I sat down with Anchorage nature writer Bill Sherwonit at a local coffee shop a few weeks ago. He was just back from a 10-day solo trip in the Brooks Range, during which his tarp and tent had been “investigated” by an unseen grizzly — just one detail on an sometimes quiet and contemplative, sometimes […]
Living with Wildness: Q & A with Bill Sherwonit Read More »
Despite all the criticisms hurled at the oxymoronic “publishing industry,” it does – with some notable exceptions – keep the Peter Principle at bay, at least in terms of authors and their published work. As anyone who’s tried will attest, it’s darned hard to get published. Which is why I make a distinction between the
Bringing Out the Best Read More »
And now, we need to talk about … when agents are wrong. It happens. And we all love those stories about the novel that almost went into the Dumpster, only to be retrieved at the last minute by some prescient spouse (like Stephen King’s wife, who supposedly saved CARRIE) or editor (like the one who
Agent Advice: The Epilogue Read More »
Just to let you know, this week’s posts are taking the place of my normal Thursday Q & A, but worry not (for those of you less interested in all these agent details), we have not one but TWO Q & As coming up in a few days, showcasing the fine work of Alaska writer
Coming next week: Nature Writing Special Read More »
Not so long ago, your best bet for researching an agent was to buy one of the thick annually updated marketplace guides (see your bookstore for several popular choices). But today I’m going to focus on online info sources, because as one agent from BookEnds LLC says at her blog, “The Internet is the best
Agent Advice Part 3: Online Sources for Finding and Evaluating Read More »
Quite a week here in Alaska. A lot of us still feel as my daughter did when I woke her at 8 a.m. last Friday to tell her Alaska was making history. As we watched McCain introduce his new running mate, my daughter said, “I have this feeling that in a little while I’m going
ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP Read More »
There’s another Cinderella-in-Alaska story to tell this week, and it doesn’t involve a certain past mayor of Wasilla. Just this weekend, while doing a book-signing in Mat-Su, I met a local aspiring novelist who recently snagged a big agent. I’ve been meaning to write a post about agents but I wanted to share more than
Agent Advice Part 2: Stars sometimes align at conferences Read More »
Republican speechwriter Matthew Scully is the Alaskan author of the day. I doubt he’s ever set foot in our state, but the text he prepared for Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s debut at the Party’s convention caught the attention of more Americans than perhaps the last decade of books written in and about Alaska. Never mind
I was writing my own how-to-get-an-agent post when fellow blogger “Moonrat” of Editorial Ass beat me to the punch with a great post called “Why you should never submit unagented to publishing companies.” Counting on the fact that she will convince you that you do need an agent, I’ll follow with my own advice later
Why Agents and How To Get One, Part 1 Read More »
No, I’m not going to discuss how Sarah dumped the state cook or leak the mooseburger recipe of our State Super Mom (aka the “perfect woman,” according to one Republican delegate). Frankly, I’m not sure how much more I can take of people like Wasilla’s current mayor gushing about how running her town and running
What’s Cooking, Alaska? Read More »
