir tells a true story, but it’s meant to read like a novel. That means I’ve got to work elements of fiction into my book, including […]
Since several readers have commented on recent blog posts, asking how much of the manuscript I’ve written so far, I’ m here with answers. Of my 15 chapters, two are drafted in full. Drafts of another two chapters are more than half written. That doesn’t sound like much. But since I’m writing this book out […]
Maybe I’m going about this all backwards. During an Editor Unleashed live chat on Wednesday, literary agent Jessica Faust not only critiqued my query, she also made me reconsider my writing and publishing plan. I was under the impression that an agent and publisher would consider my book based on a quality proposal and sample […]
During an Editor Unleashed forum on Wednesday, literary agent Jessica Faust critiqued my query (the same query I shared with you in a previous post). Her critique is very specific and quite helpful, which is why I’m sharing it here in full: Never start out with “hoping I’m the right agent” it gives the impression […]
I love deadlines: the thrill of them approaching, the accomplishment of meeting them and how they force me to get work done. I work well under pressure. I am a journalist, after all. But self-imposed deadlines are a bit trickier, mostly because I have to set them myself. Since I just started writing my book […]
If you’ve been reading this blog regularly, you know what I’ve been working on for the last four months: outlining my book, writing a book proposal and query letter, choosing agents to approach, applying to writers’ colonies, learning about blog book tours, and then some. I’ve also, believe it or not, written some of the […]
As if today wasn’t exciting enough with the news that journalist Roxana Saberi was released from prison in Iran, a literary agent contacted me, out of the blue. Unfortunately, she didn’t want my book. She wanted Roxana’s. (For those of you who don’t know already, I’ve been helping with the FreeRoxana campaign.) Roxana hasn’t even […]
A big part of selling my book will be convincing both an agent and a publisher that it’s unique, different than travel memoirs already on bookstore shelves. So from the beginning, I’ve asked myself: What makes my book unique? Travelogues written by women voyaging alone have become so popular, they’re practically their own genre (Think: […]
I love this query tip from Michael Larsen‘s How to Write a Book Proposal. For snail-mail queries, he suggests sending a self-addressed, stamped postcard that reads: Please send the proposal __ Sorry, we can’t help __ Plus the name of the agent, for the writer’s benefit. “No matter how busy they are, agents and editors […]