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Insider tip
How to Get an Agent: "Follow your instinct – more often than not it will be right." » Read more on securing the services of a good agent by Philippa Milnes-Smith-
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This morning I am writing like…
… Isaac Asimov. How do I know this? Because I’ve just been dabbling on the new ‘I Write Like’ website that has been taking the internet by storm.
If you visit I Write Like you can find out which famous writer your writing most closely resembles. All you need to do is copy and paste a few paragraphs of your writing, hit the ‘analyse’ button, and hey presto! The Read more
The open-minded agent
There’s an agent-author conversation which crops up in a variety of ways all around the web and it goes a bit like this:
Hotshot literary agent: “If you don’t get my name right, make spelling mistakes and fail to follow the submission guidelines on my website, I won’t look at your work. I’m not interested. You’re wasting my time.”
Brilliant new writer: “Agents are totally stuck-up. They’re fixated on Read more
Writers’ & Artists’ conference
I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who attended our ‘How to Get Published’ conference yesterday. It was a terrific day with lots of engaging chat and some excellent questions.
I was part of the team of organisers but happily I still managed to listen in to many of our guest speakers.
Literary agent Carole Blake spent a moment despairing at the name ’slush pile’, preferring to call it Read more
Quick thoughts on age and prizes
Today I am speed blogging, which means no lengthy comment from me but just two things that have grabbed my attention today.
First off, praise from Richard and Judy or winning the Nobel Prize – which is the bigger honour? Before you say the Nobel, let me say this, a new survey has revealed that more people have heard of the Richard & Judy Book Club (despite it now being defunct) than the Nobel Prize for Literature. If your aim is to Read more
500:1 against getting an agent?
I was reading an interview with a literary agent over on Galley Cat and among her answers, one thing stood out. The agent, an independent who is just broadening her client list to take on young adult fiction, mentioned the number of manuscripts she reviews.
Quite often you’ll hear a literary agent saying they are swamped by manuscripts or drowning under their slush pile, but it’s not often they attempt to put a number on what they actually look through.
Are they really Read more
Be a literary agent for a day
Filed under: Competitions and Offers, Literary Agents
News just in, the US literary agent Nathan Bransford has announced his second ‘Be a Literary Agent for a Day’. The first one made for entertaining reading, so I’ve high hopes for this new experiment.
This is what he’s testing:
“…whether or not queries adequately reflect an underlying work’s quality. Can someone really Read more
London Book Fair: 10 pointers for writers
I was at the LBF yesterday to do some filming (which will be up on this site as soon as we’ve done an edit) and there again today on the offchance I could squeeze my way into a seminar where pre-booking was ‘essential’.
These are ten things I picked up, which are worth knowing, either for use and reference right now, or to decide whether you want to attend next time round.
1. “Everyone thinks they can write a children’s book”, according to Jayne at A&C Black. But then everyone at some point wanted to be an astronaut/train driver/Olympic athlete (delete as applicable). Writing a children’s book is harder than you think, and reading age is tricky to get right.
2. Authors who approach a stand and say “I know the editor-in-chief for Read more
What it means to be an agent
According to a new Twitter thread, this is what being a literary agent means:
- “Reading books with covers is a luxury to be savoured” (KatApel)
- “Getting early rave reviews from your students for one of your clients’ books” (SMozer)
- “Sometimes having too Read more
Fridge magnet poetry
Here’s an intelligent post on jargon, courtesy of a copywriting friend of mine who recalls painful memories of working for charities where interminable meetings – and jargon – sapped his will to live.
Take a look at that list of words that public sector officials should avoid using. Incredible. Read more
‘How to Get Published’ conference
A big thank you to everyone who joined us for the first ever Writers’ & Artists’ conference and for making the day such a success! I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and we’ll be adding some news and views from the conference here soon.
Best wishes,
Claire
(Publisher, Yearbooks)
Update: Blogger Liz De Jager has written up her take on the day’s events – see Write Up On WAY Conference.
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On camera: Julie Myerson
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