My writing journey, these days, looks a lot like what’s happening right this minute: it’s almost nine p.m and I’m writing, crafting something (in this case, a blog post) that’s due in the morning, after spending all day working on something (always, a novel) that’s due in a few months or sometimes less. During breaks in my day, I’m checking in with Facebook, I’m learning to tweet, I’m trading emails with my agent, my editor, my publicity team, my marketing team, my husband, and our dog. Wait, no, we don’t have a dog.

Read the rest of Therese Fowler’s blog post at: http://girlfriendbooks.blogspot.com/2011/01/journey-of-thousand-milesyou-know-rest.html

When I signed on to be an Intern at Wendy Sherman Associates this June, I had no idea what I was getting into. In a good way.

In May I received my MFA in Creative Writing, and decided to channel my new skills into working at a literary agency. I joined Wendy Sherman Associates with only the basic knowledge of what a literary agent does and was pretty much starting from step one. Despite this, Wendy and Kim put their full trust in me and gave me the opportunity to learn the business first hand.

My main responsibility at the agency is going through our daily e-mails, which means a tremendous volume of queries. Since the publishing world has become increasingly digital (I’ve recently invested in a new laptop, a blackberry, and may even get–heaven forbid–a kindle) the submission process for writers has also gotten easier. However, while it may be easier for writers, it is that much more reading for us! Instead of receiving twenty or so paper based submissions we now get at an average of 50 e-mail queries each day. More queries mean more great possibilities, but it also means I’ve had to learn tricks of the trade to pinpoint precisely what makes a good query and what makes a book the right fit for us.

For starters, it’s important that the query is directed at the right person in the subject line- Wendy and Kim have overlapping tastes at times, but if you read their profiles on the website, it’s pretty easy to tell who will be interested in what type of book. Next, it is always refreshing to understand the premise of the book right away.  The more succinctly you can describe the work, the more easily I’m drawn into it. In school, we were taught  that you should always be able to sum up a story in one sentence. Now, I don’t expect that level of conciseness, but you get the idea. Of course, once you’ve gotten our attention, you have to hold on to it and so we always like to have the first ten pages of a manuscript. A query can get you so far, but it’s the writing that will really let us know what you’ve got. With the first ten pages, we aren’t guessing your writing style or where the story starts or the type of audience for which the book is intended. The writing sample makes everything much clearer. In short, a good query, with tight writing and well placed enthusiasm often means a good book. And it makes my job a lot easier!

I was on vacation last month, half way around the world, and was still reading avidly, daily. Work at a literary agency is challenging, but in a good way. It is a great feeling to get to read what the world is writing and know that, as a writer, I am helping other writers get their own work out there – one query letter at a time.

-VS

Check out this article written by our very own Joni Rodgers!

This is, or rather was, Marie-Hortense, last year’s Thanksgiving turkey in Paris. Why, you may ask, such a dignified name for our she-bird? I’d tell you. But then I’d have to kill you. Suffice it to say, there were some at the table who thought a certain Marie-Hortense would benefit from a sprig of rosemary up the bum.

This year, Thanksgiving seems to have snuck up on me. I’m just back from a 3 week trip to the US. Still up at 4am every morning from the jetlag. I doubt anyone in our tiny Provencal village even knows it’s a holiday; so I will go on with business as usual: buy some salmon and dorade from the fishmonger at our Thursday market, work for a few hours in my local cafe. I’m organizing my winter pantry, cocao powder and lots of whole wheat pasta – as they are predicting snow this weekend.

One thing that happens when no one around you is frantically cooking, polishing silver or planning their 5am Black Friday shopping marathon, is that you have a little time to think about what Thanksgiving really means. I’m a perfectionist, which means I am often ungrateful. I expect too much – of myself, and of everything and everyone around me. I often forget to give thanks for the many gifts life has given me: a son who smiles all the time, a man who can tile a floor and recite poetry, a family who loves me even when I bite back, friends who can finish my sentences, a job that engages my head and my heart, and a new, glorious landscape to explore.

So this year, I’ve decided to take the day off. From myself. Today, I will not feel behind. I will not worry about being a better wife, mother, daughter, housekeeper or writer. I’ll be having quite an ordinary day, but I’ll be thinking and thanking – instead of fretting and fixing. We all need one day a year when we meet our own expectations, and allow the world to be as it is, instead of exactly how we would like it to be.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. http://www.elizabethbard.com/2010/11/turkey-named-marie-hortense.html

Giving up a weekend to travel and spend time hearing pitches and
critiquing writing samples never seemed like a good use of time, and in truth I’d rather be home on my couch reading a full manuscript of something I’m sure I can sell.

But I’m ready to revise that view after spending a lovely and productive weekend in Myrtle Beach at the South Carolina Writers Workshop. I met many new writers and was impressed with the dedication and passion the attendees brought to the conference. Publishing is a mysterious world to those on the outside (and sometimes even to those of us on the inside) and hopefully my workshops shed valuable light on the art of writing memoir and the journey of finding an agent and getting published.

A big bonus was getting to meet the other faculty members-many of whom I had never before met, and I was thrilled to spend time with the lovely and talented Therese Fowler (see photo) who, in spite of our frequent phone calls and emails I rarely get to see. I loved our sunrise run on the beach each morning and the crazy martinis (pomegranate and lime juice?) were the perfect way to finish the days.

So I guess the answer to my question here is that it’s good to get out of the New York publishing cocoon. I have several excellent projects that I scored at the conference and am very happy for the time spent with new friends.

Until the next time…
-WS

With Halloween right around the corner, thoughts often turn to fright-night characters such as goblins, witches, and ghosts. But far from dwelling in the realm of fairy tale and folklore, what if some of these spooky specters were real? That’s what Minnesota author Mary Sharratt found out when she moved to the Pendle region of Lancashire, England.

Pendle Hill is steeped in its legends of the Lancashire witches. In 1612, in one of the most meticulously documented trials in English history, seven women and two men from Pendle Forest were hanged as witches. Sharratt’s novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010) interweaves well-researched historical details with a beautifully imagined story of strong women, family love, and betrayal in what the San Francisco Chronicle called “a fresh approach with witches who believe in their own power and yet, in many ways, are still innocent. Sharratt’s readers—like the magistrate who took the women’s confessions—are likely to be spellbound.”

“The wild, brooding landscape of Pendle Hill, my adopted home, gave birth to my new novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL, which tells the true story of Elizabeth Southerns, cunning woman, more commonly known by her nickname, Mother Demdike,” says Sharratt. “As I sought to uncover the bones of her story, I was drawn into a lost world of mystery and magic. Every stereotype I’d held of historical witches and cunning folk was dashed to pieces. Mother Demdike became a true presence, a shining light in my life.”

DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL is now available in hardcover. The paperback will be released in January 2011.

Click here to visit Mary’s website.

Click here to view the video.

Congratulations to Ambassador Nancy Brinker and Joni Rodgers on New York Times Bestseller Promise Me: How A Sisters Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer.

Click here to watch this clip of Nancy discussing the book and her reasons for founding Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tuesday, August 3, 2010