30 Secrets Published Writers Know
by Judy Rosella Edwards
Copyright © 2009
Published by Judy Rosella Edwards at Smashwords.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Text and Cover design: Judy Rosella Edwards
Cover Art: Photo image © 2011 Judy Rosella Edwards
Interior art: Judy Rosella Edwards
DEDICATION
To Holly Lisle, for believing in me.
Table of Contents
The Writer’s Toolbox
Tip #1 – Demonstrate Style
Tip #2 – Your Name Is Your Brand
Tip #3 – The Three Essentials
Tip #4 – Your Author’s Bio
Tip #5 – Your Website
Tip #6 – Your Email
Tip #7 – Join In The Conversation
Tip #8 – Stay Out of the Conversation
Query Savvy
Tip #9 – Stand Out in a Positive Way
Tip #10 – Be Professional
Tip #11 – Know What To Send
Tip #12 – Be Patient
Tip #13 – Provide Exactly What Your Agent Requests
Interacting With Your Agent
Tip #14 – Respect Boundaries
Tip #15 – Be Forthright
Creating Your Author’s Bio
Tip #16 – Relax
Tip #17 – Have a sense of humor
Tip #18 – Find your voice and use it
Tip #19 – Tell the truth
Tip #20 – Don’t panic
Tip #21 – Enjoy yourself
Tip #22 – Be brave
Tip #23 – Be curious
Tip #24 – Play more
Tip #25 – Dream always
Tip #26 – Listen up
Tip #27 – Keep talking
Tech Tools For Writers
Tip #28 – Blogging
Tip #29 – Social Networking
Tip #30 – Digital Presentations
Introduction
Querying is a challenge. Stepping inside the publishing world is intimidating.
I wrote this to help other writers make their dreams come true.
The Writer’s Toolbox
Style matters, especially in your writing. You should always have a style manual at your side when you write. It does not matter whether you are writing the most riveting work of your life, or dashing off a quick email. Style matters.
Writers know and exercise good punctuation. Don’t get lazy in an email, especially when you are querying an agent or a publisher.
If you don’t know the style rules for the little things like the number of spaces to put after a period, now is the time to learn. Demonstrate that you care enough about writing to learn style and to use it.
I cringe when I see queries that are all lower case. I won’t even read a query that is upper case. In fact, I won’t take a query seriously if it is not written in complete sentences with well-defined paragraphs.
We tend to be very casual about writing email. But, when that email is a query, it should be as polished as the most sophisticated letter you might send via snail mail.
Learn how many spaces follow each punctuation and each word.
Don’t use ellipses unless you know how to use them properly. If you do not know how many periods equal an ellipse, then you should not be using them at all.
Learn the difference between a dash, an em dash, and an en dash. If you cannot define the difference and how to create each one on your keyboard, you probably should avoid all three.
Use capitalization properly. Unless you are e. e. cummings, you should capitalize properly.
Write in complete sentences.
Write in complete paragraphs.
Do not use bulleted lists in a query. They imply that you do not have the time or the ability to bother writing paragraphs. They could also imply that you don’t think an agent or editor is capable of reading a complete paragraph.