Query the Agent(s)
By G. Miki Hayden
Instructor at Writer's Digest University online and private writing coach
firstwriter.com – Monday January 28, 2019
How Many at a Time?
Writing the novel was easy—not! But now comes the hard(er) part. Getting an agent. Well, just take this trip one step at a time—or should I say several steps at time because you need to send out queries as if you were a query-packaging machine.
Diana Athill, writer and editor, dies aged 101
theguardian.com – Friday January 25, 2019
Writer and editor Diana Athill, whose clear eye on life and literature inspired authors and readers alike, has died aged 101. The news was confirmed by the publisher Granta.
Athill combined a glittering career in publishing, where she worked with writers including Philip Roth, Margaret Atwood, Jean Rhys and VS Naipaul, with award-winning success as an author herself, turning her flinty gaze on love, work and approaching death in memoirs including Instead of a Letter, Stet and the Costa biography prize-winning Somewhere Towards the End.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday January 25, 2019
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction; Poetry;
Areas include: Short Stories;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
Publishes short and long form fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. No academic essays or book reviews. Do not query or send samples - submit complete ms by post with SASE. If submitting from outside the US, submissions may be sent by email. See website for full guidelines.
If I Hate Violence So Much, Why Do I Love Writing About It?
vulture.com – Thursday January 24, 2019
If anyone asks how I came to be obsessed with wrongdoing in all its most perverse manifestations, I always blame Sunday school. I think back to those weekly lessons in murder, jealousy, lust, betrayal, and revenge that made up an integral part of my childhood. My all-time favorite pulp classic is the biblical tale of King David, who sent a romantic rival to certain death on the battlefield because he’d slept with and impregnated the guy’s wife after spotting her bathing on a rooftop. I like to imagine what the lurid paperback cover for that story might look like: God made him a king. Lust made him a killer.
I recall this upbringing when I consider how exactly I ended up writing crime novels. I am a pacifist by nature — hell, I’m Canadian, which is halfway to being a Quaker — and I favor strong gun control, criminal-justice reform, and turning the other cheek over an eye for an eye. I also spend part of my days willingly and even enthusiastically imagining the most creatively gruesome methods for killing people. I’ve written three crime novels, and they aren’t parlor-room mysteries: Two of them star a gleefully murderous hit man as the hero and one centers on a community of criminals so vile that they’ve had their most brutal memories erased.
I’m definitely interested, maybe unhealthily so, in humanity’s darkest proclivities. Yet I’m also reliably shaken by tragedies like Parkland or the horrific recent story of Jayme Closs, a 13-year-old girl abducted from her home after watching her parents get murdered. I struggle to reconcile my aversion to real-world violence with my willingness to conjure it on the page. My mother, a very supportive and loving person who taught Sunday school, had this reaction when she finished my first novel: “I just kept wondering what kind of person could think of such things.” Me, Mom — I’m that kind of person. And I wonder about that, too.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday January 23, 2019
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction; Poetry;
Areas include: Arts; Culture; Current Affairs; Literature; Music; Philosophy; Politics;
Markets: Adult
Aims to publish in every sphere and genre, "combining vigorous dissent and a pragmatic willingness to succeed". Submit complete ms via online submission system.
A Canadian woman has launched a writing contest for her luxury home
bbc.co.uk – Tuesday January 22, 2019
A Canadian woman is holding a letter-writing contest for her three-bedroom home near the city of Calgary.
Interested parties must pay an entry fee of C$25 ($19; £15) and answer the question "Why would moving to this lakefront dream home change your life"?
Owner Alla Wagner is leaving the home she says she loves due to poor health.
Inspired by stories of similar contests, she decided to launch "write a letter, win a house" when the C$1.7m home failed to sell.
J.K. Rowling ‘can’t stand’ following rules—here’s what she says to do instead if you want to succeed
cnbc.com – Monday January 21, 2019
J.K. Rowling, author of the “Harry Potter” series and the Cormoran Strike mysteries, has sold over 500 million books. She was the second highest-paid author of 2018, managing to earn an astounding $54 million.
Famously, though, Rowling started out as a single mother surviving on state benefits. “I was jobless, a lone parent and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless,” she said in her 2008 Harvard commencement speech.
Rowling, now 53, didn’t turn her life around and get where she is today by abiding by conventional wisdom.
7 Habits Of Successful Writers That You Should Copy Immediately
studybreaks.com – Sunday January 20, 2019
Most writers want to become well-known and make a living by writing, but you’ve probably heard it only happens to some people. Putting in the blood and sweat through a pen (or keyboard) will only get them so far, which can be discouraging. However, the hard work can pay off if writers continue to push themselves by practicing, aka writing, daily.
Do you ever wonder how your favorite author or poet became so popular? As a writer, you might want to be like them one day, which isn’t an uncommon thought. Of course, it won’t happen overnight, and it’ll require a lot of effort, but every writer has a chance to become just like J.K. Rowling or James Patterson. As some people laugh at your optimism to become a successful writer, you’ll have feelings of hopelessness, but the doubt of others can become your biggest motivator.
With these seven tips, you’ll be a few steps closer to being like the writer you admire.
Global Self-Publishing Platform PublishDrive Releases Case Study on how their Groundbreaking Pricing Maximizes Author Profits
prnewswire.com – Saturday January 19, 2019
PublishDrive's subscription pricing option was released on October 4, 2018, the first of its kind in the ebook self-publishing space. Designed for authors selling at least $1,000 monthly, it allows authors to keep 100% of their royalties (after the stores' fee) by paying a flat monthly fee of $100 - no matter how high sales go.
Traditional royalty share options offered by self-publishing services take an average 10% of royalties, which can be significant for high-earning authors. To show that subscription pricing is a smarter choice for high-earners, PublishDrive studied author Rachel Morgan's experience after she enrolled in their new pricing option.
WME Agent David Lubliner Moves to UTA
hollywoodreporter.com – Friday January 18, 2019
Literary agent David Lubliner has left WME and joined UTA, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
A source also tells THR that Lubliner is bringing with him the following clients: About a Boy co-writers and brothers Chris and Paul Weitz, Beatriz at Dinnerdirector Miguel Arteta, Detective Pikachu director/co-writer Rob Letterman and Juliet, Naked co-writer Jim Taylor, among others.
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