The moment arrived. I had wanted to meet with this particular author for a long time. (I’ll keep the author anonymous to protect her privacy, but she’s well known in some circles.) The door opened, she greeted me, and I handed her two loaves of bread. “You never get a second chance to make a […]
He looks like a baby hippopotamus.” That’s what I overheard my fifth-grade teacher say when I tried out for hurdles before our one-day track-and-field competition. That I remember this comment some thirty-five years later says something about how much it stung. Fast-forward to about three weeks ago, when I’m training for my first triathlon. I’m […]
You’ve probably heard about the editor whose privacy was interrupted by a book proposal sliding under a restroom stall door at a writer’s conference. Suffice to say there are good ways and bad ways to get attention. Yet, if you want to get your book published, attracting an agent and publisher is vital. My old […]
I make my living in part by helping writers craft compelling book proposals to increase their chances of landing a book deal with a traditional publisher. So it might seem strange for me to devote a blog post to a method of impressing agents and publishers that does not center on the book proposal. Book […]
About a year ago I packed up my office at Baker Books and “went out on my own,” as they say. I’m pleased to say I’m still self-employed, although that’s a bit of a misnomer for reasons I’ll get to shortly. This is a significant milestone and bears reflection on what I’ve learned along the […]
Baby names are a multi-million dollar business. A quick Amazon search for “baby names” yields over 5,000 products that promise to help you name your newborn. And if you’re really concerned, you can hire a baby-naming consultant for a measly $29,000. Well, you may not drop that kind of cash on a moniker master. But […]
For a lot of people book proposals are intimidating and scary. I wonder how many books don’t happen just because the prospect of a book proposal is so daunting. Often writers don’t know what goes into a book proposal. What are the different pieces? How long should each section be? How should I organize the […]
I remember meeting with an unpublished writer in a Nashville coffee shop years ago. She told me in no uncertain terms she was a writer and was going to be published. That writer was Rachel Held Evans, and she meant what she said. Evans worked hard on her craft and nurtured an audience. She honed […]
Two years ago I started a one-on-one coaching program for writers. A feature of the program clients rave about is their “Book of the Month.” Each month I send a book with a letter about why I think the book is a worthwhile read for their writing and platform-building. Below is a list of the […]
Publishing is legalized gambling.” That’s an aphorism I’ve heard several times from publishing professionals, and there’s some truth to it. Publishers place a bet on an author and her manuscript, meaning they pay an advance as well as all the costs of production (editorial, marketing, printing, paper, glue, etc) and marketing (advertising, mailings, publicity, exhibit […]
