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Tag Archives: BookEnds LLC

Lit Agent Links – Skype, Hype, and Passing the Slush Pile

Posted on 21 Jul 10 by Editor

Do you think the Norse god Odin, who takes advice from a severed head, rides an eight-legged horse, talks to ravens, sacrificed an eye and hanged himself in the pursuit of wisdom, would appreciate us referring to his day as “Hump Day”?!

Well, okay… the “Hump” refers to finally suffering through the worst trials of the workweek, and looking forward to the pleasures of the Day of Frigg (his wife), so maybe he would appreciate the symbolism. *shrug*

As Odin was the literary agent of Norse myth, let us away to this week’s literary agent links!

Continue reading →

Category: Blogroll | Tags: amazon, BookEnds LLC, dr. strangelove, dystel and goderich, hump day, Kristin Nelson, laura miller, literary agent, nathan bransford, norse myth, odin, pub rants, publishing, query letters, salon.com, self-publishing, skype, wednesday, writing

Lit Agent Links – Proposal Timing, Undercooking Novels, and Ancient High Schoolers

Posted on 13 Jul 10 by Editor

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!

Continue reading →

Category: Blogroll | Tags: BookEnds LLC, charles scribner, Dystel & Goderich, ernest hemingway, literary agents, nathan bransford, novel, publishing, the rejectionist, twilight, writing, young adult fiction

Lit Agent Links – The Racist, The Unrootable, and The Unpublishable

Posted on 07 Jul 10 by Editor

I am considering combining the weekly lit agent round-up with the “miscellaneous” publishing pros.

Between the blogs that inexplicably dry up — or consist mainly of their own link lists, Happy Release Day posts, or “everyone can be a writer, don’t give up!” cheerleading — the lit agent offerings have been growing thin. Maybe it’s because of this god-awful heat! What’s the summer version of hibernation?

On to the lit agent links! Continue reading →

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: BookEnds LLC, Dystel & Goderich, e-books, fiction, literary agents, publishing, query letters, racism, the rejectionist, writing

Lit Agent Links – Silence, Rejections, and Unsold Titles

Posted on 29 Jun 10 by Editor

Oh what a week! As critics and pundits debate the merits of non-literary fiction (whatever that might be), agents and writers are debating the merits of agents shifting from a representative model of payment to a pay-per-service model.

It’s getting hot up in here! But, let’s slip quietly out the back door of this tavern brawl and just read some literary agent links, okay?

Continue reading →

Category: Blogroll | Tags: BookEnds LLC, Dystel & Goderich, fiction, Janet Reid, Kristin Nelson, literary agents, nathan bransford, publishing, writing

Lit Agent Links – Queries, Book Deals, and a Day in the Life

Posted on 22 Jun 10 by Editor

First of all, let me do a favor for Jessica at BookEnds LLC, and literary agents everywhere, by reminding all of you prospective authors out there that a “novel” is a fictional narrative longer than 50,000 words. There is no need to say “fiction novel” and no reason to say “non-fiction novel.”

And now, let’s go on to the links! Continue reading →

Category: Blogroll | Tags: BookEnds LLC, Dystel & Goderich, Janet Reid, Kristin Nelson, literary agent, lucienne diver, novel, publishing, query letters, rejectionist, social media, writing

Lit Agent Links – Query Letters, Rejection Letters, and Vampires (More or Less)

Posted on 15 Jun 10 by Editor

Yesterday, my home town paper The Washington Post published a neat list of the “Five Buzziest Summer Beach Reads,” including post-apocalyptic vampires, a post-vampire career apocalypse, a blast-from-the-past sequel, and an ape-girl. How can you pass that up?

And now, on to stuff recently blogged upon by literary agents: Continue reading →

Category: Blogroll | Tags: BookEnds LLC, Dystel & Goderich, Janet Reid, literary agents, nathan bransford, publishing, query letters, sears-roebuck, washington post, writing, wylie-merrick

Lit Agent Links – Fewer Literary Feuds and Fewer Vampires?

Posted on 09 Jun 10 by Editor

First link of the day comes from Jessica at BookEnds. Following up on a fantastic post by Nathan Bransford about the importance of keeping a “series bible” to keep track of the little details in your fictional world, Jessica explains the difference between a series bible and a style sheet, and why an author should seriously consider developing a style sheet before his or her work goes under the editor’s knife.

