Novel Writing on Edge - Development Notes From Algonkian Writer Conferences

  Jenny Milchman I wish I’d known just how polished and perfected a work has to be to get published traditionally. I was lucky enough to get kernels from industry pros that allowed me to go back and hone my craft... How long did it take you to get published?   Here are my stats: 11 years, 8 novels, 3 agents, 15 almost-offers from editors . An almost-offer happens when an editor wishes to acquire a book, but gets turned down by her editorial board, or by people in the marketing or publicity departments, or even (as happened to me with my seventh novel) the publisher herself. My first published novel was the eighth one I wrote. And of course, there’s “long” in the non-numeric sense, too. It took an age, an epoch, forever. I thought I would never break through.  Why did you hang in so long versus, for instance, self-publishing? When I started out, self-publishing as we now know it wasn’t an option. There was so-called vanity publishing, and it cost a chunk of ch...

There are many different services that publicity firms and individual publicity consultants offer to authors looking to promote their books. These services can include any combination of the following: ... Creating media kits (press releases, fact sheets, Q&As, etc.), distributing press releases on the newswire services, and creating sales pitches targeted to specific markets Working with you to fine-tune your website and create the best possible web promotion for your book Scheduling book signing and reading events Contacting local and national television and radio station producers to set up interviews Working with local and national print and online editors to obtain feature coverage Helping you identify your personal brand, your target audience, and your potential reach as an author Setting up speaking engagements at targeted venues Placing articles you’ve written in targeted print and online publications Helping you identify your strengths as a blogg...