QueryTracker Blog

Helping Authors Find Literary Agents

Friday, March 6, 2009

Publishing Pulse 3/6/09

New Agents on QueryTracker:

Carrie Howland - Donadio & Olson, Inc.

Alanna Ramirez - Trident Media Group, LLC

Brendan Deneen - FinePrint Literary Management



Literary Agents:

The Web site Editor Unleashed, which is run by former WD editor Maria Schneider, is hosting a live forum chat with agent Michael Bourret of the Dystel & Goderich Literary Agency.


The chat goes down from 1-2 p.m., on Wednesday, March 11. Visit the EU Web site here. If you're writing juvenile fiction and have a question that no one can seem to answer, this is a perfect place to ask it!

Michael's interests: "a wide range of books, from middle grade and young adult fiction, to arts and entertainment, to serious nonfiction. He is a politics and news junkie, as well as a connoisseur of fine wine and reality television."

Colleen Lindsay started the first Query Fail on twitter. It was fun to watch all the tweets come through from the various agents, publishers, and authors. Check out her post on it here (oh, and see all those people on twitter? Baaaa...).

Fun Things To Win:

We all know that as important to writing is reading. I think I spend more money on books than anything else in my entertainment budget. So what's better than reading books? Reading FREE books. I'm sure there are scads of contests scattered across the Internet. My addiction is so severe that I usually rely on a handful of blogs to keep me in the loop.

Win a signed copy of Charles de Lint's THE MYSTERY OF GRACE. I totally entered.

Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of TANTALIZE and ETERNAL, runs one of the best blogs on the planet. She lists giveaways, author interviews, and much more almost every day. Click here to enter to win NEVER TRUST A DEAD MAN by Vivian Vande Velde (say that three times fast!).

Enter to win ETERNAL by Cynthia Leitich Smith, who also gives a great interview. In fact, this blog (In Bed With Books) has tons of giveaways, so check it out.

Other Interesting Tidbits:

1. Blogging is a fun way to "get yourself out there." Heather did a post this week on using Google Reader to follow the blogs you like. Do you want to become one of those people other people follow? (If you can follow that sentence, you deserve some sort of prize.) If you do, you need to blog. Not sure what to blog about?

Well, a couple of us QTBloggers have started doing a Work in Progress Wednesday. Mine from this week is here. Archetype posted here. The real inspiration came from Kate Karyus Quinn on her blog. If you're a blogger/writer wondering what you can post about (believe me, I've been there), try posting a Work in Progress Wednesday! There's nothing like giving a report, receiving positive comments and encouragement, and just the sheer thrill of blogging, of course. If you like, post your blog address in the comments. I'm always looking for new blogs to follow and read. (I've tried clicking on the tiny heads in our sidebar, but some of you have more than one blog!)

2. There is something in the works for Monday that I think you're going to love. Last Monday, we opened up the blog in our first Open Mic Monday. If you didn't get a chance to ask a question, please do! We want this blog to be for you. Lady Glamis asked a question about showing vs. telling. And the five of us have been cooking up something special to answer her question...don't miss it!

3. One last thing: You may have noticed our sweet, new graphics telling you a little more about the QTBloggers. We did an introductory post when we first took over the blog, but our readership has grown so much since then. So now, at the end of each post, you can see us and read a little bit about us. We'd like to get to know you too! Leave us a comment with a little tidbit about yourself. What genre do you write? Where are you in the querying stage? How long have you been writing? Who is your favorite author? Or maybe you're a random-fact person like me and just want to pontificate on the awesomeness of say, ginger ale. Go for it! We'd love to hear from you.


Elana Johnson writes fantasy and science fiction for young adults. When she's not doing that, she's blogging, facebooking, eating out, or wishing she could do any or all of those things.

13 comments:

Prairie Chicks Write Romance said...

An opportunity to talk - yeah, I'll comment. Love the idea of WIP Wednesdays - and will keep it in mind when I get around to blogging by myself. Right now, I blog with The Chicks over on The Prairies (www.prairiechickswriteromance.blogspot.com). Come on over and have a read.

