Maybe you don’t feel like reading an essay about queries. Why would you? You need to get one written, RIGHT NOW OMFG EMERGENCY NOW NOW NOW. Okay, yo. Cool. I can give you a short n’ dirty query bulletpoint list so that you can skim it real fast and get back to work.

• A query letter is a BUSINESS LETTER. If you’re sending it by postal mail, format it ( Read more... )

(This is a repost from August 2010; I’m still rebuilding my Helping Writer posts from the database loss.)

Everybody writes bad queries, at least at first. There’s no set way to create one, advice conflicts on what to put in one, and frankly, it’s a skill like any other- you must practice it to excel at it.

In light of #queryfail #queryslam and ( Read more... )

(This is a repost from August 2010; I’m still rebuilding my Helping Writer posts from the database loss.)

So, I posted my very first query letter, which was a pretty bad query letter. Agent/Writer/Deb Extraordinaire Mandy Hubbard popped by to say it wasn’t half-bad. And it wasn’t- with some tinkering, I did manage to get a couple of partial ( Read more... )

I will be teaching a fanfic workshop for teens at the end of February as part of Butler University’s Butler Bridge program. You can register now online, or call up the Bridge program to register.

It’s open to any student in 8th to 12th grade. And just as a head’s up? I almost always bring cupcakes to my classes. So I’m just saying- workshop, ( Read more... )

Gwenda Bond wrote about the Battle of the Sexists and self promotion today, and it’s a fantastically worthwhile read. Sarah Rees Brennan explores the same topic here, and Malinda Lo adds her voice here.

A while ago, I lost almost 10 years of blog and website when I accidentally deleted my database files. I was so disheartened, I decided to just ( Read more... )

So, I’m reading this absurd article on all the things you need to spend money on to market your own book. Oh noz, you have to pay a zillion dollars for a website, for a mailing list, for copy and editing for your website, wtf? I’m not even going to link to article because, seriously, WTF?

Here’s the deal. If you’re willing to put the time in ( Read more... )

One of the most basic tools in your PR and marketing portfolio is your press kit. A press kit provides basic biographical information and information about your work, in an easily accessible kit for reviewers and journalists. It makes it easy for people to write about you- always a plus- and it saves work for you, because you can avoid collecting ( Read more... )

I’ve written several pieces on marketing for authors, but the number one question I get is, “But where do I start?” My answer is usually, “Anywhere, just start somewhere.”

But I understand that marketing is a great big subject, and anywhere is too general. So I’d like to present a self-marketing primer. I’ll tell you exactly what to do, and when to ( Read more... )

So last time, we covered the long lead time before your book comes out with our marketing timeline. Things are going to speed up here a bit, but the upside is- once they get fast, they get over with quick, and then you can rest.

And as an aside- the most important thing to know about doing your own marketing is that you don’t have to do all of this ( Read more... )

Optimism: Okay! I have read all the things! I’m going to put together an outline for my agent now! I’m ready to outline this sucker!

Reality: Wow, I got a whole 9 words into this before I realized I don’t know how $catalyst works, damn it.

Originally published at making stuff up blog. You can comment here or there.