Publishing Category
A Publisher I Can Agree With
Posted on November 8, 2021 Leave a Comment
I like to shop local, small business, and made in the US. That’s one of the reasons I love the model for Chicken Scratch Books. Chicken Scratch Books direct markets to schools, libraries, and homeschool groups. While you can find the books at some of the major, national retailers, that’s not where Chicken Scratch puts […]
Best Friends Playbook Available for Pre-Order!
Posted on November 1, 2021 2 Comments
Da da da da! The day has finally arrived! Best Friends Playbook is available for pre-order from Chicken Scratch Books. Official release date is December 10, just in time for Christmas. And as promised, here is the amazing cover! I love the fact that this is the only contemporary novel I’ve ever written, and it […]
I Signed a Book Contract!
Posted on November 21, 2020 1 Comment
Be the first to get release news and book updates! Here’s the story: Several years ago, when I was a still a new mom, my parents paid for me to go to one of the local SCBWI writing retreats. I dropped my husband and daughter off at my sister-in-law’s so she could help with the […]
Titles
Posted on September 5, 2020 Leave a Comment
I’ve been adding new classes to my Outschool listing, one of which is a critique group style class. This last Thursday was our first meeting. We wound up talking about titles. Well, titles are not my strong point. Many of my projects have gone through half as many titles as revisions–and I revise a lot. […]
Query Tips
Posted on March 12, 2015 Leave a Comment
While we’re on the subject of queries, here a few tips based on what I gleaned over the various writing and agent blogs and resources. 250 words or less for the entire query Agents have differing opinions on personalization, so go with what that agent requests or if they don’t say, go with your gut […]
Rejection?
Posted on February 26, 2015 Leave a Comment
I don’t know why we call it rejection. That’s so harsh. I got a (very polite) form letter, but I believe what it said: that agent just wasn’t a good fit for my story. She had written last October that she might not take on any new sci-fi as the sci-fi market is saturated with […]
Writing the Synopsis to Find the Heart of Your Story
Posted on February 20, 2015 Leave a Comment
I did what I imagine most people do, and I waited to write the synopsis until I was almost done with the book. After all, until I was ready to market, I didn’t need a synopsis, right? Well, I discovered that in honing my synopsis I actually learned more about my story and what the […]
Query!! (the longer version)
Posted on February 13, 2015 Leave a Comment
I am officially in the business of getting published. I don’t say trying to get published because I am confident that at some point (it might take awhile), I will be published. 😀 Last Friday, I sent my first query to an agent. I had thought I would be obsessive about checking my email and […]
Pitch
Posted on June 4, 2014 Leave a Comment
So, writing my query letter worked! For the first time, when someone asked me, “What is your book about?” I was able to give a cohesive answer! Wow, that felt good.
Queries
Posted on April 25, 2014 Leave a Comment
While I write Part II and while Part I sits with various readers (go readers!), I’ve been doing some research. I believe my mom (go Mom!) is the one who gave me the link to the Query Shark blog. Since I have very little idea how to write a query, I’ve been reading the archives. […]
A. W. Downer 