Blog
Comparable Titles 101: Why You Need Good Comps and How to Find Them
Comparable titles are the ammunition you—and agents and editors—all need to sell your work. Here’s an agent’s primer on finding good comps for your project.
The Organizing Principle, for Fun and Profit
Does your work have a strong organizing principle? It’s not what happens in your story, but rather how you choose to frame what happens in your story.
How to Beat the Query Game: The Truth About the Slush Pile
Everywhere I go I hear writers complain about the black hole that is every agent’s in-box—the slush pile—that dark and dangerous place where their queries and manuscripts go in, never to be seen again.
Paula’s Elevator Pitch Formula
You should be able to tell anyone and everyone what your book is about—and how yours is different—anytime, anywhere in 60 seconds or less.
Binge Watching for Writers, Part Deux: Top 10 Documentaries about Writers
Writers are often obsessed with the lives of other writers, the richer and more acclaimed, the better. So here in no particular order is a list of ten great documentaries about writers…
Publishing Proverbs You Should Know
Publishing is rife with conventional wisdom but some of it is actually useful. Here are some of the best. The first page sells the book, the last page sells the next book. I repeated this recently at a Zoom event and like an old dog full of old tricks I was surprised...
Reading for Novelists: Top 10 Books about Writers
A random sampling of great stories about writers, for every novelist’s reading pleasure….
Binge Watching for Writers: Top 10 Movies about Writers
My favorite movies are mostly about writers. I love them the way I love memoirs by writers and interviews with writers. Now that we’re all stuck at home with time to write, we can look for inspiration and binge watch films at the same time. Here’s my list of TOP TEN...
Think Like an Agent
If you want to get an agent, you have to think like an agent. Here’s how.
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