BookingIt

Last week I found out that my long-time critique partner Linda Glaz was just made an agent at Hartline Literary !!! Woohoo! So apparently for years I've been rubbing shoulders with an agent in the making. :-) Linda is a kind and funny person. She's very savvy regarding the industry and craft and she loves romance. If you're looking for an agent to query, I'd recommend Linda. She mostly loves any subgenre of romance and suspense, but she'll never turn down a great story regardless of genre. The guidelines for querying Linda are HERE . Congrats Linda! As for linkage, there some news on the digital royalties publishing front. Here are a few interesting links. Harlequin Raises E-book Royalties Agent Kristin Nelson's Take So Far Dear Author Asks Harlequin Some Other Publishers Royalty Rates Brenda Hiatt's Show Me The Money (this site is a good representation of what publishers pay on average) What do you think about digital royalties? Had you heard an...

As some you may know, I won a conversation with editor Barbara Scott of Abingdon Press . She's started a new blog called The Roving Editor and although she's a CBA editor, she has a deep knowledge of the industry and I'd recommend following her. Not only is she smart, but she's a really funny, sweet lady. I often feel nervous on the phone, not sure what to say to people I don't know, but she put me at ease. One of the main things she felt was important for writers is encouragement. Encouragement and perseverance. Who and what encourages you in your writing? On a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest, how would you rate your Encouraged level? Why is it high or low?

A category romance is a shorter romance (45-60k, depending on the line, up to 75k if it's historical) that has a one month shelf life. Harlequin is the main category publisher though I think there are others who have category-like imprints.( Barbour and Kensington ) Single Titles are all the other books you see sitting on the shelf. They're usually 75k-110k and the plot lines include more subplots than a category. For the past few months I've been turning my category into a single title. It's hard! Do you know if there's such a thing as western categories? What size books do you enjoy reading? How long is your WIP?

Over at the Seekers is a wonderful post by author Julie Lessman. It's all about meeting people who influence your life in positive ways, taking your writing journey in awesome and great directions. It's also about being connected to people. Let's face it. Writing is a solitary endeavor and I've heard that most writers are introverts. I know I am. So hooking up with others takes a little effort, but it is SO worth it. God puts people in our life as blessings. And he uses us as blessings too. (One of Julie's other posts). Big Sighhhhhh. That blog just gave me such a toasty feeling. Now on to less toasty things. Big changes in the publishing industry. Check out this and this and this. I'm not published yet and I can't help but wonder what the industry will look like when I am.