Today, as I pound out some more pages for “The Crow and the Kinnebeck,”* I just want to throw out a blog entry chock full of agent and author advice. 

For example:

Nathan Bransford explains how watching “reality” television can teach you about publishing.

Janet Reid tells frustrated writers how they can avoid ever getting another depressing rejection letter.

Jane at Dystel & Goderich posted a complaint about publishers that made me cringe to think that the people I may have to do business with might not have a clue what they’re doing.

As Jane puts it:

I don’t know why I still find it astonishing when publishers tell me they are “only looking for big books,” that mid-list titles aren’t on their radar. How do they know what’s going to be a big book? … there are literally hundreds of books that were seriously underestimated by publishers but that turned into huge bestsellers.

On the other hand, agent Kristin Nelson confesses to turning down a good manuscript from a published author because “really good might not be good enough.”

Jennifer Jackson brings more “Letters from the Query Wars” with a list of query letter superstitions held by writers and agents.

Jenny Bent (why do so many of these have “J” names?) launches from praise for Jane Austen to advice for writers to pump their stories full of plot.

Eric at Pimp My Novel reveals the sad truth about remaindered books.

And finally, Rachel Gardner offers up some (possibly) bad advice.

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* UPDATE @0900: at 3000 words and not quite one quarter done, TCATK is threatening to burst the bonds of a short-storyhood and become the dreaded “novelette.” :-\