"Dear Lucky Agent" Contest: Kids Novels Middle Grade and Young Adult Welcome to the second "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest on the GLA blog. This will be a recurring online contest with agent judges and super-cool prizes. Here's the deal: With every contest, the details are essentially the same, but the niche itself changes—meaning each contest is focused around a specific category or two. So if you're writing a book-length kids novel, this second contest is for you! HOW TO SUBMIT E-mail entries to februaryagentcontest@gmail.com. Please paste everything. No attachments. WHAT TO SUBMIT The first 150-200 words of your unpublished, book-length ... [Link]

A huge thank you to all 150 or so people who entered in my first "Dear Lucky Agent" contest. Agent Katharine Sands of the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency looked through all submissions this past week and chose her top winner and two runners-up, each of which will receive a critique and free writing books. The Winners Grand-prize winner: Bocas Time, by Forrest Walker Runners-up: Zen Under Fire: Learning to Sit Still in Afghanistan, by Marianne Elliott Kitten Heels in Kathmandu: The Adventures of a Solo Female Vagabond, by Mary Bartnikowski A LITTLE ABOUT THE CONTEST JUDGE: Katharine Sands is ... [Link]

This is a new recurring column I'm calling "7 Things I've Learned So Far," where writers at any stage of their career can talk about seven things they've learned along their writing journey that they wish they knew at the beginning. This installment is from Chantal Panozzo, award-winning freelancer and aspiring memoirist. Chantal Panozzo is a writer and copywriter based in Zurich, Switzerland. Her essays have appeared everywhere from The Christian Science Monitor and National Geographic Glimpse to the Swiss News. She is also at work on Hausfrau: The Memoir, a story about looking for an identity in a country ... [Link]

STATUS: Heading to the mountains to ski. It’s supposed to snow. Fresh PowderWhat’s playing on the iPod right now? VERTIGO by U2Because we’ve been talking about openings, what works, what doesn’t, I wanted to show you an example from an author who is the master of action in the opening pages. Nobody does it better than Linnea Sinclair.I would also recommend reading this author, even if this isn’t your genre, in order to learn about escalating conflict. Beginning writers often suffer from the fact that they don’t have enough conflict to drive their stories forward in a meaningful way.Linnea is ... [Link]

Yeah, wow.This was quite an epic week in publishing, and on top of this epic week I still have a couple of leftover weeks because I haven't done a link roundup in a while, so... buckle up, everyone! We're going for a long drive together.But first, this week in the forums we are busy discussing: Do you have a rejection contingency plan?, What is Literary YA?, What writing disorder do you suffer from? Do men read less fiction than ever? and, of course, what in the heck happened this week on Lost?The big news this week, as we all know, ... [Link]

by LaurenGalleycat reports on the launch of Beast Books from Tina Brown’s Daily Beast, with books that will be longer than articles but shorter than most nonfiction books. One of the common publishing rejections from us to authors and from editors to us is: “It’s fascinating, but it's more of a magazine article.” Often, though, the truth is more that the idea falls in between: it requires greater explication than magazine space allows, but there’s not enough to it to support a book. This model could make for a good home for such ideas. It’s an interesting concept, and I’ll ... [Link]

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." ~Anton Chekhov Footnotes is a recurring series on the GLA blog where I pick a subject and provide several interesting articles on said topic. This week, I’m serving up five articles on writing description. 1. When is description necessary? Doyce Testerman answers that question. 2. Tips to remember when writing description. Children’s writer Anna Staniszewski offers her tips. 3. Using description to place the reader in the scene. Check out Bertum’s blog for great articles on writing description. 4. The art of description. How ... [Link]

by RachelAn article in the Guardian caught my attention this week regarding the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the banning of certain books. Alice Walker, John Updike and even Pablo Neruda are some of the authors whose books are banned from entering correctional facilities. Texan prison officials say that restrictions on reading material are for the good of everyone.This got me thinking. The only reason I first picked up a copy of Lolita was because I’d heard it had once been banned. And this is precisely why I grabbed a copy of Madame Bovary when I was in the ... [Link]

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm getting ready to launch a week-long submissions festival here on my blog. For those of you unfamiliar with this from my previous event, what I do is set up a thread on which writers can pitch me their projects in the comments. The comments are screened so that no one can read them but me which means you won't be able to read them either once you post, so please proofread carefully and make sure you include everything I request! , and I go through and let each poster know whether I want to see ... [Link]

This series is called "Successful Queries" and I'm posting actual query letters that succeeded in getting writers signed with agents. In addition to posting the actual query letter, we will also get to hear thoughts from the agent as to why the letter worked. The 26th installment in this series is with agent Tina Wexler ICM and her author, Mara Purnhagen, for her young adult book, Tagged. Dear Ms. Wexler, Sixteen-year-old Kate Morgan is just as baffled as the rest of the Cleary High School student body when gorillas invade their town. Okay, they’re not real gorillas, just life-like renderings ... [Link]

By now you all should be keeping updated on the Amazon v. Macmillan battle. If you aren’t, you should be. For those of you who are published this will eventually affect your sales, how your books are priced, and the money you make. For those hoping to be published, knowledge is power.Earlier this week Wired.com posted this article on the issue. What I think is interesting is this belief that publishers hold a monopoly on their product. That would be like saying Coca-Cola held a monopoly on Coke products. Well, duh, they are the manufacturers of Coke. Granted, the publishing ... [Link]

Aren't you glad that mountain lion is behind that chain link fence? I sure was. I was standing about eight feet away from her at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo when Brian snapped this pic. It has nothing to do with today's post - I just like it.So... I have a few questions for you. Feel free to answer all or none or anything in between. Or click over to Nathan's blog - he's probably got The Week in Publishing.Q4U:What are your favorite topics to read about on agent blogs?Least favorite topics?What topics are overdone? Not done enough?What would you like ... [Link]

