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By: Bruce Luck,
on 8/2/2014
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Utah Children's Writers
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A year ago, I had an MS ready to start pushing to agents/editors when the wonderful Carol Lynch Williams offered to look it over. She found issues. Since then, my writer’s group has gone over the thing again, cleaning and tightening. This week I finished it, wrote a query and submitted to an editor. Then appears an article on submitting.
Okay, maybe it came out with it before. It’s been a busy month. The editor at WIFYR gave us until the end of July to get anything sent off to her. I’ve been cramming to get the story in a shape to send off, so emails have not been looked at.
Fortunately, I’ve managed to follow most of the suggestions Sambuchino offers. I failed with the that says to make a final check on Twitter or their site to make sure they are still open for submissions. Another embedded article caught my attention, “Query Letter Pet Peeves - Agents Speak,” also by Sambuchino.
He says its not just a matter of what to write in the query letter, but what not to write. Among the irritants of agents:
-Bridget Smith of Dunham Literary, Inc., does not like vagueness. If you can’t tell her enough about the novel in the query then she will reject it.
-Shira Hoffman of McIntosh & Otis, Inc., mirrors the same. Some authors spend too much time on their bios without presenting essential story details.
-Linda Epstein of Jennifer De Chiara Literary reminds us that agenting and publishing are businesses and the query should be a business letter that should be professional and taken seriously.
-Nicole Resciniti of Seymour Agency agrees. We should treat the query as a job interview. It should be professional and concise and the writer should know their craft and understand the market.
-Bree Ogden of D4EO Literary wants to easily know what the manuscript is about. “It shouldn’t be an Easter egg hunt for the pot line,” she says.
Not included in the above are things such as glaring grammatical or spelling errors, mass emailings sent to a dozen or so other agents, and misspelling of the agent’s name or agency. Those seem rather obvious. Most of the agents in the article mentioned statements that tell the agent the story is “the greatest,” or a blockbuster or masterpiece.
At WIFYR, agent Amy Jameson of A + B Works shared some of her treasured queries not to write. They included the above mistake extolling the brilliance of their writing. One simply included a picture of the writer. While stunningly handsome, there was no mention of his story specifics. Amy rejected it.
Dang it. And to think I just blew a bunch of cash on a studio photographer.
(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)
I wanted to share with you a contest for MG fiction that Writer's Digest is running in conjunction with Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents blog.
The contest is for middle grade works of contemporary fiction, set in our present world and time. The contest closes tomorrow so you need to act fast to enter.
More details can be seen at Chuck's site: http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/14th-free-dear-lucky-agent-contest-contemporary-middle-grade-fiction?et_mid=664049&rid=239167764
By: Kathy Temean,
on 5/26/2013
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Chuck Sambuchino over at Writer’s Digest reported last week that agent Emma Patterson was looking to build her client list at Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents.
Address:
1501 Broadway New York, New York 10036
Phone: (212) 840-5760
Emma grew up in New Jersey, the daughter of a literary agent, so she has been around books, manuscripts, and query letters, all her life. After graduating from Kenyon College with a degree in history, she joined The Wendy Weil Agency as an assistant, later became a rights associate, and eventually an agent. After Wendy’s sudden and tragic death last fall, Emma and her colleague Emily Forland joined Brandt & Hochman in the beginning of 2013. She sold her first manuscript in March. She now lives in Brooklyn.
She is seeking: “I am on the lookout for literary and commercial fiction, upmarket women’s fiction, historical fiction, narrative nonfiction, pop culture, memoir, food writing, and YA and MG fiction and nonfiction. I’m open to mostly any project with strong writing, an original premise, and a story that immediately grabs me – and I still think about weeks after I’ve finished reading it. I’m especially drawn to stories that make me cry, laugh, or transport me to a world that’s new to me. So long as the writing is strong, I don’t shy away from dark or quiet stories. I don’t tend to like category or genre fiction.”
