Selling Your Work
Finding An Agent: A Potential Website for Aspiring Writers
Thursday, August 20th, 2009 | Finding An Agent, Selling Your Work, The Writing Life | No Comments
It occurs to me that I have not posted anything about how to find an agent in ages. I have gotten caught up in my own recent experiences of selling my novel and learning about the publishing world. All that is a lot of fun, as well as a lot of work, but before she can secure a sale to a large house, a writer has to find the right agent.
Two Amazing Moments in One Day
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 | Once It Is Sold, Selling Your Work, The Writing Life | 3 Comments
I had the most amazing experience today. Last night, after working into the evening on my latest draft of THE QUEEN’S PAWN, I turned my computer off, my task completed. I sent the book back to Claire via email, thinking that it still might need another pass. I have learned throughout this process that when Claire asks a question, she has always found a problem that needs to be addressed, something that I never would have found on my own. My book will be world’s better for her input. I never knew how valuable an editor was until I met Claire.
The Queen’s Pawn on Amazon
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 | Once It Is Sold, Selling Your Work, The Writing Life | 3 Comments
I was so happy to find my novel available for Pre-Sales on Amazon. Though the cover art is not up yet, it is still exciting to see my book out in the world…one step closer to seeing it in print…
Here once more is a description of my novel and the link to find it on Amazon. I am working on getting a grass roots movement going…the more pre-sales, the better. So if my ladies interest you, hit that link. 
The Queen’s Pawn by Christy English
Staying in the Chair: How Many Drafts Are Enough?
Friday, December 12th, 2008 | Selling Your Work, The Writing Life | No Comments
Yesterday, I wrote about what the idea of “high concept” means. Basically a marketing term, a high concept idea is a story that editors and agents can not turn their back on. But once inspiration has struck, once a stellar idea has come to you, what then? How does a writer begin to flesh it out, transforming a marketable idea into a well written novel?
Elana Roth of the Caren Johnson Literary Agency mentioned that while she has received many solid query letters outlining marketable ideas, often when she reads the first pages of the manuscript, the novel falls short. Essentially, the writer has honed her idea to a sharp point, but has not finished crafting the novel itself.
High Concept: Where Art Meets Commerce
Thursday, December 11th, 2008 | Once It Is Sold, Selling Your Work, The Writing Life | No Comments
Last night, a couple of friends took me to dinner to celebrate my long-awaited sale. One of them was Elana Roth from the Caren Johnson Literary Agency. We had an interesting discussion of what makes a “high concept” story. Elana works with Children’s fiction, Middle Reader’s fiction, and YA fiction. My focus is adult historical fiction, but storytelling is storytelling. What makes an agent or an editor hear a pitch or an idea and say, “Yes, I have to read that”?
