by Mary Ellis Every writer whether our contemporaries or long gone has wrestled for hours when they can’t string seven words together into a concise sentence. We doubt ourselves, our mentors, the process we thought we’d perfected, even the quality of beans that went into our cup of java. It happens to the best of us. And it will happen …
Be Your Agent’s Dream Client
by Greg Johnson WordServe Literary Group One thing authors wonder about is how to “behave” once they have a working relationship with a literary agent. Especially if it’s your first agent, you want to be the kind of author an agent wants to keep as a client. Agents understand that—and we want to be the kind of agent you want …
The Secret to Effective Hooks: Write Like a Journalist
by Sandra Bishop MacGregor Literary More than any other element of a pitch, a solid hook offers more opportunity for you to grab – and possibly keep — an agent or editor’s attention. Yes, hooks are hard to nail, but not impossible. Try drawing from a couple simple techniques you learned in high school journalism: Start with the Five W’s …
Pitching in those Agent/Editor Appointments
by Rachelle Gardner Books & Such Literary Agency One thing I’ve noticed lately in fiction pitches – verbal pitches or queries – is that some writers want to tell all about the theme or the emotional journey of the story, but they have a hard time conveying the actual story. Every novel has a theme. There’s a character arc, in …
Talk Your Way Out of a Jam!
by Bonnie S. Calhoun Have you heard novelists say their story was bogged down by inactivity, or that they felt lost in a long drawn out narrative? Well never fear! I have a totally sharp solution…conversation. That’s write (right). Dialogue is considered to be an action element. It can move any plodding exposé into the realm of frantic excitement, or …
Everyday Heroes… in Writing and Life
by Michelle Grajkowski 3 Seas Literary Agency As the Memorial Day weekend filled with warm air and sunshine beckon me from my window, I can’t help but to look outside and to thank God for the blessings that He has given us. My husband and I have a happy home, beautiful children and wonderful careers, both of which help people …
How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?
by Beth vogt (Dani Pettrey, author of the gripping debut romantic suspense novel, Submerged, blogged yesterday about real issues in Christian fiction. Today I’m continuing the conversation about our characters’ lives before they ever appear in our books.) In every romance I’ve ever read, someone’s heart gets broken. • Charlotte in The Wedding Dress by best-selling author Rachel Hauck? Heart …
Real Issues in Christian Fiction
by Dani Pettrey I often hear people say they don’t read Christian fiction because it doesn’t deal with real issues. I take issue with that. I’ve read phenomenal Christian novels dealing with issues like adultery (Dry as Rain by Gina Holmes), drug addiction (Terri Blackstock’s Intervention series), and most recently, I read a novel dealing with a very prevalent issue …
Getting Published in Today’s Market
by Mary Sue Seymour The Seymour Agency Are pre-published authors getting published in today’s market? I just sold Dann Stadler’s Angels in the Fire, the true story of a woman rescued from a car accident by angels, to Tim Peterson at Bethany House. This was the first book Dann had sold. So yes, authors are breaking in. I queried clients …
The Green-Eyed Monster
by Lisa Karon Richardson Jealousy is a vicious taskmaster. More tyrannical than poor George III ever dreamed of, it extracts the joy from our days and leaves us only with burning want. What’s worse, outside of romantic attachments we don’t always recognize it. I tend to be competitive. A quality which western society promotes. After all, who likes to lose? …