The Bi-weekly Site of the Week ;-)

Well, once again, time has slipped past and I have missed a Site of the Week. However, I have an especially informational/entertaining theme for this post. (Well, I thought it was interesting.) ;-)

Cautionary Tales - The search for an agent. :-O

We know the scammers are out there. We know we should do our homework and investigate before accepting any contracts. And we certainly know not to pay for editing services or "reading fees." However, there are more subtle ways the scammers can get to you. Don't be a victim. Learn from the mistakes of others.

Exhibit #1 - Quoth the Cabbage; what happens when a few writers get together with some extraordinarily bad writing and set out to catch the crooks? If you haven't heard of this story yet, read on. It's worth it. :-)

Exhibit #2 - You are paranoid, They are everywhere and They will do anything to get to you.  I think the title gives you a pretty good idea as to what lengths some scammers will go to in order to dupe unsuspecting newbie writers.

And, just in case you haven't heard of them, please add Preditors & Editors to your favorites list. They have done a lot of work to help keep us all safe from the scammers out there.

Let me offer my sincerest wishes that you be successful in your writing endeavors. But please, be careful out there. :-)

Site of the Week - Et in arcaedia, ego.

Well, I'm barely squeaking by, but I have delivered (as promised) a second site this week to make up for missing last week. :-)

I've chosen to highlight the agent blog written by Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency, Et in arcaedia, ego.  Why? Because I found her voice engaging. The stats she provides on how many queries she recieves and how many partials she requests can be a bit disheartening, but I'm a realist deep down. Knowing that I not only have to be good, but slap-your-butt-flat-out-amazing, to get a nod makes me strive harder. (If being reminded that you have an ocean of competition isn't your thing, you'll probably want to avoid this site.)

However, Ms. Jackson gives a fresh voice to her (mis)adventures while slogging her way through the "query wars" as she calls them. She is straightforward about what authors can expect from her when submitting and provides reminders to those who choose not to follow the submission guidelines without being snarky or rude.

I recommend you pop in on her blog if you haven't run across it already. She accepts queries on all types of fiction. :-)

Site of the Week - Pub Rants

Well, it's been a busy week so I'm getting this week's site out a bit later than usual. I am going to keep this short because my allergies are driving me nuts today and I've had a headache since I woke up. Ugh.

I decided to highlight Pub Rants because "Agent Kristin" has some recent posts that deal with ebooks and how they will effect royalties and contracts. My favorite bit was that she had a question about how to calculate the royalties for her client and the publisher told her that the author could put the manuscript on hold until they made an in-house decision on how they would handle ebook royaly payments.

WTF??? So after all of the waiting and wondering, now we're supposed to be expected to wait for the publisher to figure out how they're going to calculate royalties? Ridiculous.

Anyway, any of you who haven't been to Pub Rants, enjoy. The link will be in  my Websites for Writers for future reference. :-)

Site of the Week - The Knight Agency

As you are all aware, I am unpublished in the fiction realm. So as I go about increasing my knowledge and seeking out advice, guidelines and others who understand the feeling that you are standing on the edge of an abyss more than ready to swallow you whole, I believe in highlighting websites from unknown or lesser known people, agencies, etc.

While we have all heard of the BIG names in the agent world; Nathan Bransford, Janet Reid, Miss Snark(now retired) what about those agents who haven’t got the followings these bloggers do? Are their websites somehow less informative? Less realistic? Less inspiring? Or, like us, are they just waiting for the world to pay attention to their genius?

Let us see, shall we?

I did a Bing search for agent blogs and found a list. How convenient. :-) At random, I chose to check out The Knight Agency’s blog. And here’s what I found:

They like to publish romance novels(which is probably why I’ve never heard of them). While they do have a sci-fi/fantasy section, just from the “cover blurbs” posted, most of them are romance based. (Good news for any of you working on a Paranormal/Sci-fi Romance, not so good for the rest of us.) However, they do represent some well-known names in the paranormal genre, like Gena Showalter and Nalini Singh, so they know their stuff.

But when it comes to advice, I found a wonderful article Loving a Love Scene by Chris Marie Greene. I do not write romance, I find emotional scenes very difficult to write. This article has some great tips for the romantically challenged like me. My favorite was to keep in mind that a sex scene is a point where your characters should transform. It should be a catalyst for them. Unconsciously, I knew this, but to see it written out with examples and suggestions – it clicked. :-D

So, while Knight Agency does not specialize in the type of fiction I am writing, that doesn’t meant I can’t learn from what these professionals have to say. I encourage you to stretch out beyond the confines of your own chosen genre when seeking hints, tips and knowledge. You never know when you’ll find a little gem to make your writing sparkle.

