Publishing Pulse for March 2, 2012

 

New At QueryTracker:

Congratulations to our newest success story, Angela Cook, who signed with Eric Myers of The Spieler Agency!

We have one new agent this week in the QT database, Jen Linnan of Linnan Literary Management. Nine agent profiles were updated, including one who left agenting. You'll get better results if you don't query agents who have left the business, so please make sure you double-check every agent's website or Publisher's Marketplace page before querying. 

If you're a QueryTracker member (membership is free) then you can be notified whenever an agent or publisher is added or updates their profile.

Cool contest:

Not ours, but it's still a cool contest regardless (and the it's also reason the ineffable Janet Reid is currently closed to queries.) Check out the Liz Norris Pay It Forward Writing Contest, where you could win registration for Backspace, travel funds, and lunch with Liz Norris's agent. Check it out!

Publishing News:

It's been an interesting week for Amazon.com, with the SFWA dropping all links to the online retailer and many authors leaving after Amazon cut ties with the Independent Publishers Group. 

Digital Book World reports that publishers who are seeing print sales soften should be prepared for a steep drop, and lots of open shelf space. 

Jan Berenstain, co-creator of the Berenstain Bears, has died at age 88. May perpetual light shine upon her

JK Rowling, whom you might have heard of, announced an upcoming novel geared toward adults. It is scheduled for release later this year. 

Around the Blogosphere:

If you've ever thought of nudging an agent with a fake offer of representation, don't do it. As Kristin Nelson says, they can tell.

Jessica Faust gives some tips about getting a job in the publishing industry.

Literary Quote of the Week:

"Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." E.L. Doctorow

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Jane Lebak is the author of The Guardian (Thomas Nelson, 1994), Seven Archangels: Annihilation (Double-Edged Publishing, 2008) and The Boys Upstairs (MuseItUp, 2010). At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four children. She is represented by the riveting Roseanne Wells of the Marianne Strong Literary Agency.