May/June2013 Issue
May/June Issue
Writer's Digest Magazine
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Writing Editor Blogs
Guide to Literary Agents Blog
by Chuck Sambuchino
GLA Editor Chuck Sambuchino keeps track of all news related to literary agents and writing conferences on his blog. Common features include agent interviews, new agency listings, agency profiles, upcoming conferences of interest, contests and other publishing opportunities, valuable writing resources, submission tips and information, and a blogroll of other agent blogs. Read Chuck’s Blog
There Are No Rulesby the editors of Writer’s Digest
Get on the cutting edge of today’s publishing trends and how authors can succeed in a world of fast-paced technological change, guided by the editors of Writer’s Digest. You’ll get an inside look at the work, play, and passion of the publishing business and find practical tools for success. Read There Are No Rules
Questions & Quandariesby Brian Klems
Don’t know the difference between “who” and “whom”? Facing an ethical dilemma about accepting gifts from subjects? Let the informative (and humorous) columnist Brian A. Klems answer some of your most pressing grammatical, ethical, business and writing-related questions. Check out his advice and don’t hesitate to ask a question—your writing career will thank you. Read Brian’s Blog
Poetic Asidesby Robert Brewer
Published poet Robert Lee Brewer blogs on issues affecting poets from the poet’s perspective. As the editor of Writer’s Market, Brewer also shares insights on the publishing industry, especially as it relates to poetry and the poetry markets. He also explains poetic forms, interviews other published poets, and provides the occasional poetry prompt. Read Robert’s Blog
5 Ways to Publicize & Promote Your Book
1. Start tweeting now! Or Tumblring, or whatever, and discover what feels genuine to you. My publisher is very active across multiple social media platforms and encouraged me to get involved well in advance of my book release, to explore what I was comfortable with and start making connections. I happen to like Twitter and would never vlog except under duress, but you may be more telegenic than me.
GIVEAWAY: Barry is excited to give away a free copy of his 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. (UPDATE: pavic30 won.) Read more
Literary Agent Interview: Evan Gregory of The Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency
This installment features Evan Gregory of The Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency. Evan began at the agency in 2008 as an Assistant. He currently manages subsidiary rights for the agency in addition to his duties as an agent and general office manager. You can find him on Twitter or over at his blog.
He is seeking: In literary fiction, Evan is looking for horror, mystery, thrillers, science-fiction, fantasy, and women’s literature. He also accepts children’s books including picture books, early readers, and middle grade as well as young adult. In narrative nonfiction, his interests vary and he’s looking for a wide range of subjects including arts, cinema, photography, biography, business, cooking, health, history, nature, family, politics, science, sports, and travel. Read more
Successful Queries: Agent Sara Megibow and “The Siren”
This series is called “Successful Queries” and I’m posting actual query letters that succeeded in getting writers signed with agents. In addition to posting the actual query letter, we will also get to hear thoughts from the agent as to why the letter worked.
The 58th installment in this series is with agent Sara Megibow (Nelson Literary) for Tiffany Reisz’s contemporary erotic romance, THE SIREN (Harequin Mira, out in paperback July 2012). Purchase the book here. You can find Tiffany Reisz online at her website, and on Twitter. Read more
How to Control a Media Interview
By Rob Eagar A good way to gauge your interview prowess is by mastering the ability to steer a conversation to only the topics that you want to discuss. Just because a … Read more
Free contest! Can you write an opening line to a story based on this photo? (Get published in WD)
Up for a writing challenge? We want to see Your Story. … Or at least the first line of it. In our Your Story contest, we give our readers a chance to get … Read more
7 Things I’ve Learned So Far, by Mike Mullin
This is a recurring column I’m calling “7 Things I’ve Learned So Far,” where writers at any stage of their career can talk about seven things they’ve learned along their writing journey that they wish they knew at the beginning. This installment is from YA writer Mike Mullin.
GIVEAWAY: Mike is excited to give away a free copy of his 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. (UPDATE: LovesKangol won.) Read more
Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 185
For today’s prompt, write a plea poem. Of course, a plea can mean a few different things. First, a plea can be an allegation leveled at someone. Second, a plea can be … Read more
How I Got My Agent: Gina Damico
“How I Got My Agent” is a recurring feature on the GLA blog. Some tales are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good luck and quick signings.
Author Gina Damico writes young adult fiction, and her first novel, CROAK, was released in March 2012 from Graphia. She received a degree in theater and sociology from Boston College, where she was active with the Committee for Creative Enactments, a collegiate murder mystery improv comedy troupe that may or may not have sparked an interest in wildly improbable bloodshed. Read more
Bonus Mystery Kits Just for You
Our July Mystery Kit sold out in record time, but I was given a handful specifically for readers of the No Rules Blog—including you! If you like writing mystery or thriller novels, this collection has everything you need to get your story started, in shape and ready to send to agents and publishers (and at a heavily discounted price). Check it out here. Read more
Literary Agent Interview: Jita Fumich of Folio Literary Management
This installment features Jita Fumich of Folio Literary Management. Jita first began working with Folio in 2006. She holds a B.A. from New York University and has taken classes at NYU’s Center for Publishing. As an agent, Jita seeks to work with her authors on all aspects of their career—understanding that being an author today involves more than just writing a great book. In addition to traditional agenting, Jita is the Digital Liaison at Folio. In this capacity, she assists all Folio authors seeking to self-publish both backlist and original titles in electronic format.
