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Informal Q&A’s with literary agents on topics of interest to aspiring authors.

Q&A With Literary Agent Diane Stockwell Taking editing, books, and publishing with our new editor and publishing consultant

Diane Stockwell joined The Editorial Department in the spring of 2020 and is now available to consult with authors in the later stages of readying manuscripts for publication and submission to agents and publishers.  We’re delighted to have her aboard and to share this brief Q&A  with her.

What single word comes to mind to define the […]

By |2022-02-22T20:17:26+00:00|Ask an Agent|Comments Off on Q&A With Literary Agent Diane Stockwell Taking editing, books, and publishing with our new editor and publishing consultant
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Query Do, Query Don’t No need to ask. Here are ten tips literary agent Kate Johnson wants you to remember.

I’ve recently worked through a post-holiday backlog of submissions, and stumbled on some recurring themes and – naturally – some recurring pet peeves. Agents are as diverse in their taste for query letters as they are in their tastes for reading material, so please know my advice comes from personal preference. But I hope these rules will […]

By |2022-02-22T18:53:56+00:00|Ask an Agent, Traditional Publishing|Comments Off on Query Do, Query Don’t No need to ask. Here are ten tips literary agent Kate Johnson wants you to remember.
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A Writer’s Motivation: Who Are You Writing For? Literary agent Adriann Ranta explores tough questions every writer should consider before attempting to publish life experiences

Q. I’ve had some really interesting and unique life experiences, and my friends keep encouraging me to write about them. From a market standpoint, is it a better idea to write a memoir, or to use those experiences as inspiration for a novel/work of fiction?

I wish I could answer this question with a bullhorn at every conference […]

By |2022-02-22T18:44:58+00:00|Ask an Agent|Comments Off on A Writer’s Motivation: Who Are You Writing For? Literary agent Adriann Ranta explores tough questions every writer should consider before attempting to publish life experiences
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Query Questions Literary agent Adriann Ranta Zurhellen tackles questions about query timing and illustrations for kids books

Q. I’ve heard it’s pointless to query between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Are there other times of year that are better or worse for agent responses?

It’s true that publishing slows way down over the holidays (we’re people with families too!) and during the summer doldrums (we love the beach too!), but anything sent during these slow times […]

By |2022-02-22T18:48:47+00:00|Ask an Agent|Comments Off on Query Questions Literary agent Adriann Ranta Zurhellen tackles questions about query timing and illustrations for kids books
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Mainstream Publishers and the Acquisition of Successful Self-Published Titles Literary agent Adriann Ranta Zurhellen weighs in on a burning question among self-published authors looking to go traditional

Q. How interested are mainstream publishers in buying successful self-published books? I don’t mean hugely successful titles (Hugh Howey’s stuff, say), but books that have racked up impressive sales. And how many sales does it take to get a traditional publisher’s attention?

This is a hard question to answer because I truly think it’s different for every scenario. […]

By |2022-02-22T18:52:23+00:00|Ask an Agent, Traditional Publishing|Comments Off on Mainstream Publishers and the Acquisition of Successful Self-Published Titles Literary agent Adriann Ranta Zurhellen weighs in on a burning question among self-published authors looking to go traditional
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Which Publishing Path is Better for Debut Authors? Adriann Ranta Zurhellen shares a literary agent's viewpoint on a weighty question for new writers

Q. These days, it seems harder and harder to land an agent and a traditional publisher, while on the other hand, many of the growing number of self-published books on sites like Amazon have difficulty finding an audience.  What is your advice for unpublished novelists who are faced with this dilemma?

As an agent, I read an unbelievable […]

By |2022-02-22T19:01:23+00:00|Ask an Agent|Comments Off on Which Publishing Path is Better for Debut Authors? Adriann Ranta Zurhellen shares a literary agent's viewpoint on a weighty question for new writers
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