New Podcast Up: Some Agents Can Be A Con

On this podcast, we return to Hasting’s Books and Entertainment to talk about recent news about my “agent” and the important lessons learned about finding a literary agent. How do you know that your agent isn’t just a vanity press masquerading as an agent? We also discuss our love of science fiction/fantasy conventions in the

20 Useful Tips for Writing a Novel

Today I decided to compile a list of one line tips that help me keep focused on writing and observations I have made since gaining a literary agent.  Here they are in no particular order: Don’t play video games. 1000 words a day is healthy. Make time for your family….but not too much. Write a

Literary Agents Are Like Anglers

I like to think of literary agents as if they are anglers with a very good fishing rod, with the best bait in the world, but in the end they are still only anglers.  As a child of the country I know very well what angling or fishing is all about.  Angling is about ten percent

While Waiting On the Agent…I’ll Revise Again…and Again

I did it, or rather God has blessed me, and I currently have an agent trying to shop This Broken Earth to a couple of publishing houses.  I received some very good criticism from the literary agent, criticism that would make for a much better book if I were to tweak here and cut there.  My agent

On Speaking to a Literary Agent

Today I stressed all day because I was to receive a phone call from a literary agent from Glass Road Media Management.  I was so excited to get the phone call, and had a great meeting with Rebeca and Charlie Seitz who own the company.  Our meeting went well, and we spoke for nearly 90

One Book Every Self-Publisher Needs to Devour

I just finished reading a book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch that is everything a self-publisher needs to know about self-publishing and how to be successful in that area.  It’s called APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book. Basically, it is a book written by someone who knows the industry and how it works,

Using Scrivener to Create a Proof Manuscript

Scrivener does many things automatically that have to be set up manually in Word. One of the things it does for novelists, writers of nonfiction and screenwriters is that it will format your document automatically for submission to a literary agent. It makes your document look professional and sharp with just a few clicks of