How to submit: “The best way to contact me is via email at epatterson [at] bromasite.com with a basic query letter (a bit about the project, the author, and the author’s past publishing or writing history). A few pages of the work can also be pasted into the body of the email, but I won’t open attachments unless I’ve specially asked for one. Due to the high volume of emails I receive, I generally only respond to queries that sound up my alley.”
I could not find a website for this agency, but they have reported 15 signed contract in the last twelve months.
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By: Kathy Temean,
on 3/17/2013
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Chuck Sambuchino who writes the Guide to Literary Agents Blog from Writer’s Digest had another good post and is sponsoring a book give-a-way of Kathy Leonard Czepiel, author of A VIOLET SEASON
(Simon & Schuster), named one of the best books of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews.
She is the recipient of a 2012 creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and her short fiction has appeared in Cimarron Review, Indiana Review, CALYX, Confrontation, Brain Child, and elsewhere.
Czepiel teaches writing at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. Learn more about Czepiel
and her work at her website.
As an added bonus, Chuck posted five of Kathy’s tips on writing the first draft of your novel. So read and learn, then visit Chuck to leave a comment and maybe win a copy of Kathy Leonard Czepiel’s award winning YA Fantasy Novel.
1. Make an outline. Then be willing to leave it behind. Writing an outline forces me to think through some big questions before I begin. But I follow it the way I travel with my husband sans kids: “Hey, Honey, look at this weird little mountain on the map. Wanna check it out?” And pretty soon the story has taken a turn. Sometimes the side trip changes everything, and I revise my outline. Sometimes it’s a dead end. Then I have my outline to get me back on track.
(Learn how to start your novel.)
2. Think of your first draft as the clay, not the sculpture. Imagine that what you are doing is digging up clay, just a hunk of stuff from which you’ll create something later. Much of it will be messy and unrefined, but that’s not your problem now. Your job is simply to get from the beginning to the end. Keep digging! When it’s time to write a second draft, you will have your raw material.
3. Every time you think about how pedestrian and clumsy and downright awful your first draft is, remind yourself that no one else has to read it. I don’t show my first draft to anyone. I already know it needs a lot more work, and I even know what some of that work will be, so asking someone else to read it would be pointless (and embarrassing). If you don’t know what your first draft needs, then by all means, ask for help. But if you decide not to show it to anyone, it may be best not to tell anyone about it either. Otherwise, your well-meaning friends will keep asking you how it’s going, and you will have to distract them with beer or chocolate or witty conversation on another topic (my personal favorite).
4. Don’t let a lack of research slow you down. I write historical fiction, so I do a lot of research, but I only do a little bit to get started. When I began drafting my debut novel, A Violet Season, I needed to know that violets were grown in the Hudson Valley beginning in the early 1890s, and that wet nurses had become somewhat obsolete by the turn of the century, when infant formula was invented. As for the details—how to pick violets, how much wet nurses were paid—in my first draft, I made them up! If I’d been concerned about research too soon, all those trips to the library (and the violet farm, and the Lower East Side of New York City, and so on) might have prevented me from ever finishing that first draft. Instead, I use CAPS in my first drafts to indicate where details need to be filled in later.
(Read author interviews with debut novelists.)
5. Set a deadline. A Violet Season was written over four summers—each summer, another draft. This was a crazy schedule, I know, but in some ways it was perfect. There was a clear end to the summers (sadly), and to my drafts. If you don’t have a deadline, you run the risk of one draft spilling into the next, and you may never feel a sense of closure or accomplishment. This is really important in a business in which we often work alone and without recognition. When you finish your draft, celebrate! Then start the next one.
GIVEAWAY: Kathy is excited to give away a free copy of her novel to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before. (Please note that comments may take a little while to appear; this is normal).
Deadline for leaving a comment ends on March 20th, so don’t delay.
