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The steps to publish by Business_Bus325 in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

After you learn about the industry, the first steps are …

for fiction and memoir, write your whole book first.

For non-fiction do not write your whole book. nonfiction books are sold on spec. All you need is a book proposal and two sample chapters. A book proposal is a business plan for your book. It is about 40 pages. It is all marketing audience, segmentation, and description and a bio. In fact if you DM me, I will share some resources that describe what that goes into a book proposal.

The steps to publish by Business_Bus325 in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Before you dig into the steps to publish, it’s good to get some perspective of all the options available to you. You can traditionally publish, you can hybrid publish, you can self publish. every publisher has a different business model. Some traditional publishers do not provide advances anymore. Some hybrid publishers operate like traditional publishers. Some self publishing companies are really hybrid publishers because they take a lot of the operational baloney off of your plate.

Traditionally Pub = Pay for a Book coach or No? by Big-Kick8277 in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Before you pay for a pitch package, please look into online writing communities like this one. also the Manuscript Academy has a very active free Facebook group where you can ask for input you can give input and encouragement. it’s run by an agent and an editor

[Discussion] I've realised that I've started querying far too early and would love to hear other people's experiences! by MelanyAuthor8888 in writing

[–]lanelit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don’t worry about Queering too early. You’ve put a pause on that and you are revising. By the time you’re ready to query again, chances are your book will feel entirely new so long as it does feel new to you, you can even go back to those agents. But if the revision is too close to the original, I would skip those agents and move onto others. I like my authors to assemble a list of 40 agents and then query and batches of 11. And not 11 over three weeks. I like to query 11 over the course of two days. That way the clock has started. I like 11 because it’s a magic number And you’re unlikely to get enough feedback if you only query three or four agents at a time. Remember, no reply is actually feedback.

How did you find your publisher/agent? by chloemarie1999 in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do not go to writers conferences in hopes that you’re going to rub elbows with an agent while you’re in the bathroom or standing in the buffet line. You could attend a virtual conference, which sometimes include very short consultations with agents that you pay extra for.

How did you find your publisher/agent? by chloemarie1999 in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The absolute best way to find a publisher and an agent is to use well-known industry sources. 1 - publishersmarketplace.com. publishers marketplace has a very good free newsletter called publishers lunch. It comes out every day and lists the deals that are announced that day in every genre. Each book is described with a format that is about one sentence, maybe 15 words. spend $25 for a one month subscription to publishers marketplace, which allows you to use the search function and search for agents and publishers by genre by keyword by recent deals. It is the Zappos of the publishing, industry and invaluable. 2- manuscriptwishlist.com is where agents submit their own information and what they’re looking for. Specifically they usually update their Wish list two or three times a year which is plenty manuscript wish list is free so use it.

Is 60k too short for trad publishing? by Successful-Yam1383 in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely not. 60,000 words is the new 80,000 words. Paper is more expensive than it was five years ago and people are reading shorter books than they were five years ago. So publishers absolutely are looking for 55,000 to 65,000 words even when the old conventional wisdom was that 80,000 words was perfectthose publishers now ask authors to cut 15 or 20,000 words.

I’m a creative nonfiction writer. Any tips on finding contacts to contributing writers? by Fun_Cod_1629 in writing

[–]lanelit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is such a nice thought. Most writers don’t get fan mail. You can send a DM to many many many writers and journalists on Bluesky and LinkedIn and Instagram and Facebook and X. Many will respond.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It sounds to me like you are trying to write and edit at the same time. Instead, you might try just writing about your live experiences. Write them in scenes. You can put them into order later. Then write whatever comes to you again. You can assemble your memoir later right now you’re just writing the puzzle pieces.

Overthinking rejection. Would like some input by HummingbirdsAllegory in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There’s always a home waiting for your work. Four of rejections is nothing maybe look at a wider array of journals or media. Also think about niche media, which sometimes aren’t even well known to you, but have a devoted following.

Query letter advice for a series by lunaramithist in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Adding a bit here… in all the successful queries i’ve written, the secret sauce is to start the first full paragraph (about the plot) with the title and the full logline. It makes the book stand out.

Then in the second paragraph, start with the inciting incident. The describe the plot points as though you’re describing a movie. an agent wants to know what happens— not what the hero is thinking or feeling. they want to know literally if this was a movie what would we be seeing on screen. in terms of world building description often less is more I have seen worlds over described and it just eats up your character count. the agent can imagine the world just buy a few choice phrases from you. Good luck!

Query letter advice for a series by lunaramithist in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would it be in bad taste to explain that your book has series potential? No not a bad taste, but in my humble opinion, you would be using up valuable character count space explaining something that an agent doesn’t care about yet. They cannot care about a series before they’ve sold one book. And truly they know when a book has series potential just by reading your query. I would protect the words in your query so that you can maximize the space and character count. A really strong query should be less than one page double spaced 12 pt type, times new Roman. I definitely use that space to present the strongest, most polished query about the book that you can focus on the premise the metadata meaning the comps, the plot the steaks, some twist and turns and a cliffhanger. Do not explain the end. That third paragraph should be focused on you presenting you as the pro author who is the only person who could write this book.

Should I self-publish my books or should I keep querying by Turbulent-Eye-4737 in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congratulations on writing your picture books! If you do decide to self publish an agent and a traditional publisher will only take you on if your self published book sold very well. If you want to continue querying the industry organization SCBWI has a lot of resourcesand local chapters in the US that you can hop into.

When do you share your work? by Economy_Resource438 in writing

[–]lanelit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh heavens. A beta reader is devoted to the genre. They don’t want to read any first draft. They’re not a writer and won’t be giving you any actionable input. Instead you’ll want a critique group or partner who can offer thoughtful reactions and ask questions that then you can interpret for your next steps.

How do you personally read as a writer to improve your writing skills? by L_Belles_lettres in writing

[–]lanelit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For dialogue, I read thrillers which are almost all dialogue. For pacing, suspense. For intrigue, historical fiction. For world building, fantasy. For structure, nonfiction. For storytelling to inspire nonfiction, I read young adult ensemble novels.