by Greg Johnson WordServe Literary Group After representing a couple of thousand books, I’ve seen average books go through the roof, and great books struggle to find readers. I won’t name names or titles, but we’ve all scratched our heads after reading a current bestseller, thinking Really? Naturally, I’ve seen hundreds of books sell just “okay.” And on rare occasions, …
Blessings
by Natasha Kern In this season for appreciating our many gifts and blessings, I wanted to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the blessing of ACFW. When I first began agenting in 1986 way back before email or the Internet existed and before editors had computers on their desks (and resisted them mightily), ACFW did not exist. Amazingly, …
What Should I Write?
by Sandra Bishop MacGregor Literary What should I write? What should I do next? “What’s Hot?” Should I write that? I get this exact litany of questions often. And while we’re an agency that prides itself on career management and guiding our authors in their writing journeys, I’ll confess, answering the “Should I write what’s Hot?” question in is not …
Four Ways to Rise to the Top!
by Tamela Hancock Murray The Steve Laube Agency Since agents receive more proposals than they have time to represent, a huge obstacle for new authors is getting their manuscripts to the top of the stack. Every week I review excellent proposals from writers I would be proud to represent. If only I could double my hours in a day! This …
Reduce Irritation with Basic Information
by Les Stobbe, Literary Agent As literary agent I find an all-too-often disregard of the basics when writers send me a proposal. In addition, I get really upset clients when, in writing cover copy, publisher’s copy editors misrepresent what is in their book. Finally, clients get really frustrated when their book’s front cover is way off base on either background …
Frequent Questions Answered, Part 2
by Mary Sue Seymour The Seymour Agency Mary Sue Seymour is back again today answering more questions. Do you represent any projects currently that are unusual or different? I am circulating NY Times best-selling author Cec Murphey’s Slow Death in Muma which is a murder mystery. I don’t usually handle this genre, but I couldn’t put Cec’s book down. Also, …
Frequent Questions Answered, Part 1
by Mary Sue Seymour The Seymour Agency I love to participate in writing conferences where I enjoy presenting workshops, meeting with writers about their books, and speaking on panels. My current blog consists of questions asked of me while sitting on panels at recent conferences along with my responses. How did you become an agent? I grew up one of …
A Calling or an Offering
by Terry Burns Some will not agree with me on this, and that is surely okay, but I know a lot of Christian writers think all Christian writers have been called by God to write. I don’t believe that, any more than I believe everyone who has thought about preaching has been called by God to the ministry, or called …
Making a Living as a Writer
by Chip MacGregor MacGregor Literary Inc. www.chipmacgregor.com I’m often asked by writers how they can make a living with their work – and I usually explain to them that, when you look at writers who are making a living at the craft, you find they come in two basic types: TYPE 1 is the writer who writes all sorts of …
Five Conference Tips from a Veteran Attendee
by Vickie McDonough After waiting all year for the ACFW conference to roll around again, it’s hard to believe that it is now only weeks away. The highlight of my year is attending the ACFW conference each September. I know I will learn more about the writing craft, but I also get to see the friends I’ve made over the …