What an agent and publisher need to know about you, the author
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July 28, 2012

Authors may be surprised to learn that before an agent or publisher reads a word of their manuscript, they make judgments based on the query letter or proposal. They read your materials to assess the potential for successful publication based on the information they gather about the book, about the audience, and yes, about the author. In the last two posts, I focused on questions… [Read More]

About Your Book: What an agent or publisher wants to know
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July 24, 2012

Before you send out your query or a book proposal, take a second look. Have you answered these questions? What is the “genre” of the book? (humor, history, memoir, travel, how-to, etc) What is the main subject of your book? (what subject headings would a library give your book?) What topics will be covered? (what keywords could describe your book?) Describe your approach to the… [Read More]

Identify your readers, dear writer
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July 21, 2012

When you write a query letter and book proposal to an agent or acquisitions editor, there are certain things they want to know before considering your manuscript. They want to hear about you and your book, but what they really care about is the audience. What audience is your book intended for? Describe your readers in demographic detail. Where do your readers live? Work? Learn?… [Read More]

Hurdles for authors of children’s books.
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July 17, 2012

Children’s books are treated differently than other kinds in the business of publishing. The market is highly segmented with rigid requirements about reading level and age appropriateness. The number of words and pages are rigidly defined within each sector of children’s books. Having more than one book up your sleeve is important since serial books are more desirable than a single title.  Marketing features matter… [Read More]

Hurry up and wait. Query and submission timelines.
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June 30, 2012

If you have a book manuscript and you think you are ready to pursue publication, there is a timeline you should consider before letting your horse out of the gate before the race even begins. I’ve seen too many great book concepts go nowhere, because when they send a query letter out, they don’t have a proposal ready to go. Yes, a book proposal. When… [Read More]

A Day at BEA: Swenson Book Development does Book Expo America
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June 16, 2012

Swenson Book Development, LLC was in the thick of publishing madness two weeks ago  – two members of our team, myself and Jill Swenson, checked out the trade floor and events at Book Expo America.  BEA is the place for movers and shakers of the North American publishing industry. From event interviews of famous musicians-come-authors to Harlequin Romance shilling for their latest salacious-covered paperback, from bustling New… [Read More]

Social Media Metrics: What do they mean for authors?
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April 28, 2012

If you are an author who seeks an agent or publisher, you know that it is important to have an audience platform. What’s an audience platform? Historically we think of the soapbox a speaker stood upon at a busy intersection of streets hawking one’s ideas or wares. Print advertisers have long based their rates on the size of their circulation, or the “reach” of the… [Read More]

2012 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market: Your Ticket to the Secrets of Kidlit
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March 31, 2012

The best reference you can buy on the subject of publishing children’s books is the Writer’s Digest publication, 2012 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market, edited by Chuck Sambuchino. For the best publishing tips, the first 175 pages are a gold mine. In the 2012 edition of CWIM (the acronym used for this desk reference for the past 20 years), Sambuchino added lots of new  instructional… [Read More]

Live from Austin at SXSW
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March 10, 2012

A quarter million people descended on Austin, TX, to partake in SXSW this weekend. Yesterday I arrived at the Austin Convention Center to pick up my badge and discovered a que that wound around the entire building and back again. Two hours standing in line provided ample time for observing the social behavior of new media folk. Not surprisingly, most people held smartphones in their… [Read More]

Heaven is for Real
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March 6, 2012

Did you ever ask yourself, is there really a God?  Is Heaven for Real?  Is there life after death? Just ask 4-year-old Colton Burpo from Imperial, Nebraska, who emerged from life-threatening surgery with astounding details about his near death experience. This is a true story of Colton’s account as told by his father, Todd Burpo, to Lynn Vincent. Colton describes floating away, looking down on… [Read More]