Love Query Tracker - and have suggested it to many of my writer friends (especially the synopsis blog - very helpful). I am a writer of historical romance in the process of querying - and working on another manuscript while I wait.

Thanks for asking. Have a great weekend :)

Janet

Lisa Katzenberger said...

Hi Elena and QT team,

I do love the sweet graphics. Randomly, I also love (i.e. am addicted to) Diet Coke.

I write women's fiction and am currently wrapping up a first draft of my second novel. I queried my first book last summer and got requests for partials, but no further than that. So first book is tucked safely away. I hope to be back to the query process with book two by year end.

I have a new-ish blog at http://fictioncity.blogspot.com and would love for anyone to stop by and say hello!

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Hey, there!

I've been writing seriously since I was 14. I went to college as an English major so that I be an editor and novelist. Yeah, it's a lifelong dream. :)

I am not querying at the moment. I only have two completed novels that are not yet ready, although an agent is waiting for a partial from me, and that stresses me out.

I write suspense with a literary twist. Weird, I know.

I really like cheese, chocolate, and french fries. Not all together. I'm looking forward to that answer!!!

Michelle D. Argyle said...

You wouldn't know I'd want to be an editor by the mistakes up in my last comment.

*blushes*

Elana Johnson said...

Hi everyone! *rubs hands together* More blog readage.

And LadyG, french fries and chocolage Frosties from Wendy's make a great pair. As do french fries and cheese--as long as you have fry sauce to go with it. Yum!

Janet - I think I've been to your blog before. Thanks for sharing!

Lisa, Diet Coke is an addiction of many. Welcome to the blog!

Angela Ackerman said...

A writer of 6-7 years, I pound out books for MG & YA that center around pirates, zombies, magic, betrayal and death. Yeah, I think I have issues. My characters tend to be witty, funny and sarcastic, all rolled into one.

I started up a little blog a year ago with another writer chum to showcase a collection of description thesauri for writers. Now The Bookshelf Muse has an awesome following and hundreds of entries that help writers with describing emotions, settings and common objects & colors.

Stina said...

Diet Coke. Love the stuff. Too much.

I write YA urban fantasy romances specifically for girls 14+. My first novel has had some requests. Fortunately one agent was nice enough to tell me about two huge mistakes I made throughout that were easy to fix once they were pointed out. Even my teen readers and crit group didn't pick up on them. The new version of my partial (which of course has been tweaked some more since the request) is now out with my dream agent. I'm currently working on a new novel.

My blog (www.stinalindenblatt.com) is specifically geared toward teenage girls who want to learn more about photography. Because of it, I'll be teaching photography to a local girl guide troop next month. :0)

Carolyn Kaufman | @CMKaufman said...

Wow, what fascinating responses --both the random and the non-random parts! Keep 'em coming!

Angela, you sound a-ok to me. ;-)

Stina, I'm wondering if you'd be willing to share what the mistakes were? I'm such a curious sort.

*Goes to check out the two blogs listed...*

Carolyn Kaufman | @CMKaufman said...

Er...three blogs.

*shakes head*

Numbers and I don't get along so well...

Elana Johnson said...

Yeah, Stina, spill! If you don't want to here, you know my email, girl. Angela, thanks for sharing your blog! What's life without sarcasm? *snort* :)

Stina said...

Archetype, with the kind words you left on my blog, of course I'll reveal my mistakes. Hopefully others can learn from me. I'm still slapping my wrist for making them. I knew better.

1. My dialogue and inner thoughts ended up sounding a little too formal for teens. The MC was supposed to be an honor student . . . something I wasn't. Very easy to fix. Fortunately when I did it right I nailed it.

2. I had a tendency of over describing the MC's emotional state. Less is more. Again, very easy to fix.

Once the two mistakes were pointed out to me, they stuck out like Rudolf's nose in snow storm.

And yes, Peterson's book on exposure is one of my favs as well.

Thanks again for the great blog.

Stina

Anonymous said...

I started WIP Wednesdays too! Thanks Kate for the idea (and everyone else from QT). It forces me to focus on my writing - even during crazy work weeks.

Angela Ackerman said...

Angela, you sound a-ok to me. ;-)

Muhahahaa. Glad I fooled you, Archetype. :-)