March 14, 2018
The Agents’ Panel was moderated by Michael Joy, Co-chair of Sleuthfest 2018. The four agents on the panel were: Mitchell Waters, Literary Agent at Curtis Brown, Ltd.; Anne Bomke, The Annie Bomke Literary Agency; Evan Marshall, The Evan Marshall Agency; and Jenny Bent, The Bent Agency. Michael asked questions, which I’ll paraphrase here, and […]
July 5, 2017
“I’m going to self-publish because don’t want anyone changing what I’ve written!” I cringe when I hear a writer say that. Maybe the published book will be “clean” (no typos, misspellings, or poorly written sentences), but usually it will have sections that are either unclear, repetitious, or totally unnecessary. (I’ve even wished some traditionally published […]
June 28, 2017
How do I find an agent? In the last month I’ve had two people ask me that question. I think they wanted a short, easy answer (the secret). They looked disappointed when I start talking about going on-line and finding which agents represented the type of book they’ve written; checking Writers Beware for any warnings; writing […]
March 8, 2017
The agents’ panel at Sleuthfest 2017 started at 8:30 a.m. Friday. I missed a few minutes right at the start (I had to bring some books to the book store, and it didn’t open until 8:30), but I heard most of what the agents had to say. The four agents were: Sandy Harding (Spencerhill Associates), […]
March 1, 2017
At Sleuthfest 2017, held in Boca Rotan, Florida last week, I heard both encouraging and discouraging words about the publishing industry. Some presenters (agents, editors, and authors) listed the increase in small, but viable, publishing houses as a plus and that many writers were now going hybrid (published by traditional publishing houses and self-publishing their […]
January 11, 2017
I’ve been having trouble coming up with a topic to blog about. No, that’s not true. I’ve had plenty of ideas. I thought about blogging about agents—but then I realized I’ve done that several times (Agents1, Agents2 ,). Then I decided I’d write about titles. Oops, done that. (Titles Blog 1, Titles Blog2 ) Goal setting? Not […]
June 29, 2016
On June 22, 2016 the Authors’ Guild had an interview for their Industry and Advocacy News titled “Agents’ Roundtable: Three Agents Reveal What They’re Really Looking for from Authors.” The roundtable included David Forrer, from Inkwell Management; Eric Myers, from Dystel & Goderich Literary Management; and Regina Ryan from Regina Ryan Books. These three agents […]
July 2, 2014
Yesterday I signed and mailed a contract for EAT CROW AND DIE to Five Star Publishing a subsidiary of Gale/Cengage Learning. Of course, before I signed, I read through the contract and began thinking about all of the different contracts I have signed over the years. My first contract with Harlequin Books (signed in 1983) […]
December 4, 2013
Nowadays many writers are rethinking the need for an agent. With the rise in e-book sales, the ease of self-publishing (without paying big bucks), and the lack of marketing on the part of traditional publishers, many writers wonder what an agent can do for them. Why bother trying to sell to the BIG NAME publishers […]
June 26, 2013
Does it ever get easier? I can’t speak for all writers, only for myself, but the answer to that question is “No.” I’ve had 27 books published (a small number compared to many writers), but I still have to submit query letters and synopses, and I still have to wait… and wait… and wait for […]