If you’ve been around this business for even the shortest amount of time, you have heard people talk about THE call. It’s the call every writer dreams of. The call where an agent, a real-life professional in the publishing industry, calls you, the fabulous but vastly underappreciated writer, to offer representation. In this dream scenario,... Continue Reading →
You've likely heard some of these guidelines: "Picture books should be under 500 words." "Your novel should be 90,000 words -- max." "The sweet spot for middle grade is 35,000 words." Each genre and category has its own guidelines for how long (or short) the book should be. If you follow them, your work is... Continue Reading →
Last year, I wrote about some common query missteps that I often see in submissions, and for this year's post, I thought I'd tackle some oft-overlooked, smaller snafus. Including the copyright year in the manuscript (unless it's the current year): I know that a common fear for newly-querying authors is that an agent might steal... Continue Reading →
I am not really a mountain woman. I mean, I’ve gone on my fair share of hikes here and there, but when we’re talking about spending time outdoors on a vacation of some sort, I tend to want to leave the valley I live in and head to the coast. To illustrate, let me tell... Continue Reading →
Are you ready to enter some pitch contests? But what if you're not sure how? It seems like a good time for a reminder that we have some helpful posts right here on the blog: How to Pitmad Have Yourself a Merry Little Pitmad Didn't Get a Pitmad Request? That's Okay! Twitter Pitch Tips from... Continue Reading →
When I first started working at Sheldon Fogelman Agency (so long ago that we only accepted printed manuscripts - SASEs were a must - and didn't take electronic anything), there was a running joke that January was always the worst month for our mail carrier. We would be overrun with submissions from authors eager to... Continue Reading →
