a.k.a. Good Food

I hate to admit it, even to myself, but now the easy part is over. The book, such as it is, is written (analogous to being pregnant and giving birth); now comes the hard part (raising the off-spring and sending him/her off into the world). Disclaimer: I’ve never had a child, so this is entire [...]

Last weekend I attended Fiction Fest, sponsored by the Connecticut chapter of the Romance Writers of America (CTWRA). Obviously romance is not my genre, but there were writers of other genres there as well.

Having finally completed the manuscript of my first mystery, and being reluctant to go through yet another round of revisions, I decided to venture out onto the ‘net in search of people, places and knowledge that might be helpful.

I’ve procrastinated as long as I can — and I’m a master of the art — but now it’s time to take the next step and actively seek an agent. At least that’s what I’ve been told.

I applied for the NYC Pitch & Shop Conference with hope, trepidation, and a total ignorance of what to expect.  After 4 days I left with a finely honed pitch, 2 reads and 14 new friends with whom to celebrate successes, commiserate on rejections and share advice, opinions, and tips.  Pretty good bang for my [...]

There’s a statistic that gets thrown around in the publishing industry — editors purchase only 2% of the manuscripts they solicit/read. This is a higher probability than being hit by lightning and significantly lower than the chance of rain tomorrow.
But who cares? Not me. I got offered TWO reads at the [...]

Even though I’m single and childless, I’ve come to the (probably none too original) conclusion that writing a pitch takes about the same amount of time and effort as having a baby.
Deciding to write a pitch is analogous to “creating” a child. It’s a fun idea, it may be spontaneous or planned, and it’s [...]