I am using that as my intro today because Jessica’s idea hadn’t even occurred to me, even though I do maintain a rough series bible for the Observer Tales. (The releasable stuff, I rework into Observer’s Gloss entries.) Now I have another project!

On to the rest of the links: Continue reading →

Category: Blogroll | Tags: BookEnds LLC, Dystel & Goderich, Janet Reid, Kristin Nelson, literary agent, literary feud, nathan bransford, publishing, vampires, writing

Lit Agent Links – Writing Contests, Writer's Syndrome, and Retellings

Posted on 02 Jun 10 by Editor

As you might have noticed, I have added some sidebar graphics for the short stories Tyson’s Corner, The Chameleon Missive, and The Dun Cat of Mill Bridge, as well as a new graphic to add mood to the master page for all of the Observer Tales.

I will probably work something up for Reading Cats, too.

And, before we get to the main links, two contest announcements:

♦ First up, in honor of the release of Rock Paper Tiger, Nathan Bransford announces a contest to (in his words) “write the most compelling chase and/or action and/or suspenseful sequence. It may be something you have written for the purpose of the contest or from a work in progress.” The prizes? Hey, I didn’t put that link up there for nothing! Go, go!

♦ Rachelle Gardner also announces a combination contest and exercise, to write a one-sentence summary of your book.

Now, on to the (other) links! Continue reading →

Category: Blogroll | Tags: Book Expo America, BookEnds LLC, books, da vinci code, Dystel & Goderich, literary agents, lucienne diver, nathan bransford, pride and prejudice and zombies, publishing, query letters, rachelle gardner, rock paper tiger, writing, writing contests

Lit Agent Links – Pitches, Strike-Thrus, and a Webinar!

Posted on 24 May 10 by Editor

Here we are at the beginning of another week, on a day that happens to be the anniversary of several significant events in the history of written things.

Four hundred eighty years ago today in London, a list of heretic books was ordered burned. A short 13 years later on this date, Copernicus published the landmark work on the heliocentric model of the solar system, De Revolutionibus.

On this day in 1610, on the 3rd anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Sir Thomas Gates establishes a draconian civil code for the colony. (Fourteen years later to the day, Virginia is declared a failure and its charter is revoked.)

This is also the birthday of magazine and newspaper publisher Samuel Irving Newhouse (1895-1979) and United Press International (1958).

Now, on to the book-oriented side of publishing, with this week’s literary agent links! Continue reading →

Category: Blogroll | Tags: banned books, BookEnds LLC, copernicus, Dystel & Goderich, jamestown, literary agents, nathan bransford, publishing, rachelle gardner, rejectionist, samuel newhouse, united press international, writing

Lit Agent Links – Bookshelves, eBooks, and Lots of Query Advice

Posted on 18 May 10 by Editor

Okay, so I haven’t dropped a chain of literary agent links since April. Throw something heavy and hard at me. (I can take it.)

But, seriously, moving across town without hiring a moving company takes a lot out of a guy, especially when most of what you own consists of boxes and boxes of books. Kindle is looking real nice right about now.

So let’s get to those links!

♦ Dystel & Goderich doesn’t disappoint! Look at what the folks there have served up lately:

Miriam reminds us that the real point in publishing is to enjoy it.
Stacey does a damn good job and slapping down the cliché that men don’t read.
Rachel gives up her best books list.
Jessica seeks the logic underlying vampire stories, teenage hook-ups, mash-ups, and Malcolm Gladwell.
Lauren confesses her love of bookshelf-lined walls.

♦ Jessica at BookEnds dives into the thorny issue of getting published after being self-published, and answers questions about resubmitting a reworked query letter, the purpose of query letter guidelines, and morality clauses in YA/MG contracts. She also warns us that confidence in a query can backfire.

♦ At her Pub Rants blog, Kristin compares different POVs, explains why enhanced ebooks will cause havoc, and tells writers why highlighting your age in a query is not a good idea.

♦ Nathan Bransford reminds us that every writer gets rejected.

♦ Rachelle Gardner at Rants & Ramblings reveals the secrets of a great pitch.

Enjoy!

Category: Blogroll | Tags: BookEnds LLC, books, Dystel & Goderich, ebooks, Kristin Nelson, malcolm gladwell, mid-grade literature, nathan bransford, rachelle gardner, vampires, young adult literature