As an author, I often receive questions from writers and students about literary agents. Specifically, how to find a literary agent. Up until recently, I would respond by launching into a discussion about query letters and book synopses, writers forums and agent wish lists, proposals and comparison books, etc., etc.
Now, I tell them what I wish I could tell my younger self: it's not about simply finding a literary agent. It's about finding the right agent for you.
Read MoreDeb Werksman is the Editorial Director of Sourcebooks Casablanca. She previously ran her own publishing company. Werksman is the country's foremost editor of Jane Austen sequels, and acquires single title romance in all subgenres, as well as historical and women's fiction. Sourcebooks is the country's largest woman-owned independent publishing house, and they are known for their sales and marketing, as well as our focus on building authors' careers.
Read MoreIn 1987, the United States Congress designated March as National Women’s History Month. When my literary agent, Mark Gottlieb, asked me to write a guest post for his publishing blog, I thought it might be appropriate to write about a woman publisher.
Read MoreSome authors know early on that they are destined to become writers. For me, it was my mom who knew that I was going to be a writer before I ever picked up a pen. But growing up, there were few indications to support her conviction.
Read MoreIt’s fun to talk about how this year, in 2019, we’ll be writing every day and only taking breaks to market ourselves and our work on social media. It’s fun to talk about how this year, unlike all the other years, we’re going to read every classic we’ve been putting off, along with all the books by our friends and colleagues. (We’ll review all those books, too, and promote them, and not be jealous of the success of others… right?)
Read MoreRuby Karp (pictured right with Tina Fey) is a comedian and journalist. She has spoken about feminism on Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls at the Party and at TEDx. She regularly performs at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater. Karp has written for Hello Giggles, Mashable, The Mindhut and Bustle. She has an advice column on SparkNotes called Ask Ruby. Karp has spoken at the United Nations as a Dove spokesperson, discussed the importance of self-esteem at the It's Our Turn: the Young Women's Conference, has been at panelist at BookCon with Tavi Gevinson, has won a MOTH Slam and was named one of the most successful teens of this generation by Seventeen and Cosmo. Karp was a speaker at StuVoice Live, an organization dedicated to students taking charge of their education. She worked with Kit-Kat to film a short on herself about how she uses her “break-time” better. She has been featured on shows like MSNBC, NBC, HuffPost Live. Karp made her viral debut at the age of four in Human Giant, and has since been a staple at UCB shows like Broad City Live, The Chris Gethard Hour, and ASSSSCAT among many others. She is also the author of Earth Hates Me: True Confessions from a Teenage Girl. The book is considered the handy Lean In for the Rookie generation, on what it's like to be inside a teen's mind, how social media impacts a teenager and what all their "angst" is really about, from an actual teenager offering life lessons.
Read MoreAward-winning author, screenwriter and media commentator Andrew Klavan is the author of such internationally bestselling novels as True Crime, filmed by Clint Eastwood, and Don’t Say A Word, filmed and starring Michael Douglas. Klavan has been nominated for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award five times and has won twice. His books have been translated around the world. He was dubbed by Stephen King: “The most original American novelist of crime and suspense since Cornell Woolrich.” Klavan is a contributing editor to City Journal, the magazine of the Manhattan Institute. His essays and op-eds on politics, religion, movies and literature have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the L.A. Times and elsewhere. Klavan is a frequent media guest on television and radio stations from coast to coast, where he is known for his quick wit, humor and commentary on politics and entertainment. He currently hosts the podcast The Andrew Klavan Show on the Daily Wire and his political satire videos have been viewed tens of millions of times. As a screenwriter, Andrew wrote the screenplay to 1990’s A Shock to the System, which starred Michael Caine, and to 2008’s One Missed Call, which stars Ed Burns and Shannyn Sossamon. He lives in Southern California. He has also written a memoir, The Great Good Thing: A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ.
Read MoreJonathan Shaw is the first tattoo artist to appear on The Tonight Show with David Letterman. His likeness was depicted by Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Art Spiegelman on the cover of The New Yorker. Shaw is also the son of legendary Swing-era bandleader Artie Shaw. Jonathan Shaw also played the tattooed thug opposite Clint Eastwood in the movie Tightrope (1984). He founded the magazine International Tattoo Art and his recent visual exploration of tattoo art, Vintage Tattoo Flash II has become a mainstay of collectors of tattoo art. Shaw's long-awaited memoir-style novel, Scab Vendor: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist was hailed by Jerry Stahl as "...beautiful as a dead drunk's bible..." and its sequel Homeward Bound was recently released to much acclaim. Shaw also made headline news as the infamous "tattoo artist to the stars" indicted by a New York City Grand Jury and charged with eighty-nine felony counts of illegal weapons possession. Described by Iggy Pop as, “the great nightmare anti-hero of the New Age,” Shaw's tattoo client list included names like Johnny Depp, The Cure, The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, Marilyn Manson, Jim Jarmusch, Joe Coleman, Kate Moss, Orlando Bloom and Tupac Shakur. Jonathan Shaw is still one of the most respected names in the tattoo profession today for being instrumental in pioneering the tattoo industry.
Read MoreAs writers, most of us have a vision of the perfect writer’s world—we sit on the deck of a charming bungalow, overlooking some untouched tropical paradise, while we pound out bestsellers before we hit the beach. We drop the finished manuscript in the mail, our literary agent takes it from there, and the checks roll in while we decide whether or not to do Oprah or go surfing—we opt for surfing—our agent will handle things with Oprah.
Read MoreIf you’re like me, you often see articles about what it takes to land a literary agent in today’s crowded world of publishing, and to be blunt, much of the advice is the same. Be patient. Persevere. And don’t forget to have a fully complete and well-polished manuscript, an amazing, attention-grabbing query letter, and an awesome hook that no one can deny. And while all of that is well and good (and not all that easy to accomplish), what you don’t seem to find is many articles that speak to what happens after you get an offer of representation from an agent, and what you, the would-be published author, can expect out of the experience.
Read MoreThe tensions leading up to Brexit have caused uncertainty among U.S. and foreign publishers from around the world in regard to the state of book publishing in the United Kingdom. Brexit has been driving down the value of the pound due to uncertainty from markets such as the European Union. While UK publishers remain hopeful of what might result from Brexit, many publishers and literary agencies throughout the rest of the world are beginning to question the UK-EU book trade distribution agreements that might come apart at the seams.
Read MoreI’m back today to discuss how authors can use the signature line in their email correspondences to continually promote their publications in a form of passive email marketing. Using an email signature line is specifically a great way to promote an author’s writing to all those they correspond with in everyday emails to friends, family or colleagues. Signature lines in email can automatically populate below a new email’s text, based on email signature settings, or can manually be pasted in every time an email is sent.
Read MoreWelcome to my first blog post on Talking Books with Literary Agent Mark Gottlieb! I've created this blog as a way to share helpful tips and tools with authors to grow their online presence. For this first post, I'd like to focus on one of the many methods I use with my book publishing clients to help further grow their careers.
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