Who should you send a query letter to? Agents – If you are writing fiction, memoir, or a children’s books, you must have an agent who will represent your work to publishers. Publishers – If you are writing nonfiction or poetry, you can query the publisher. TIP: Research the agency or publisher. Visit their website and check their submission guidelines. How do I find agents or publishers who will be interested in my book project? There are lots of useful sites which can help you identify the right agent or publisher for your writing. Here are some you may find useful. AgentQuery.com QueryTracker.net WritersMarket.com ManuscriptWishList.com Poets & Writers Guide to Literary Agents Writer’s Market publishes two annual reference guides to finding agents and publishers you should consult. Guide to Literary Agents 2016 edited by Chuck Sambuchino includes sample query letters, informative articles, success stories, features on new agents, and listings for more than a thousand literary agents. Writer’s Market 2016 edited by Robert Lee Brewer includes far more than listings for book publishers. They also provide up-to-date information on consumer and trade magazines, contests and awards, lists of professional writing organizations, and timely articles related to the business of being a writer. Some of the best ways to find the right agent for book include looking at comparable books to yours and seeing who the publishers are and reading the acknowledgements to see which editors worked with the author and which agent, if any, represented their work. Attend…
“Attendance at BookExpo America last week, including BlogWorld, was 23,067. Excluding BlogWorld, whose participants were not included in last year’s attendance figures, attendance was 21,664, down just 255, or 1.2%, from 21,919 in 2010. BEA emphasized that this year’s slightly lower number reflected higher standards: the show “strategically vetted more attendee groups to improve the quality of those participating in BEA.” One resulting major change:… [Read More]
Leave it to a creative director from one of the world’s biggest internet marketing companies to creatively call into question many of the old assumptions about book publishing. With his wacky sense of humor, Andrew Kessler opened a Book Store on Hudson Street in New York City to launch his new book, Martian Summer (Pegasus). It’s not a Books Store; it’s a Book Store. Just… [Read More]
Fresh from the press, my new copy of Risk Rules: How Local Politics Threaten the Local Economy arrived and it is really a study of unintended consequences. Authors Marvin Zonis, Dan Lefkovitz, Sam Wilkin and Joseph Yackley offer a new way to understand the global political economy. Here are seven questions posed about the current state of affairs and the author’s answers. 1) Obviously, there’s… [Read More]
The past never goes anywhere. It is with us always. In the culture of the “now” we risk losing out on the transformative power of recollecting that which has passed away. Reflecting upon personal gains and losses through the lenses of accumulated experience and knowledge guides one towards a more meaningful life. Ignoring the past is folly. Know where you’ve been to get where you’re… [Read More]
If you want to watch a rising star with a bestselling book, look to Andrew Kessler and Martian Summer. He’s part gonzo journalist, i.e. Mary Roach with gonads, and part wacky hip ad-man, i. e. his real life gig as Creative Director, HUGE. The social media buzz isn’t shameless self-promotion; it’s comedy central. Yup, the book trailers are only a piece to this sweet marketing mix… [Read More]



