What do you do when you get an offer of representation or publication? Dance. Pop the champagne. Jump up and down, of course. But then it's time to get down to business. Let the offering agent or publishing house know you need a week or so to tie up loose ends. This is perfectly normal.... Continue Reading →
Industry publications like Writer's Digest or Publishers Lunch often include announcements of new literary agents just entering the business. We are told these agents are a "golden opportunity" for writers and illustrators since they are actively building their client lists. So are new agents a goldmine or a minefield? The answer is "it depends." On the plus side,... Continue Reading →
You've been offered a book contract. Woo hoo! As a long-time Sub It Club reader, you've done your homework. You've made sure the publisher isn't a vanity press that will require you to pay to publish. You've had a publishing lawyer review the contract to make sure it's free from questionable terms. It's time to... Continue Reading →
Are you ready to start your agent search in earnest? Are you a little overwhelmed by the prospect of researching agents? Fear not! Sub It Club has a step-by-step process to help you build your agent query list. 1) Start with a good list. Before you begin your research, get a good list of... Continue Reading →
News flash: Your book is a product, like a car, computer, or denture cream. And like denture cream (and cars and computers), not everyone in the world wants or needs your book. The group most likely to buy your book is known as your market (or audience). Think about it...who buys denture cream? People with... Continue Reading →
There are lots of publishers out there. Of course, you've heard of the big ones, but smaller publishers abound. There are good ones and questionable ones. It's especially easy these days to put yourself out there as a publisher and start accepting submissions. That means it falls on you, the person submitting your work, to... Continue Reading →
Since I do the Contest Roundup every month (we have a big one coming up soon!) and we talk about contests quite a bit in our Sub It Club support group, I have a lot of thoughts about these sorts of opportunities. For one, I think that all of you who participate in any sort of... Continue Reading →
Submission guidelines can sometimes be vague, especially those at publishing houses it seems. You may find their guidelines to simply say something like: send your manuscript or proposal to publishers@bigpublishinghouse.com. Okay, so at least you know the address where you are supposed to send your submission, but you want to do things the proper way.... Continue Reading →
Personalizing your query letter can be hard. Do you have to? Well, I've seen agents who are pretty adamant that they want to know why you're sending your manuscript to them. They want more of a reason than “I am a writer and you are an agent so I'm sending you my manuscript” or “You... Continue Reading →
