Tag Archives: editors and agents
Lunch with Ebook Advocate, Mark Coker
According to Time Magazine, in 1812, the year Charles Dickens was born, 66 novels were published in Britain. Many were written by “Anonymous,” since novels were not very reputable. No one dreamed of making a living writing them. Dickens, the first literary … Continue reading
Filed under Authors, Books, Publishing, Writing
A Vote For Ebooks
Last weekend, I attended the monthly meeting of the local branch of the California Writer’s Club. The meetings feature introductions, socializing over a buffet lunch, and a speaker. This month we tried something new. Members were invited to throw out … Continue reading
Filed under Publishing, Writing
A Science Thriller by Amy Rogers
I met Dr. Amy Rogers at the Sacramento branch of the California Writer’s Club where she is Web Site Coordinator, and an author of science thrillers. What is a science thriller? Think of Frankenstein, Jurassic Park, and Contagion, coming soon … Continue reading
Guest Post by Indie Author, Jayden Scott – Part 1
At the start of May, Jayde Scott, a young writer from England, invited me to review her eBook, A Job From Hell. Based on the professional presentation of her Smashwords page, http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/56864, I agreed, though with some trepidation: vampire romance … Continue reading
Filed under Authors, Book Reviews, Novels, Publishing, Writing
Victory to the Outsiders?
In 2009, 288,355 books were traditionally published in the US, and 764,448 were self-published. The numbers for 2010 were similar, though I don’t have the exact figures handy. A million new titles a year. No wonder my book queue does … Continue reading
Filed under Authors, Publishing, Writing
A Literary Agent’s Comments on Nonfiction Opportunities
The guest speaker at the local California Writer’s Club’s June lunch meeting on Saturday was Matt Wagner, founder of Fresh Books, Inc. Literary Agency: http://www.fresh-books.com/ Wagner specializes in nonfiction titles. His clients include several “Dummies” book authors, Dave Crenshaw, who … Continue reading
Filed under Authors, Publishing, Writing
Four Key Ingredients – Part Two
Wrestling with Originality: A real-life Example. It’s easy to talk in the abstract about things good fiction needs, but “originality” is an issue I have been wrestling with for real lately. Recent “market research” – checking book jacket blurbs in … Continue reading
Filed under Novels, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing
Four Key Ingredients – Part One
Stories begin with ideas and these can come from anywhere. For some writers, some of the time, they may arrive fully formed, but I suspect that for most of us, they show up as seeds which we have to nourish … Continue reading
What Is Tension?
No, I am not playing Jeopardy; I am trying to zero in on what Donald Maass considers the make-or-break element of all successful fiction. I posted a general appreciation of Maass, agent, author, and writer-about-writing in December: http://thefirstgates.com/2010/12/07/donald-maass-and-the-breakout-novel/ In his … Continue reading
