Comments | bgliterary: I surrender!

bgliterary

I surrender!

Jun 08, 2006 08:51

Enough already, people! I get it, I get it! You want me to update. Sheesh, I had no idea how much pressure this was going to involve.

I don't quite know what this journal is for. I got into it as a lark, primarily to read many of my other clients' LJs. I didn't initially think I'd post much, and I didn't. Then I got into the whole question of ( Read more... )

Comments 90

Either is fine ya_review June 8 2006, 15:44:31 UTC

Why do birds suddenly appear everytime you are near? Is it because just like me they want to be close to you?

(and can you rec any of your clients books for me to review for the papers I work for?)

Re: Either is fine bgliterary June 9 2006, 02:36:08 UTC

All of them, of course. ;^)

If you want me to pick something specifically, give me a better sense of what you might be looking for to review.

Re: Either is fine ya_review June 9 2006, 02:38:08 UTC

YA -Romance, fantasy, action, angst, whatever really. I'm always on the look out for new books to review.

Re: Either is fine bgliterary June 12 2006, 12:01:59 UTC

Best thing I can suggest then is to watch this space for my seasonal pub announcements. I'm certainly not picking favorites from clients' books to pitch for reviews...anyone I left out would have every right to kill me dead!

YA Fiction vs. YA Nonfiction gwinevere_rain June 8 2006, 16:11:42 UTC

Hello!

I have several questions (all related) . . .

Do you think that the YA nonfiction market will become as popular as YA fiction? Also, why is it that many literary agents who specialize in YA only want YA fiction ? Wouldn't it be advantageous to represent both YA fiction and nonfiction? Why don't we see this more often?

Gwinevere Rain, age 21
Author of Spellcraft for Teens, Moonbeams & Shooting Stars and Confessions of a Teenage Witch
www.Gothic-Rain.com

Re: YA Fiction vs. YA Nonfiction bgliterary June 9 2006, 02:38:02 UTC

I don't represent nonfiction, so I'm not sure I can really address these questions very well. I suppose that in itself says that I don't think nonfiction will ever have the impact or visibility that fiction does, but it also says a lot about what I like (and don't like) to read.

I think there are plenty of agents who represent both...I'm just not one of them.

lizjonesbooks June 8 2006, 16:27:16 UTC

I'll confess to being an idiot that queried you in your journal(sorry, I'd never seen an actual blog before I read your entry on a pointer from the scbwi boards).

I'll add that since then I've spent a lot of time reading blogs on lj, and discovered the error of my ways. And I've spread the news to my non-blog- reading writer buddies, so hopefully, I've managed to absolve myself sufficiently to ask another question.

I do both writing and artwork. I've noticed that a few agents list illustrators among their clients. I have yet to discover a site for art reps which is as thorough as agentquery.com, so I'm still pretty much in the dark about that field.

How much overlap do you see between agents for writing and art reps? Do you represent both? Do you tend to see a split among your peers, with writing agents handling only writing and art reps handling only art, or is it more mixed?

Thanks--and sorry to be among the ranks of the clueless...

bgliterary June 9 2006, 02:43:44 UTC

Did you really? Hmm, I thought you were a VC connection query. No worries, I recognize that having a blog can easily invite that sort of thing, and I can understand why new writers might think it was a good way to reach me. Now that I have a website with submission instructions, though, I'm much less tolerant ( ... )

lizjonesbooks June 9 2006, 03:17:32 UTC

VC-- is that Viet Cong or Verla's Chat?
:o)
I've spoken with Chris Tugeau, and she's wonderful, had a lot of good ideas. I know what you mean about lack of control... Though I think for me, it's more the *presence* of ideas about what might make a particular story pop visually, and the stories hidden in images that I can't resist writing out that makes doing just one side of the process difficult.

I tried for years to be good and stick to just the writing side,since that's what I thought was expected of me as a professional writer. Ironically, I've had more success with the other end. I'm still hoping to stumble on some secret list of agents with a foot in both industries.
Then again, picture books are still down.
*sigh*
I guess that's a few more years for me to hone my craft,eh.

bgliterary June 9 2006, 13:39:55 UTC

No secret list...it's all pretty public, actually.

And picture books aren't as down as they used to be, and signs look good for a bit of a resurgence at last. It still won't be like the 80s, which is a good thing, but it's definitely not a bad time to be a picture book writer.

Thread 7

Enjoying your posts djwarrior June 8 2006, 17:13:50 UTC

Hey, I enjoy the sound effects included in your posts and look forward to the news you post. Thanks.

Re: Enjoying your posts bgliterary June 9 2006, 02:44:04 UTC

I have sound effects? I never knew.

mindyalyse June 8 2006, 17:25:13 UTC

I know that blogs, websites, and author visits are great marketing tools. What else can an author do to help promote her books?

bgliterary June 9 2006, 02:46:03 UTC

Anything and everything. Each author has to decide what's the most effective use of his/her time, and must recognize that any time spent marketing (albeit necessary) is also time not writing. It's a tightrope act most of the time.

A lot comes from knowing your market, your neighborhood, your audience. Opportunities are always out there, some more costly than others, and you just have to find the ones that make sense for you and your book(s).