#TenQueries with Agent Kelly Van Sant

Join Kelly Van Sant, literary agent at Red Sofa Literary, to analyze ten random queries in her inbox. Along the way, learn how she decides when to say yes, when to say no, and when to decide later–how common it is that people don’t even get her name right–and why a query doesn’t have to … Read more

From Editor to Agent: An Insider’s Look at Book Publishing

by Ann Leslie Tuttle, Agent at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret Most of us have had this experience where we’re walking down a street to a familiar destination but suddenly the route looks different because we’re approaching the spot from another direction.  To me, that’s what it has felt like making the shift to agenting after spending … Read more

How To Write Without A Glam Squad

by Julie Kingsley I spent much of April floored by a head cold.  It wasn’t one of those just have a few sniffles colds, but a solid melting into the floor bug. I spent nine days on the couch watching hours and hours of television. This, as you could imagine, filled me with creative self-loathing, … Read more

Living The Writing Life

by Julie Kingsley Back in college, I had a professor who railed on the notion that the writing was about sacrifice.  I recall him yelling, “If  you want to be an effective working writer you will say no to dinner with friends, that day at the beach, the trip to the mall. Instead, you need … Read more

The Creation of Brooding YA Hero PLUS A New Class!

We speak with author Carrie DiRisio, the voice behind Brooding YA Hero, plus her agent, Melissa Edwards at Stonesong Literary, and her editor, Alison Weiss at Sky Pony Press. Together, we discuss the creation of Brooding YA Hero, and how it became a book that is so much more than a Twitter feed. (Plus, of … Read more

We’re On A Boat! OR: The International Writer

If you haven’t yet tuned in to #MSWL’s free podcast, now is a great time to do so! Many writers worry about whether they can possibly get an agent’s attention, and sell books in the US, if they live abroad. We talked with agent Kurestin Armada (P.S. Literary) and her client, Amy Schaefer, who not … Read more

Signing With A Dream Agent + His Tips for Success

by Diana Urban, author and Jim McCarthy, agent Diana: A couple of months ago, I finished edits on a YA thriller called The Last Hour. It’s a cross between to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and Abigail Haas’s Dangerous Girls — nine teens get locked in a room and must choose someone to … Read more