As you may have noticed, we don't do the monthly Contest Roundup anymore, but that's because we have something better: The Contest Roundup Calendar! I just added a bunch of contests through the end of the year so it seems like a good time for a reminder that this resource is still here for you.... Continue Reading →
In light of the Danielle Smith/Lupine Grove Creative scandal last month, this seems like a good time to talk about questions that authors and illustrators can ask their prospective agent to make sure that the working relationship will be a good one. Every agent works and communicates with their clients in different ways, and it... Continue Reading →
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 →
