One of the big arguments against self-publishing is the idea that publishers perform a valuable service for readers by sifting through dreck. Supposedly, they only publish the best of what’s available. Uh, not always. Another argument is that self-published work isn’t always edited as well as it should be. The big publishers have fabulous editors […]
editors
What Published Authors Do That Non-Published Authors Won't
In a few minutes, I’ll leave to teach a class called “The Practical Guide to Getting Published.” I’m all prepared except for changing out of my jeans. I have this nifty 14-page handout with all sorts of resources, and I have tons of stories. I tell all my students this: “You might not like what […]
Why You Need an Agent–and Query Letters that Worked–Part I
I promised to write about agents, so here I go. Let’s start with the four ways for getting an agent that I personally know work:* 1. Pitch an agent at a writers’ conference–meet the agent face-to-face and tell him/her about your book. SleuthFest is a great writers’ conference for this. So’s Crime Bake. Why? They […]
