Question: Why can’t agents simply skip the query pitch altogether and read the sample pages the author includes with the letter? Here’s why: One blog reader has called my series of query tip blog postings as a “much needed foot to the groin.” That certainly creates a visual! What they are really… MORE
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FACT: Spending time perfecting your novel’s pitch in your query letter is the gift that will keep on giving for the life of your novel. Here’s why: In publishing, simply put, a novel’s pitch is not just used once. 1) Writer creates the pitch for the query letter to get agent/editor… MORE
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To celebrate just having spent the day in York with Rhiannon, here is her original query for A WICKED THING that landed me as her agent. Dear Kristin Nelson: One hundred years after falling asleep, Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that… MORE
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FACT: If you are allowed to submit opening pages along with your email query pitch letter, including the prologue pages will kill your query 99.9% of the time and agents won’t ask for sample pages. Here’s why: Most writers use the prologue for the wrong purpose. * Prologues are written… MORE
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Article #3: Fearless Negotiation: An Agent’s Most Important Role for an Author Of all the skills a literary agent is required to have, the most important is the ability to negotiate well on behalf of the author client. Authors hire agents to protect their business interests in publishing. In my mind,… MORE