http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com Random advice and loveliness from inside the publishing beast. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:10:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I don't know how Editors Celia Johnson and Maria Gagliano found the time to dig themselves out of their reading piles long enough to create the exciting literary wonder that is Slice Magazine, but their making me feel like a serious underachiever! Packed with interviews of some of the best ... http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/a-slice-of-the-literary-scene/ If this is you and your character's name is ALY then you need to email me because there is no contact on your web page! ALWAYS be googlable writers! ALWAYS! Alternatively , you could invest 20 bucks a month on publisher's marketplace profiles instead of a website to reach industry folk ... http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/trish-dozier/ Survey Confirms Younger Generation Less Interested in Traditional Reading Habits The Bookseller's Reading the Future Survey, presented at a conference last week, reports only half of young people aged 18-24 years old think people will still be using bookshops in 20 years' time. Looking deeper into 18-24 ... http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/book-news-um-i-could-have-told-you-that/ Dear Ms. Jote, I came across your name name while searching through several agent query websites. Your listing indicated that you are interested in representing Graphic Novelists. I was wondering if you would answer a question or two for me: 1. What do you look for in a graphic novel submission? ... http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/112/ Sarah: Do you respond to all queries? Sarah, I love reading new and inventive ideas from those who query me, but if I were to respond to EVERY query I got through email I'd be blind and my clients would be furious at me for ignoring their work. My rules? Snail mail ... http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/reader-question/ In my previous post I mentioned how the current Mortgage crisis is a great topic to work with. Now, it goes without saying that the world is a great place for novelist's ( particularly first novelists) to get ideas with impact. The trick is tweaking the essential idea into something ... http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/the-market-is-all-around-you/ Women's fiction with a humorous tone , but not chick lit. Stories about people losing their homes ( Mortgage Crisis is a very big national topic! more of that in another post) Books about and for boys! Books centered around Putin era Russia! http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/what-im-looking-for-now-2/ Mean , snotty, but true ... If you fill you query with blurbs from individuals who are : a) not authors from major houses b) Not major ( huge or midsized ) players in the field that you're writing about c) not instantly recognizable by the American public d) all of the above You haven't done ... http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/quick-query-tip-blurbs/ Thought I'd answer some questions I received about a previous post on the importants of candor and revealing spoilers in your queries here . 1.Anything over 100,000 words is too long for something non historical. As for an agent who handles both NF and F, it would be financial suicide for ... http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/quick-query-tip-spoiler-update/ It can be hard to get attention from jaded query reading agents, but there is one rule you should always follow; spill the beans. If your query is filled with snappy sales speak and sentences meant to entice , but doesn't fully reveal the plot of a plot driven piece ... http://elizabethjote.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/quick-query-tip-spoilers-welcomed/