Are you the exception to the rule?
Editors and agents are used to writers who want to break the rules. We don’t like it, but we’re used to it.
“No phone inquires,” one agency said in its entry in the Christian Writer’s Market Guide. “No exceptions. Don’t ask to be the exception.”
An editor friend produces compilation books, often dealing with 100 potential contributors for a single … Continue reading
In your intro, dare to sound like yourself.
Are you looking for a way to turn off readers in your first paragraph? Try to impress them.
That’s what two amateur writers did in articles I reviewed this past week.
Rather than sound like themselves, they tried to sound like writers — or at least the way through thought writers sounded. Their introductions were long-winded and pompous, with … Continue reading
Use a real camera — or a real photographer — for your author head shot.
If an editor or publisher asks you for a photo, it’s natural these days to point your phone at yourself and snap.
But it’s also natural to hate how you look in a selfie, especially your nose.
Rather than blame the camera, some people find fault with their nose. Yet instead … Continue reading