In the relatively short time I've been an agent, I've noticed something that makes me smile and sigh at the same time: the paralyzing fear some writers experience when they query agents. To them (and you) I say: Relax. It's okay if you make a small mistake. It won't ruin your career if you accidentally query an agent twice. Or if you get their name wrong. Or if you found a typo on page three that you were sure hadn't been there before you sent your sample pages. Don't let the anxiety of the…

In an informal survey of third graders, Trouble in the Bubbles is noted as the most liked and requested of all of my stories. It is quite popular with those "in the know".

SFWA offers great info on literary agents here!

The conclusion to the debut story of Small World Protection Agency is now available from Trestle Press!

http://www.villagegreenpressLLC.com

Go to the Village Gossip Page

Losing out on a Hot Commodity by Mary Kole at Kdlit.com

Kristin Nelson on Competition Among Agents for Hot Commodities

By Jane Friedman, Strategic Director of Writer’s Digest

12 things that matter to agents and editors when being pitched by writers.



EMOTION

The No. 1 thing that sells books is word of mouth, which is driven by the emotional power of the book. Editors look for that emotional element in a pitch: "What reason I would want to tell five or more people about this book? Would I be emotionally involved with…

Many of you know Colleen Lindsay as the outspoken and talented literary agent from Fineprint Literary Management. She is also a great colleague and active member of YALITCHAT. She has a great post on her blog I thought you should read (with links out to many related posts).

Posted June 27, 2009

Last week I started conversations on Twitter about two different topics related to the…

Posted June 29, 2010 by Jim McCarthy

Last week I admitted to having a bad case of blogger's block and asked for suggestions for future topics. Thanks to those of you who offered suggestions! Two people wanted to know what happens when we don’t sell…

Check out my post on "GOLD NUGGETS ABOUT AGENTS, EDITORS AND CONFERENCES" http://lmpreston.blogspot.com

This past weekend my stint as a volunteer for the MWA writer’s conference ended. I’d volunteered to help out with the recruitment of agents, and it morphed into becoming the only person…

check this out on my blog: http://lmpreston.blogspot.com

Many writers begin writing for the joy of the writing experience. They have no true idea of where the end of the road leads to. It is…

by Nathan Bransford, posted on http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/03/all-about-sequels.html

Meanwhile, I get lots and lots of questions about sequels, and while I've addressed them tangentially in…

Formatting Guidelines by Jessica Faust from BookEnds, LLC

I recently received a partial request (first fifty pages) from a legitimate agency, but the submission guidelines and personal request never stated if the partial should be double or single spaced to include the exact fifty pages. I wanted to know if I should double space the pages just in case, since I am sending them off via mail per the agent’s request, or single space to include the actual fifty…