She is seeking: Urban fantasy, lighter traditional fantasy, edgy paranormal romance, edgy contemporary romance, historical romance, romantic suspense, women’s fiction, commercial fiction, YA of all sorts, and select narrative nonfiction. Read more
WD’s New Premium Collection: How to Write Mysteries & Thrillers
Whether you’re just starting to create your story’s characters or ready to sell your manuscript to an agent or editor, you’ll find everything you need to devise, plot, and create a thrilling mystery or thriller that will leave your readers glued to the pages of your book. Right now, we have only a few bundles remaining of our July 2012 premium collection, which is sold at 68% off. Check out the Writing Mysteries and Thrillers That Sell Premium Collection today. Save more than $200 when you buy the bundle. Read more
Make Your Writing Time Matter
Who hasn’t daydreamed about what we could produce if only we had more time? More time to write; more time to feel inspired; more time to read; more time to devote to … Read more
Nonet Poems: WD Poetic Forms Challenge
Time for another WD Poetic Forms Challenge. This time around, we’ll be writing nonet poems. Click the link for the rules related to this type of poem. Nonets are pretty easy to … Read more
The More You Write For Yourself, The Better Your Book Will Be
There is an old saying. What comes from the heart reaches the heart.
I have always found this to be true. But I would add to it my own less elegant postscript. It helps to know who you’re talking to.
GIVEAWAY: John is excited to give away a free copy of his 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. (UPDATE: bikerkat won.) Read more
How I Got My Agent: Colette Martin
“How I Got My Agent” is a recurring feature on the GLA blog. Some tales are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good luck and quick signings. If you have a literary agent and would be interested in writing a short guest column for this GLA blog, e-mail me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com and we’ll talk specifics.
Colette Martin is the author of LEARNING TO BAKE ALLERGEN-FREE (June 2012). Read more
The NE-SCBWI Conference: Talking With Agents Stephen Fraser, Jennifer Laughran and Vickie Motter
The NE-SCBWI Conference, organized by the New England chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, took place in April 2012 and offered an agent-author panel featuring the following literary agents:
1. Stephen Fraser (Jennifer De Chiara Literary), joined by his client Christine Brodien-Jones
2. Jennifer Laughran (Andrea Brown Literary), joined by her client Kate Messner
3. Vickie Motter (Andrea Hurst Literary), joined by her client Kris Asselin Read more
Marketing is About Success Not Perfection
By Rob Eagar Life is about success, not perfection…and so is marketing. Case in point: A few weeks ago, I sent out my weekly newsletter that wound up having a couple of … Read more
5 Tips For Avoiding Distractions and Getting More Writing Done
Writers have always had to be disciplined, but the internet has made matters a million times worse. In addition to the temptations that everyone else faces, we are being actively encouraged to be online 24/7: to network, promote our books and so on. Ashley Ream wrote a great guest post recently about how to write a novel when you’re busy, but how do you focus on the writing itself when there are so many distractions right at your fingertips? Read more
New Literary Agent Alert: Jennie Goloboy of Red Sofa Literary
Reminder: Newer agents are golden opportunities for new writers because they’re likely building their client list; however, always make sure your work is as perfect as it can be before submitting, and only query agencies that are a great fit for your work. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time and postage.
She is seeking: History–must have a commercial (non-academic) focus; early American history is preferred, but will consider all projects. Biography–no personal memoirs. Genre Fiction–science fiction/fantasy or paranormal, especially with a literary flair. young adult and middle grade fiction, especially science fiction/fantasy. Read more
Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 184
I don’t know if my birthday has ever fallen on a Wednesday Poetry Prompt previously, but it has this year. It’s kind of nice to write a poem first thing on your … Read more
Nonet Poems: Poetic Form
Never heard of nonet poems? That’s all right. I’d never heard of them before trying to hunt down a new poetic form to cover earlier this week. Nonet Poems: The Rules The … Read more
Dog Author Interview: Julie Klam (YOU HAD ME AT WOOF, and LOVE AT FIRST BARK)
Julie Klam is the author of several books, including the New York Times Bestseller You Had Me At Woof: How Dogs Taught Me The Secrets of Happiness (Riverhead Books), Love At First Bark: Dogs and the People They Saved (Riverhead Books), and the forthcoming [fall 2012] Friendkeeping: The Field Guide to the People You Love, Hate, and Can’t Live Without (Riverhead Books).
GIVEAWAY: Julie is excited to give away a free copy of her book 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. (Update: Debbie won.) Read more
7 Things I’ve Learned So Far, by Leah Bobet
This is a recurring column I’m calling “7 Things I’ve Learned So Far,” where writers at any stage of their career can talk about seven things they’ve learned along their writing journey that they wish they knew at the beginning. This installment is from writer Leah Bobet, author of ABOVE.
GIVEAWAY: Leah 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. (Update: Zephyrsaerie won.) Read more
Don’t Get Rejected Before Agents Even Read a Word
People who work in book publishing always have a ridiculous amount of reading to get through. I once worked on what is pejoratively termed the “slush pile” in the HarperCollins fiction department, where I would often be the first reader. As such, I would get to decide if the story was worth further consideration by those higher up the chain. There were so many submissions I don’t think I was ever on top of it…
GIVEAWAY: Sara is excited to give away 2 free copies 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. (Update: xlonelytearsx won.) Read more