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 2/8/2013
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Create Your Writer Platform: The Key to Building an Audience, Selling More Books and finding Success as an Author -- Chuck Sambuchino
www.chucksambuchino.com
I’ve read several books on author platform but have to confess never fully grasping the term until reading Chuck Sambuchino’s CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM. At its simplest level,
a platform is an author’s visibility and reach -- the framework an author has and continues to build that let’s others know of his or her work.
Sambuchino describes his book as
“a guide for all the hardworking writers out there who want a say in their own destinies.” Though there is no one-size-fits-all approach to establishing a platform, Sambuchino says the need for platform cannot be ignored, even for those of us who write fiction. The book is divided into three sections: The Principles of Platform, The Mechanics of Platform, and Author Case Studies. At the end of each chapter, literary agents weigh in on the chapter’s topic, giving readers perspectives outside of the author’s. One of the most helpful aspects of the book is the Case Study section, where twelve different authors from a variety of genres (memoir to self help, fiction to reference) reflect on the choices they made in building their platforms --
what worked, what they wish they’d done differently, what they believe makes them stand out from others in their field.
Sambuchino is also quick to say “this is a resource for those who realize that selling a book is not about blatant self-promotion.” It is more about relationships, the sharing of expertise, and supporting others along the way. Though written for the aspiring author, a lot of things resonated with me, a newly published author, such as the wisdom behind an author newsletter, establishing an “
events” page on my blog, and always, that kindness and generosity go a long way.
Posted on 12/2/2011
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An Englishman in New Jersey
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Posted on 5/27/2011
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Here’s my selection of interesting (and sometimes amusing) posts about writing from the last week:
How Do You Learn to Write? (Rachelle Gardner)
(Read more ...)
Posted on 4/1/2011
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Posted on 2/18/2011
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Query Q&A with Guest Blogger Chuck Sambuchino...
I recently received a question about including credentials in a query letter. I tossed this question to Guide to Literary Agents editor and blogger Chuck Sambuchino. Here's the question and his advice. (And that's Chuck over there.)
QUESTION: I can't decide what constitutes a legitimate credential when I get to the infamous Author Information paragraph of the query. I'm unpublished, so unfortunately I can't amaze a publisher/agent with that kind of info.
Here are some examples of things that I could mention:
- I have an English degree from Vanderbilt University. Would a publisher/agent care?
- I'm the mother of four avid young readers. Would a publisher/agent care?
- I've done proofreading for a number of other authors' books. (Not Children's Lit, though.) Would a publisher/agent care?
Obviously those "credentials" are specific to me, and I'd love your input. But I'm sure there are a lot of other readers out there who aren't sure where the line exists between valid credential and irrelevant information that would annoy a publisher/agent.
ANSWER: Ah ... what and what not to mention in the “bio” paragraph of your query letter. This is always a hot topic at the writers’ conferences I attend because it’s always a case-by-case thing. Let’s look over your questions.
- I have an English degree from Vanderbilt University. Would a publisher/agent care?
Sure, mention it. It would be more effective to list any published clips or short stories, but an English degree (or better yet--MFA) is never a bad thing to see. Mention it quickly and humbly like you did above.
- I'm the mother of four avid young readers. Would a publisher/agent care?
No--skip it. The fact that you have four avid readers probably helps you write and compose. But too often, agents see parents who think they have what it takes to write a children’s book, for example, simply because they have kids. It’s kind of a cliché thing to say. Nix it.
- I've done proofreading for a number of other authors' books. (Not Children's Lit, though.) Would a publisher/agent care?
If you were paid to edit people’s work, say so. You would be, by definition, a freelance editor. If you did it for peers, perhaps are you part of a writing group? SCBWI? RWA? MWA? If you are, say so briefly. All that said, if you simply reviewed friends’ books, that will not carry much weight in a query so I say skip it.
Don’t be afraid to be brief and wrap up the query. The most important part in a query is the pitch, and a writer should hope that an agent is so hooked by the pitch that they want to see sample pages then and there. Sure, an agent cares about who you are. But more so, they care about if you can write.
