Recently an author emailed me to find out if I’d heard anything about a publisher called knowonder! – she planned to submit a story I had declined though I really loved her work. I’d never heard of knowonder! but poked around the Internet a bit to get a feel for them. After researching and giving the author feedback, I decided my process was worth a blog post. Here’s my vetting approach and something any author looking for a publisher can do to get a feel for a company before submitting. Google the company name. In this day and age they should have a website as well as links to their social networking sites like Twitter , Pinterest ,   Facebook , and a blog . How do those sites look? Have they been around long? Are they active? They should give a solid and consistent impression across platforms. Next look for a submissions page , and read every line closely. Knowonder! has a very concise submissions page, explicitly outlining what they seek. Their focus is read-al...

Ideally, a novelist’s submission package is comprised of three elements: the query, the synopsis, and the sample pages. This post is not intended to help you write them. I’ll sprinkle in a few links from the BRP team to help with that. This is to help you understand how they work together to either disappoint or entice an agent. Think these materials are too brief to fairly represent your project? Read on. You may be surprised how revealing they can be. Let’s look at each aspect of the package in terms of its function. Source: Flickr.com Query: The Hook The query is the bedrock of the submission package. It may be all an agent ever sees, since many request a query only. Rest assured that if written well, it is enough to earn an invitation to send more. In just a few paragraphs, this page suggests whether you are ready to make the transition from writer to published author. Its opening is your pitch, one or two concise, cogent paragraphs meant to align us with your protago...

Dear Readers, It's a lovely thing to be able to write a thank you note and have it reach thousands of people in an instant. No matter how long I use the Internet, I don't think I'll ever quite get used to this amazing tool and the freedom it represents to me. When I first starting writing, I used a pencil. I was a child. In my teen years, I learned to type... on a manual typewriter, and it was a miracle indeed when I got my first electric typewriter with an auto-correct ribbon. Years later, I can't begin to tell you how rich I felt to have my own computer with printer and copier. But the online communications with my computer... that is what I'm most grateful for and for many reasons. Half a dozen years ago, my husband and I had an opportunity to move to a small rural town, and I decided then and there, I would focus on my writing. I have always written my way through life, but in a secondary way to my art career. I would leave the brushes for a time, and focu...