Dear Literary Agent, I submitted queries to ten different agents over the past few weeks and I have only heard back from one – a rejection. Why have the other nine not responded? Should I consider their lack of response as a rejection, too? Should I call them to follow up? Sincerely, Holding […]
Dear Literary Agent, I live in southern California and have noticed that there are several writing conferences that are held throughout the state each year. I have been looking into attending some of the events, but sometimes the registration fees are a bit expensive. Is it worth it for me to go to conferences […]
By Megan Close Zavala, Literary Agent This is a continuation of an earlier column that I wrote on mistakes that even the greatest writers make. If you’d like to check out that post, please click here: What Good Writers Do Badly, Part I #4: They Don’t Understand Their Book’s Place in the Marketplace Do your […]
By Wendy Keller You have surely heard that people make a decision about whether they like and trust you within seconds of first meeting you. The same is true when you send a query to a literary agency…the first few sentences make a huge difference in what happens next. The following sentences will grab attention […]
Dear Literary Agent, I have written a book about relationships that I would like to get published. I know that I need to build a platform, but I’m too overwhelmed by how much there is to do. I don’t even know where to get started! Why isn’t it good enough that I have a […]
By Wendy Keller, Literary Agent and Nonfiction Book Proposal Expert A book proposal consists of 5 crucial parts, as well as a few sample chapters. The finished document is typically between 25 and 60 pages long, depending on the length of the sample chapters. A publishing decision is made by committee representing several departments, all […]
By Wendy Keller, Literary Agent Yay! Someone wants to see your baby! An agency (maybe ours!) is willing to look at what you’ve written in hopes they can represent it. Agents are always hungry to find good content from smart authors. (I think of myself as a hungry shark endlessly prowling the ocean.) You are […]
By Megan Close Zavala, Literary Agent Literary agents often get a reputation for being cruel and heartless. It is true that not a one of us has escaped sending out many, many rejection letters. I am sure that there are a few slightly sadistic agents out there, but for the most part, authors, please […]
By Elise Howard, Query Manager for Keller Media, Inc. A query is an email or letter an author sends to an agency in hopes of getting them to work for free to sell the author’s book, at which point the agency will earn 15%. My role is to read the queries and compare them to […]
by Wendy Keller, Senior Literary Agent, Keller Media, Inc. Authors throw themselves against the big steel doors of the publishing industry with alarming velocity. Those who are too bruised by rejections continue stomp off to self-publish. “That’ll serve those idiots right!” they sometimes think. But what happens 90% of the time is the author has […]
