I had another epiphany recently about how much legitimate competition there is in the publishing industry. I’m amazed by the number of writers who don’t write. What? You read me. After reading numerous blogs, perusing my many writing loop and online course emails, and attending meetings with other writers, I’ve come to the conclusion that
It’s only day six of 2010, and I’m already having to learn flexibility when it comes to my new goals. It seems that when I’m a bit stumped in my writing, and feel unable to add another word to the scene I’m working on, I play instead. How will Steve and Libby get out of
Happy 2010! I hope you all had a great holiday. My household is catching up on laundry and email as we recover from a great trip to visit family in Phoenix. And, like many of you, I’m thinking about goals. Even though resolutions for the new year have become cliché, I find it helpful to
I got my first rejection letter–well, email–today. The worst kind: a form letter with no personalization at all. Well, now I’ve lived through that. As the positive thinking experts would say, “I’m one ‘no’ closer to ‘yes’.” I actually thought I’d be more upset, but I think my many months of conditioning through reading RWA
After a week of back-and-forth with my CP (thanks, C!), I finally got my agent query letter honed to a point that I’m satisfied with. Could it be better? Most likely. But, at some point, I just have to get it out there. After reading articles about specific agents, trolling their blogs and websites, and
Have I mentioned how much writers hate crafting query letters? Yes? Oh, fine. Well, maybe it’s just me, but trying to boil my story down to 2-3 paragraphs that will catch an agent’s eye is excruciating. Today, I spent some time perusing blogs by literary agents Nathan Bransford and Kristin Nelson, looking for inspiration. I also
Okay, celebration over. It’s time to get back to work. (Productivity guru Brian Tracy would be so proud.) Winning doesn’t mean anything except that a few people liked my writing enough to vote for it. If I want to get that writing published, there’s work to do! With helpful feedback from my awesome critique partner,