Q : I submitted my manuscript to an agent and she said the plot was confusing and needed a lot of work. I was crushed! What should I do? A : Telling a good story is the writer's most important task. But constructing a great plot with so many ideas, characters and actions careening through your … [Read more...]
The blog for writers
The Book Deal
Building a productive relationship with your editor: 9 tips for authors
Once you have a book contract, the editor is your best friend in the company. It's your editor's job to not only help you develop a great manuscript, but to shepherd the book through the all-important stages of copy-editing, design, production, manufacturing, publicity, and sales. You need your … [Read more...]
Every non-fiction book needs an index: Here’s why
Does my book really need an index? And I have to pay the indexer? Wait, isn’t that the publisher’s job? OK, well can I just put it together myself? I often hear questions like these from authors I work with. So I explain that an index is an indispensable tool for almost every non-fiction book. An … [Read more...]
Are publishers still acquiring books? The answer is YES
Reports about the demise of book publishing are once again premature. Traditional book acquisition is alive and well. This despite all the free-floating anxiety and doomsday scenarios about money drying up, massive cutbacks and publishing houses closing up shop. I know this from personal … [Read more...]
The unvarnished truth about self-publishing
"It's a contact sport." That's how one author summed up his experience in a refreshingly frank and illuminating first-person account of what it's really like to publish your own novel. A minefield with roads forked in every direction David Carnoy started out with a literary agent and high hopes … [Read more...]
Why we paid this first-time author a six-figure advance for “Free Range Kids”
As parents, we always try our best to raise our children from the moment they are conceived. From seeking out Portland pregnancy help to parental counseling classes, we want to make sure the parenting we're doing is the right type. We all make mistakes and our children may do things in defiance as a … [Read more...]
How to negotiate a bigger book advance: 9 insider tips
The secret to getting more up-front money is persuading your publisher to project higher book sales. Every publisher I know has an internal "advance offer calculation" process, based on a formula for estimating first year sales, revenues, and royalties. The formula for book advances It's not a … [Read more...]
Are you better off with a NYC-based agent? Maybe
“There are definite advantages for me operating in Manhattan. I can visit editors at their offices and schmooze over lunch,” says top literary agent Nat Sobel. “It’s terrific. Two or three days a week, I’m talking to an editor about projects I’ve already sold them and are now in publication, or new … [Read more...]
Hungry agent seeks up & coming writers: Tips for the unpublished
"I'm eager to discover writers who aren't famous yet but will be," says San Francisco-based literary agent Elise Proulx. "My mission is to promote literature and make some money for deserving authors," said Proulx, whose five tips for unpublished writers appear below. "My specialty is both high … [Read more...]
Tom Robbins: “My advice to writers”
Stop worrying about getting published and concentrate on getting better. That was some of the sage advice the celebrated novelist offered writers at a literary seminar last week in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. “Focus on the work itself and not on what may or may not eventually happen to it," … [Read more...]
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