[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 [if gte mso 9]> [if gte mso 10]> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} "I hope you will forgive a possibly naive comment, but isn't readers' solidarity reflected in their purchasing power as consumers? That is, if readers won't/don't buy hardcover or trade paperback books for $27.00 or even $14.95, then the publishers' argument is moot, really, whether or not Amazon is arbitrarily setting the price at $9.99 for e-books and Macmillan ... [Link]

This is fun and wonderful for a lot of reasons but the reason I love it is cause four of the five stars of this video started their publishing careers with us here at FinePrint. I'm just so darn proud of all of them!! [Link]

I'll bet you thought this was about e-book royalties and pricing didn't you?Not a chance.It's the next installment of Gary Corby's hilarious tips on making your word processing program work magic for you. [Link]

by ChasyaOne of the most frequent questions we get here at DGLM from unpublished authors is about what makes a query work. What catches our attention? What turns us off? What are some common faux-pas? What should an author absolutely never do? How does one create that needle-in-the-haystack submission that will surely be plucked out of the groaning piles of slush? You get the picture. We try to answer as best we can on our website, our blog, at conferences, pitch sessions, etc.... When one of our readers thanks,Wanda B. Ontheshelves! mentioned that she would love to read some of ... [Link]

STATUS: A bit frustrated with all this Amazon stuff.What’s playing on the iPod right now? NEVER THERE by CakeWhich is to say the latest is not much. The links are still not on. February 16 is fast approaching for my author Paula Reed and the debut of HESTER.As authors, if you are impacted, I think it’s important to have your voice heard on the Amazon Kindle forum where there is a lot of chatter going on. The average everyday customer really doesn’t know much about the ins and outs of publishing and what the hoopla is about.This in from John ... [Link]

Agent Advice is a series of quick interviews with literary and script agents who talk with Guide to Literary Agents about their thoughts on writing, publishing, and just about anything else. This installment features Laney Katz Becker of Markson Thoma Literary Agency. Laney was an agent at Folio Literary Management before she joined Markson Thoma. Prior to becoming an agent, Laney was an advertising copywriter and freelance journalist, as well as an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction. Laney grew up in Ohio and enjoys reading, writing, sewing and snuggling with her pooch. She is seeking: “book club fiction,” i.e. ... [Link]

Read the publishing news these days and there's so much doom and gloom and anxiety about e-books and print books and booksellers and publishers in trouble and authors getting squeezed and the midlist dropped and it's enough to make you want to hide under the bed lest a stray Kindle impale you in the forehead. You'd think an infectious disease is sweeping the land, an e-virus that is going to pollute the land with readily available books and increased author entrepreneurship. Run for your liiiiiiiives!But hey. You can either be scared of the future or excited. I'm pretty excited.Look, the ... [Link]

First, I'd like to point you all toward today's post at The Knight Agency blog. Marley Gibson and Cecil Murphey are working on a follow-up to their book on Christmas miracles that takes a look at the true spirit of the holiday, and they're looking from help from you. Check out the blog for more information on how you can share your story with Marley and Cecil. Next up, I hinted a couple of weeks back that I was going to do another special submissions week here on my blog, similar to the Back to School young adult novel pitch ... [Link]

by JessicaAs Valentine's Day approaches and retailers redecorate in shades of crimson and Pepto Bismol, I thought it fitting to look at book publishing and the language of love. As an author I know pointed out, romance--not the genre, but as metaphor--seems to govern the acquisition process. When editors pass on a project they say they “just didn’t fall in love,” or admit they were “not sufficiently passionate,” or and this is something that I myself have been known to say “admired but did not adore” the work in question. What’s this all about? In what ways is landing a ... [Link]

by MichaelI’ve been waiting for the chance to sing the praises of one of my must-read blogs, The Book Publicity Blog, and I found yesterday’s post really helpful. Yen discusses the pros and cons of Facebook profiles and fan pages, helping authors and publicists figure out which is more beneficial, as well as pointing out that it really needs to be the author behind the profile—not a publicist or assistant. Though as she points out, the publisher can certainly help in some ways!And if you want to learn more about book publicity, I suggest reading as much of the blog ... [Link]

Can i realistically expect to write a fantasy novel with a fairly standard Tolkienesque type of plot, as a first book, probably submitting to an agent when i'm around seventeen?First let me answer the question as you’ve written it, and then let me answer the question I think you meant to ask.I think it’s absolutely realistic that you could write a Tolkienesque fantasy novel and submit to an agent when you’re around seventeen. However, I don’t think you really meant to ask me what you can realistically do. I think you meant to ask if it’s realistic that you could ... [Link]

Following Your Writer-GPS to Find Your Niche For many years, the wide-eyed dreamer within me looked at The Writer Life as a sort of smoky-framed picture off in the distance, fully attainable by honing my craft, mastering the language and telling a good story. I'd set my course and soon I'd arrive at my destination. Now that I've maneuvered my way through traffic and onto the road ... simple? Not so much.Travel begins at Hollywood & Vine. I moved to Los Angeles with a Plan: First film school, then a brilliant career as a screenwriter. As with all of the ... [Link]

STATUS: Not happy. Still no Amazon links to Macmillan client books.What’s playing on the iPod right now? HUNGRY FOR YOU by The PoliceKristin’s incomplete list of why prologues don’t work:1. When the sole purpose of the prologue is to fill the reader in on the back story so the real story can begin.This is so easy to point out but harder to explain.In the example of UNDONE, Brooke needed a prologue to show how it all started. To juxtapose who the girls were when they first “meet” versus who they are when chapter 1 begins. The prologue also serves a ... [Link]