For the Love of Bringing Books to Life: Write, Publish and Be Known
Lisa Tener: Bring Your Book to Life
Promote Your Page Too
Authors often ask me about the “Resources Needed to Complete the Book” section of the book proposal. My thinking has always been that there’s no reason to include it. An author’s advance will reflect the publisher’s estimate of how many books they think they can sell and how much competition there is from other publishing [...]
Tags: book proposal, Literary Agent, resources needed to complete the book, Rita Rosenkranz
I just got off the phone with an aspiring author (I’ll call him John) who’d sent out forty query letters expecting it would take a while to hear back from agents. Within a day he’d heard back from several with yay (send your proposal) or nay. Now what? He confessed that his book proposal was [...]
Here’s question number 2 in this week’s “Burning Questions” series: a question about book proposal rejection.
Ellen asked: “How do you get unblocked after rejection? I sent a proposal and sample for my book to an agent or two. After getting rejected, I have not been able to start again.”
I’d like to answer Ellen’s [...]
Tags: author rejection, book proposal, book proposal rejection, how to get published
In our first book proposal class I suggested that those who already served a clear market (like Bonnie Leonard, a midlife women’s coach) probably knew much about their market from looking at their clients, but for others, a trip to the local book store might offer an enlightening opportunity to learn about their potential readers [...]
Tags: book markets, book proposal, readers, write a book proposal
A bit over two weeks ago, I gave a presentation on blogging and social media for authors at Harvard Medical School’s CME Publishing Course. On Friday, I heard a fantastic story from a self-proclaimed “Twitter Resistant” aspiring author who had put my words into action immediately.
Last Friday, Red Sox nutritionist (who also has a private [...]
Tags: author platform, Tara Mardigan, twitter, twitter success story
I just read a linked-in discussion where someone asked for a clearer definition of “platform” and what should go in your promotion plan. I responded to the discussion and then thought it would make a useful blog post.
Your book promotion plan should:
1. Demonstrate that you know your audience and you know where they hang out [...]
Tags: author platform, book promotion plan, book proposal, how to find a publisher, how to get published, promotion plan
This weekend an agent told me she wants to represent an author of mine and she hasn’t been this excited about a book since she represented two authors whose books became top sellers.
In our conversation, I happened to ask about another proposal a different client had sent in and she hadn’t seen it. Whoops. Turns [...]
Tags: book proposal, how to get published, literary agents, slush pile
People ask me about the process of getting a literary agent. You probably know you need to submit a query (or meet an agent who says, “Yes, I want to see your proposal”), then submit your book proposal (a significant document often 50-80 pages), then wait.
But what’s it like from the inside? I asked Dr. [...]
Tags: Dr. Randy Kamen-Gredinger, getting published, harvard medical school publishing course, Harvard writers, how to find a literary agent, Jeanne Fredericks, literary agents, writing books
I found a response to one of my youtube videos this morning that got me on a roll. After writing a short dissertation in reply, Youtube informed me I only had 500 words to respond. Blog time.
The controversial video is a tongue in cheek joke (and a tad silly). The comment was this:
“Remember, many agents [...]
Tags: book proposal, Literary Agent, literary agents, Michael Larsen, youtube video
My Bring Your Book to Life students are preparing for the start of book writing class next month. They’re researching their markets, creating the vision for the their books, and starting to outline. Some are calling me for their book concept consultation.
I love the consultations as we brainstorm to take good ideas and make them [...]
Tags: Add new tag, author's voice, book concept, book writing class, bring your book to life, nothing new under the sun, point of view, someone already wrote my book, writer's voice