Site of the Week - AgentQuery.com

All right, I admit it; I was playing at the beach yesterday when I should have been doing research for my Site of the Week piece. So, I've decided to review a site most of you will probably already know about, but that I believe deserves (re)mentioning. It has been featured on the 101 Best Websites for Writers put out by Writer's Digest for the past five years. But, I'm still going to tell you why I like it. :-)

Agent Query is a comprehensive database of over 900 literary agents. You can quick search by keyword and/or genre (non-fiction and fiction) or there is also an option for a more detailed search. You are going to find agents who represent big names in the fiction world. While it can be daunting to think about sending your manuscript out to the same agent who represents your favorite author, isn't it fun to think about telling everyone you know that you share an agent with Diana Gabaldon? (You know, just as an example.) ;-)

So, why do I like it? Because it makes searching for the perfect agent not only easier, but more enjoyable. I love knowing in a quick snippet what genres the agent represents, who they represent and what books they have in the works. You want to make sure that the agents you submit your work to are currently selling books to publishers. So, while the site is helpful, please exercise common sense and caution when making your choices.

And they also have these handy little boxes along the top of their homepage that provide links to all sorts of useful information. For example click on "Beware of Scammers" under the Writers heading and you will find a Q & A about how to tell if an agent is trying to take advantage of you. Agent Query has researched the legitimacy of the agents they list, but I still encourage you to browse their agency websites and/or blogs to get a feel for how they operate.

I like to think of Agent Query a one-stop-shopping experience.  It's sort of like Wal-Mart but without the bad business practices and freaky people wearing fox tails on their belt loops. Oh, come on; don't pretend you haven't visited that people of Wal-Mart website. ;-)  Anyway, as an aspiring writer who has used Agent Query to submit her work to agents in the past, I give this site a 5 out of 5 keyboards.

Site of the Week - BookEnds, LLC -- A Literary Agency

Just a little reminder, this review is only my opinion. :-) I hope you find it helpful.

I have promised you all a review of an agent blog this week. So, as not to disappoint you,  I offer Bookends, LLC – A Literary Agency 



Bookends, LLC accepts submissions from just about every genre you can think of including; fantasy, romance (historical, paranormal, and contemporary), westerns, and mysteries as well as non-fiction. However, they do show a strong preference for romance. (If you have a paranormal romance, this looks like a good place to submit.)

But I did not choose to highlight this blog mainly as a suggestion for submissions. The content and advice Jessica Faust, the agency’s co-founder and lead agent, offers is solid and straightforward. Faust blogs on a wide variety of topics; from basic submission technique to making the perfect cranberry daiquiri for the holidays, all you under 21-ers ignore that last bit. ;-)

She also responds to questions from aspiring authors. Her advice on how to tell if your agent is "bad" (a.k.a not helping you achieve your goal of publication) is frank and informative.

I would recommend checking out this blog. Bookends, LLC gets 4 out of 5 keyboards. :-)


K. Looney(writer)

So, the writing life gets put on hold for a variety of reasons; paying the bills, homework, social obligations - whatever. There seem to be more excuses than ideas in my mind the past few weeks.

But I plug along nonetheless.

I have recently picked up a short story that was the result of a "just for fun" contest on the Writer's Digest forums and have begun expanding it. It's what I call an "other world fantasy" because it doesn't take place on Earth. There are no elements of science fiction.

It's the story of an eleven-year-old boy named Hadwyn and his faithful pet chinchibbit, Shanely. The boy finds out from a mysterious old woman that he truly is the great-great-grandson of Callin, the greatest sorcerer his world has ever known. (Callin was destroyed 140 years ago by the evil sorceress, Rassidam.) Armed with this knowledge, Hadwyn must now discover his destiny while evading the clutches of The Followers of Rassidam.

I'm only about 37 pages into it but it's a fun distraction from the stress of job hunting.

I've been lax about researching agents for "Light of Avondell." I really do need to make a tangible goal. Perhaps researching one agent a week would be practical right now. But before I can submit to any of them I have to finish my query letter. But I think the best approach to that is to completely overhaul it for each agent. From what I've seen so far, some prefer a "bare bones" approach while others like a more in-depth account of the book to grab their interest.

Nothing worth having is easy, right?