- If you have more questions on queries, there's still time to sign up for today's WD 1 p.m. (eatern) webinar, Extreme Makover: The Query Letter. Click here for details.
- To read Chuck's blog including a recent interview with editor-turned-agent Brenda Bowen, click here.
- To learn more about Guide to Literary Agents, click here.
By:
Alice Pope,
on 5/15/2009
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Info Now Posted for Newest Writer's Digest Event: The Business of Getting Published...
A brand new Writer's Digest event, The Business of Getting Published, is designed to guide any author through the new dynamics of today's publishing world. This three-day event takes place Friday, September 18, through Sunday, September 20, 2009, at the New York Marriott Marquis, on Times Square in New York.
With emphasis on platform, networking and social media, The Business of Getting Published is an innovative and ground-breaking conference, featuring the industry's top forward-thinking speakers, leading sessions on topics relevant to the current and future state of the publishing world.
Chris Brogan, social media genius, is the keynote speaker. Other speakers include Kassia Krozser, editor/publisher of BookSquare.com; David Mathison, whose online sales success is the new business model; Mike Shatzkin, the industry's top publishing consultant; Set
h Harwood and Scott Sigler, whose own podcasts and videocasts have made them superstars in the business; Christina Katz, author of Get Known Before the Book Deal; and many more, plus WD Publisher & Editorial Director Jane Friedman and Guide to Literary Agents Editor Chuck Sambuchino.
Complete program information, including speaker bios, special events related to the conference and registration, is now available at writersdigestconference.com.
On the GLA Blog: Agent Kelly Sonnack...
Guide to Literary Agents editor Chuck Sambuchino posted an interview with agent Kelly Sonnack who recently joined Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Here's a snippet:
I’d love to see more well-written and clever middle grade fiction. There’s a need for it right now and I see a lot of potential in this market. I’d also love to see more memoir for kids – especially cultural memoir about growing up in different countries, identity, and living across cultures. We are a colorful world, and I’m not sure that’s reflected adequately in children’s lit quite yet.
Click here to read the full interview.
Enter Chuck's 'Worst Storyline Ever' Contest...
My editor pal Chuck Sambuchino just posted the first-ever contest on his Guide to Literary Agent's Blog.
If you think you've got what it takes to enter the "Worst Storyline Ever" contest, visit Chuck's blog for contest rules.
Here's the scoop on the prizes to get you interested:
First prize (the grand prize) consists of a query letter critique from Chuck, a follow-up phone call to discuss the query critique, and a plan of action for seeing your work published, along with copies of both the 2009 Guide to Literary Agents and the 2009 Writer's Market (and public praise from Chuck on his blog).
Two runners-up will win their choice of a free copy of either the 2009 Guide to Literary Agents or the 2009 Writer's Market.
Guide to Literary Agents Blog New Agent Alert...
Editor Chuck Sambuchino (who is currently in Austin and had a birthday yesterday--Happy Birthday Chuck!) offers news on new agents whenever he finds it. Check out this recent post by GLA blog contributor Kristen Howe on Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary--he's interested in YA books. (Be sure to bookmark Chuck's blog if you're in the market for an agent. It's chock full of agent-related news including lots of conference info.)
Woohoo! The AWN (I work there) 2008 Oscar Showcase is up and running, with no glitches or errors. I'm home sick today but Deron, Darlene, Bill, Kevin and Rick did an outstanding job preparing this thing to go off without a hitch. So much behind the scenes work goes into our Oscar Showcase for Animated Features and Short Subjects that I just have to stop and give the team a big shout out for being so fabulous.
Take a look below at the end product of weeks of work, getting permissions to use content, tracking down the right people, writing articles, posting images, designing things, making sure the voting mechanism works, the clips play, etc. AWN has the best people and they do the best work. They care and it shows. Stop by and show them some love. You can even vote for your favorites to win.
The AWN 2008 Oscar Showcase.
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Thanks for the info.!