Publishing

Book publishing can be… Confusing Complicated Stressful Especially when you face it alone. But even I don’t try to navigate the publishing world by myself, despite having been an author, an editor, a publisher, and a writing coach over the last 45 years. That’s why I have an agent. To land a traditional publishing deal—where […]

You’ve done the hard part. You’ve spent ages researching, writing, and rewriting until you finally feel your book is ready to share with the world. Not so fast. Your next step is one of the most important. Writing a query letter can determine whether a literary agent asks to see more or sends you a […]

Before an Acquisitions Editor or an Agent reads a word of your manuscript they can tell if it’s properly formatted. That’s crucial. Why? It’s about more than looks. Sure, they’re going to decide on buying your work largely on the writing and market potential. So why is formatting so important? Any errors will have to […]

What follows is common sense, but you’d be surprised at how many novice writers skip too many of the suggestions on this list. You can get a leg up on the competition by following these to a T. And if you’re primarily a fiction writer, you’ll find much of this advice applies to short stories […]

It doesn’t sound fair. It doesn’t seem right. But here’s a dirty little secret of the writing life you need to hear: Any veteran editor can tell within two minutes whether they’re going to reject your manuscript. It takes longer to decide whether they’ll recommend it for purchase, of course, but—sad to say—it can, and […]