As an agent, I receive a lot of query letters, and the simple truth is that most of them are awful. I feel bad for the writers, because their work may be very good, but I’ll never know because I’ve deleted their cover letters. When you sit down to...

Author and editor Leah McNaughton Lederman was inspired to put together her short story collection, A Novel of Shorts: the Woman No One Sees , when a specific character kept showing up in her stories. Esther, who is described by readers as tragic, deranged...

Many writers dream of seeing their book made into a movie or television show, but few understand the process and challenges that come with this goal. Books, movies, and television series are consumed in different ways and what works well for one medium...

Just like you pitch your book to an agent, be ready to pitch your book signing marketing strategy to an independent bookstore, advises Julie Wernersbach, publicist for indie bookstore BookPeople. It's a business partnership: you want the store to buy...

Industry leader Ken Atchity explains the benefits of publishing e-books. One of the great things about e-books is that they can be published so quickly—you can have an e-book on the market twenty-four hours after you decide you’d like to publish an...

Think your book would make a great movie? Jared and Julia Drake, of Julia Drake Public Relations, give tips on pitching a book for film adaptation. Don't assume that agents or producers will know what the movie pitch is from your book. There's a lot...

Just like you pitch your book to an agent, be ready to pitch your book signing marketing strategy to an independent bookstore, advises Julie Wernersbach, publicist for indie bookstore BookPeople. It's a business partnership: you want the store to buy...

Judy Klein, an agent and rights consultant, discusses reprint rights for books, including what they are, how they have changed over time, and how they relate to other subsidiary rights. Up until a few years ago, reprint rights were a big deal. Your...

Writing a novel demands a lot of time and attention and can feel like a fulltime job. Can a writer ever quit their day job? Julie Castiglia, literary agent, shares the reality of dollars and cents as a traditionally-published author. She says that...

Author and agent Bill Gladstone shares his advice for authors writing spiritual books. He recommends that if you are an author with a true and important spiritual message, write and publish because it needs to be communicated—don't focus on the success...