Zombies are HOT in the publishing world. I know this because pretty much every issue of Publisher’s Lunch for the past year has reported stupendous deals for writers of zombie fiction. This includes one headlined seven-book deal—planning for years of zombiemania to come.So lock your doors and windows, fellow reader-persons. We are in the midst of an invasion of literary zombies, nonfiction zombies, romantic zombies, high school zombies, historical zombies, and anthologized zombies. All eating brains at a bookstore near you.And to make way for all...
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Monday, 19 July 2010
The "I Write Like" Man
Posted on 19:05 by Unknown
Here's a link to an interview with the fascinating young Russian who invented the "I Write Like" meme that's captivated us all this week. No, don't start querying different agents because it says you write like Stephen King. So does Margaret Atwood, apparently. A lot can be forgiven when you read that English isn't even his first langua...
Sunday, 18 July 2010
SELF-PUBLISHING: Maybe You're Not So Vain After All?
Posted on 12:15 by Unknown
A lot of writers—even established ones—are taking a second look at self-publishing right now.Only a couple of years ago, self-publishing—especially for memoir and fiction—was equated with the grumpy-geezer rants and bored-housewife fantasies of "vanity publishing.".Serious writers were told self-publishing was the direct route to a dead-on-arrival career. Predatory outfits like PublishAmerica and AuthorHouse produced such heaping piles of unedited, overpriced crapola that most bookstores wouldn’t touch anything that gave off a whiff of “P.O.D,”...
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Who Do You Write Like?
Posted on 14:22 by Unknown
Terry Lynn Johnson provided a fun time-waster over on her blog today. It's an "analyzer" that scans a piece of your prose and tells you who you write like. I put in several chapters and a short story. Two were pronounced to be in the style of David Foster Wallace; two like William Gibson, and my current WIP is James Joyce. Kind of high fallutent for chick lit, I'd say. If you want to play, here's the link http://iwl.m...
Sunday, 11 July 2010
THE NUMBER ONE MISTAKE NEW WRITERS MAKE...and why we make it
Posted on 11:08 by Unknown
After reading a bunch of agent blogs, submission guidelines, and tweets on the subject of our #queryfails, it occurred to me that most of the complaints can be boiled down to one major offense: querying too early.It’s not only about holding off until you can give that book an extra polish: writers need to educate themselves about the publishing industry before they try to join it.Unprofessional gun-jumpers waste agents’ time, frustrate themselves, overstuff the slushpile—or publish inferior and/or under-promoted books, “ending careers...
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
All my blog comments are disappearing!
Posted on 19:01 by Unknown
Anybody else having this problem? If you've posted comments on my blog in the last three days, your comment has probably been eaten by the Bloggermonster. Becky says she's having the problem, too. Stuff I posted on other blogs seems to be disappearing too. This is soooooo weird. And crazymaking. 'sup, Blogg...
Sunday, 4 July 2010
7 TIPS FOR AVOIDING BOGUS LITERARY AGENTS
Posted on 11:42 by Unknown
This is an update of a list I ran a year ago, when I first started this blog. It was blessed with a recommendation from the editor who blogs as Moonrat and a visit (and added tip) from agent Janet Reid, the QueryShark herownself. I figure it’s worth posting again—with Ms. Reid’s addendum—since a fresh flock of newbies will have hatched from their writing hidey-holes in the last 12 months—and the predators are still out there, waiting to pounce. Just look at all those ads flashing on your gmail page every time you use the word “publish” in an email...
Thursday, 1 July 2010
Yup. I put a picture on my blog
Posted on 14:25 by Unknown
I'm trying this out. Some frou-frou to go with the new blog design. Big step for no-nonsense me. But I asked my friend Christine Ahern to take some photos of the books in my study last night--thanks Christine!--and I actually figured out how to turn a photo into a "gadget" and attach it here. Now the question is--does the photo make the blog take too long to load? Is it too busy? Would people prefer my words of wisdom unadorned? Does it make my butt look b...
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