Agents

Thumbnail image for 10 Things You Need to Know to Write & Sell Your First Romance Novel

10 Things You Need to Know to Write & Sell Your First Romance Novel

See this article as an illustrated PDF. Summer is coming, and so are the romance conventions, most notably the Romance Writers of America convention to be held in New York City beginning at the end of June. It’s the premiere convention for hopeful writers who attend workshops and panels in the hope of learning the [...]

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Query Letter Do’s and Don’ts

The query letter is one of publishing’s necessary evils. Most people hate writing them, hate having to boil their projects down to a page, but in most cases it’s the only way to get your foot through the door with agents and editors. Like other agents, I receive thousands of these a year, and more [...]

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Anticipating Trends

When deciding what kind of novel to write, it’s not always smart to pick a genre that’s currently hot. By the time your novel is written and on submission to editors, that genre may have gone cold. Some genres appear to be eternally hot—vampire fiction, for instance—but everything cools off eventually. You’re always safer trying [...]

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Thumbnail image for 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Novelists

10 New Year’s Resolutions for Novelists

I will decide on one genre of novel—the genre I most enjoy reading—and stick with it. I will study novels in this target genre to get a good idea of the kinds of stories they tell. I will work hard to come up with a story idea that fits my target genre yet is fresh [...]

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Fiction Makeover Contest Winners

We are pleased to announce the winners of The Marshall Plan® Fiction Makeover Contest. 2 Grand Prize Winners Hannah Cobb for Mortis James Montgomery Jackson for Bad Policy Ms. Cobb and Mr. Jackson each won: A copy of The Marshall Plan® Novel Writing Software A copy of The Marshall Plan® for Novel Writing Ebook Our [...]

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Free Stuff for Fiction Writers

The Internet is full of freebies. Here are some of our favorites that are of special interest to fiction writers. Books & Magazines Book Promotion Ain’t For Sissies by author and webmistress Jenna Glatzer. Classic ebooks from Planet eBook. Classic ebooks from Project Gutenberg. Over 33,000 free ebooks; all platforms. Free and sample magazines from [...]

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The Writers Conference Pitch

Most writers have attended writers conferences and met editors and agents there. That’s often the reason for going. Meetings can happen at cocktail hour or during brief one-on-0ne appointments, or pitch sessions, scheduled by the conference coordinators. A chat over wine and cheese is fine, but we always recommend taking advantage of these appointments. Their [...]

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