Welcome! Please sit down, make yourself comfortable, and have a brownie or three...

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

What Agents Are Chirping About

*QUICK CONTEST REMINDER*
Early info for the Monday, February 18 Secret Agent contest on Miss Snark's First Victim can be found HERE:

*Eligible genres are: Romance, Women’s Fiction, Young Adult (contemporary, historical, sci-fi/fantasy) and new adult (contemporary, historical, sci-fi/fantasy).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As always, I encourage you to follow literary agents/editors on Twitter. They are a treasure trove of publishing information and are another way of getting to know the movers and shakers of your chosen passion :) For today's post, I found these tweets at the hashtag #pubtip.


RECENT AGENT TWEETS

Looking for a way to get a fresh take on your opening pages? Have someone else read them outloud to you. #pubtip

Most authors do not sell every book they write. This is true even after that first book deal. #pubtip

Hey, hey you. Don't say this in your query letter to us: "I'm on the seemingly impossible task of finding a literary agent." #pubtips

Unless you're already a famous bestseller, your new book will probably be rejected by someone. Agents, editors, boards. #pubtip

I find out about my clients' events via social media, & so do their fans. If you aren't promoting, you're asking for an empty room. #pubtip

"I wrote this book because it's something I'd want to read" is a better pitch than, "there's nothing good to read, so I wrote this" #pubtip

#PubTip Send your query letters to yourself 1st & Check formatting. It could look good in the writing window, but WEIRD in the inbox window.

2 queries in the last 10 in the voice of the main character. Oy. Please don't do this. I represent YOU, not a character. #pubtip

Authors: you don't need to send me a pre-query. Just email me a query without pre-querying. Take a chance! Jump in with both feet! #pubtip

OK, everyone needs to realize my reading priorities go: contracted ms > option material > agented subs > non-agented subs. #pubtip
Retweeted by agent Michelle Witte

Panicked over writing your query letter? Some tips today on my blog:


AGENT TWEET OF THE WEEK goes to:
Great post by @MissDahlELama asking multiple agents to answer industry questions! http://bit.ly/YRr02S #pubtip #querytip

(great list of questions/answers that apply to both agented and non-agented writers!)

31 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing the tweets, Jess. I'm not on twitter yet, so it's great to see what agents are saying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure, Natalie! Thanks again for sending Shades of Earth :)

      Delete
  2. I love this round-up. Thanks so much for doing it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is great! Thanks so much for the link to my post; I'm glad you enjoyed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shoot~ I should have emailed you about that~ the post is a fantastic source of information!

      Delete
  4. Great advice. I follow some of these agents but not all, so it's good to hear some different opinions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I found a new one to follow in this round of #pubtips too!

      Delete
  5. Thanks again for furnishing the stuff that agents are saying! It is so helpful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Michael! Still chuckling at your hat post :)

      Delete
  6. It's good to hear what some of the insiders are saying these days. Thanks.

    Thanks for the info on the contest, too. I'll have to give that some thought. I've all but decided to self-pub in the very near future, but this contest might be fun. Especially since "women's lit" is one of the categories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congrats on your decision to self-pub! I've gotten a lot from the Secret Agent contests even when I don't get a request~they're great for feedback. If you enter and it's not a lottery entry, make sure you get your entry in right when the time period opens--these contests fill up SO fast :)

      Delete
  7. Nice tweets...I had fun reading through those and found myself saying, "Wow! Good idea!" throughout this entire post:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Awesome tweets. Always great to get the inside scoop from agents. Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for these collection of awesome tweets. It's good to know what agents are tweeting about!

    Nas

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love reading these. Thanks for the awesome info and links.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Lady! Haven't chatted in awhile~ hope the writing is going well and that the fam is doing well too :)

      Delete
  11. Jess I didn't realize you were preggers! Wow! CONGRATS!! SHe's beautiful! (just saw the pics from last post) Hope you're getting rest and enjoying basking in the new baby glow. :D

    Funny I just saw Nathan Bransford mention the pre-queries too. Apparently they're becoming an issue. lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the congrats :) Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on with pre-queries...people looking to be extra polite?

      Delete
  12. Just love reading your updates! So fun. oy.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Glad to see you've started up the agent tweets again. Enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jess, Thanks for the kind thoughts when you stopped by my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Magnificent beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for a blog web site?
    The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted
    of this your broadcast provided bright clear concept 토토사이트

    ReplyDelete
  16. You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site! 먹튀검증

    ReplyDelete
  17. As a Newbie, I am permanently exploring online for articles that can help me. Thank you 온라인경마

    ReplyDelete