A Writer’s Dream

Last night I dreamed a wonderful dream. In it, my novel became a worldwide phenomenon. I was frantic and frazzled, thrilled to the point of tears, the New York Times spread out on the table with my name at the top of the bestseller list, my phone ringing off the hook like it all happened … Continue reading A Writer’s Dream →

What Makes a Bestselling Novel? | Pointless Rambling Vol. 486

I’m not trying to tell you what I know to be true. Far from it. I'm just thinking out loud, trying to figure it out for myself. What better way to figure something out than to think about it, and if I’m going to bother thinking about it, why not write down my thoughts just … Continue reading What Makes a Bestselling Novel? | Pointless Rambling Vol. 486 →

PitMad Advice | How to Use Your Three Pitches

For those of you participating in PitMad, I want to share some advice about how to use your three pitches. If you don't know what PitMad is, go here. Okay, so you've crafted three pitches and you're ready to go. Should you tweet out all three, spread evenly throughout the day? Yes to the second … Continue reading PitMad Advice | How to Use Your Three Pitches →

What if It Happens to You? | A Portrait of a Querying Writer

YOU'RE READY. You believe this is the book. Your synopsis is just right. Your query letter could hook a person who doesn't even read. You've generated a list of agents who represent your genre, a balance of high-profile presidents of the agency to senior agents to associate agents. You send out a batch of queries. … Continue reading What if It Happens to You? | A Portrait of a Querying Writer →

Mock Query Letter

Dear Ms. Literary Agent, Janie Character has lived her entire life imprisoned in the pages of a novel. The only thing that can set her free is the imagination of an avid reader, but there's just one problem: Janie isn't real. She needs a reader's mind to exist at all, and, confined to the page, … Continue reading Mock Query Letter →

A Real Reader

I'M STILL reeling over the fact that I crossed 3000 Twitter followers yesterday, which marked four weeks since I discovered and joined the writing community. As of writing this post, I'm about to hit 3200. People are saying really nice things to me so often that if I'm feeling down all I have to do … Continue reading A Real Reader →

Last Night’s Giveaways

LAST NIGHT I bought eight books, six to give away and two for myself. There wasn't a whole lot of activity on Twitter at the time, so giveaway entries were lower than I'd hoped, but it was still lots of fun. This is just a quick post to let you know I plan on making … Continue reading Last Night’s Giveaways →

I Want to Read Your Query

I WANT to read your query and/or your opening chapters. There are many of you out there who can't afford an editor or a query consultant but would love the opportunity, so I'm volunteering to take on as much of a workload as I can manage. At the same time, I would love to make … Continue reading I Want to Read Your Query →

Make an Agent’s Dream Come True

DO YOU know what today is? Today is the day all the literary agents return to their offices to sip coffee and catch up on their workload after an extended holiday vacation. Not all, of course. But the fluorescent lights are back on and inboxes are being browsed and agencies will be reopening to submissions. … Continue reading Make an Agent’s Dream Come True →