I bring you: Ten Common Mistakes that dismiss you as an amateur, from Holt Uncensored, a blog about the book industry (via literary agent Nathan Branford’s blog). The following is a list I'll be referring to people *before* they submit anything in writing to anybody (me, agent, publisher, your mom, your boss). From email messages […]
I’ve just barely begun to explain my progress on this new blog, but I’ve got to interrupt regularly scheduled blog posts to bring you… Queryday. First, what’s a query? It’s a one-page letter to a literary agent, asking that s/he represent you and your project. If an agent likes your query, she’ll ask to see […]
Writing a travel memoir has been a dream of mine for years. Ever since I realized my love for travel, writing about it seemed like the perfect project, a chance to use my journalistic skills, write creatively and see the world, all at once. So even before leaving my job as a reporter with the […]
More than three months have passed since I returned home from Africa, determined to write a travel memoir. As I hole myself up in my home office and coffee-shop hop with my laptop, friends and family ask, “How’s the book coming?” I know what they’re really thinking: What has she been doing all this time? […]
Three months into writing my first book, a dozen envelopes addressed to literary agents are stacked next to my desk, stamped and ready to go. But I haven’t mailed them. Why? It’s complicated. I’m rewriting sample chapters. My professional Web site isn’t ready. And the better I get to know my own book, the more […]