Today is the birthday of Charles Scribner, personal editor of author Ernest Hemingway, whose last name I heartlessly employ as a euphemism for booze sipped while writing. 

Now, this might seem the perfect occasion to combine the literary agent links with the editor/publisher links like I threatened promised hinted I might do, last week.

But, no!  You shall have your literary agent links, separate and per the usual schedule, and you shall like it!

♦ Jessica at BookEnds LLC answers the question: Is it okay to use a news story as the basis for a novel?  (Hey didn’t I just recently bring this up?  Synchronicity!)

♦ Jane at Dystel & Goderich explains that there is no longer a “right time” in the year to submit a proposal.

♦ Nathan Bransford advises writers not to undercook their novels.  I love a good analogy and, as analogies go, this is a great one.  Which means I doubleplus love it.

And the AGENT LINK OF THE WEEK award goes to the Rejectionist for this timely message on YA fiction:

FOR GOD’S SAKE PEOPLE IF YOU WERE SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS OLD AND REALLY GOOD-LOOKING AND HAD SUPERPOWERS AND A BAZILLION DOLLARS WOULD YOU REALLY BE FARTING AROUND HIGH SCHOOLS AND WASTING YOUR TIME IN ALGEBRA II NO YOU WOULD NOT. YOU WOULDN’T. SO PLEASE WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE NOW.

Amen.