Many nonfiction book writers ask how to approach an agent or publisher. Today the question is when to approach them. Traditionally, writers had to decide between selling out and self-publishing. Their considerations were often reduced to money, time and control. Money. If your publisher prints 5000 copies, the book sells for $19.95 and your royalty is 6% of the cover price … [Read more...]
Dealing with Publishing Company Personnel
The publishing process may seem mechanical. As you move through the publishing process, it's important not to overlook an often-undervalued part of the process: the people or personnel of the publishing company. Since the corporate imprint and the need to be profitable dominate most publishing companies, the unique nature of most publishing company personnel often gets … [Read more...]
Types of Literary Agents
Literary agents specialize in many kinds of books. Usually, their areas of interest are listed in the guidebooks and on their Web sites. You can also pick up books with topics that are similar to yours and look for the names of agents in the acknowledgment sections, where authors generally thank their agents. Even if you find an agent with the same specialty as your book, that … [Read more...]
Agent Basics
How agents work: Literary agents fill two primary, and often overlapping, roles. They serve as both their clients' Sales representatives and as their literary advisors. In order to sell their clients' work, agents read it, assess it, and advise clients on its quality and market potential. They also create strategies for its sale for publication. Agents identify potential … [Read more...]
Agent Query Review
When agents receive a written submission from a potential client, their first thoughts are, "Is this a book that I want to handle and can I sell it?" Despite instructions on their Web sites etc., a large majority of the contacts agents receive are surprisingly not about books or subjects they handle. "For all authors, first time or established, what it all comes down to … [Read more...]
Agents, Editors and Conferences
My experience as a volunteer for a recent MWA Writer's Conference was rewarding and educational. LITERARY AGENTS They are the nicest people. Yeah writers you heard me, they rock. They work extremely hard, put in tons of overtime, and still have to be personable all of the time. Most of them that I’ve met personally during my recruitment process are natural sales people. … [Read more...]
Agent 101 – Literary Agency Sales and Querying the Right Agent
If querying literary agents isn't difficult enough, how is a writer who is attempting to break into the business supposed to decipher the sales figures that are posted by major agents in areas such as the Dead Reckoning section of Agent Search (which is superb by the way) when individual statistics during a 12 month period might indicate the placement of over 100 titles by a … [Read more...]
Book Agent Query Letters – Finding the Right Agent For Your Novel
Finding an Agent For Your Novel – How a Query Letter Differs From a Synopsis
Query Letter Writing - a Daunting Dilemma Some years ago, to add to a discussion I was encouraging related to the nuances of query letter writing, a woman who had just received a contract for her first novel--and with Simon & Schuster no less--wrote me to lament how arduous she had found the task of crafting her missive to appeal to agents. She admitted that she … [Read more...]
Christian Horror – An Oxymoronic Statement or New Genre
I began writing what would eventually become my first novel, Suffering Madness, in 1995. My design goals at the time were fairly small - I was targeting the short story market in magazines to try to develop a name. After enough rejections to wallpaper my office, I realized my writing was pretty bad. Fortunately, my desire to write and tell stories overshadowed any detail … [Read more...]