These days, with Amazon and a host of other opportunities for self-publication, writers take more of a lead in getting their books in the hands of readers. If writers can upload their books and sell directly to readers then what happens to the “middle men” like literary agents? While some writers seem pleased to see… Read more »
“Writing is a fairly lonely business,” Marc Lawrence wrote, “Unless you invite people in to watch you do it, which is often distracting and then you have to ask them to leave.” This is true: we face the blank page alone. But writing doesn’t have to be a lonely business. Indeed, at DIY MFA, we… Read more »
One of the many great things about the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar was that the agents really dug into the nitty-gritty details of how to write a query. The second day of the conference included three Query Letter Bootcamps in which a panel of agents would dissect query letters submitted by conference attendees. Here’s an inside… Read more »
You’re at a your high school reunion and after exchanging pleasantries with your former classmates, someone asks that inevitable question: “You’re a writer? What’s your book about?” You stumble through a reply, explaining that it’s a character-driven coming-of-age story and that the main character is struggling to find love but finds herself instead… And then… Read more »
Ever wonder what literary agents look for when they read your first pages? While at the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar I had the opportunity to sit in on some small group workshops and observe how agents responded to the opening pages from different writers. By listening to agents give feedback, I got an inside look at… Read more »
