Latest posts from Chip MacGregor
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Ask the Agent: What have you always wanted to ask an agent?
This month we’ve been doing our “Ask the Agent” series — your chance to ask a literary agent anything you want. I’ve received a bunch of short questions (or questions that don’t require a long answer), so I wanted to …
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Ask the Agent: What do I do when I get a bad review on Amazon?
We’re doing “Ask the Agent,” when you can ask anything you want of a literary agent. Someone wrote to ask, “What do I do when I get a negative review on Amazon? I just got a terrible review on my …
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Ask the Agent: Can you explain how my agent gets paid?
Someone wrote to ask, “Can you explain how an agent gets paid? Does the publisher send the author’s checks to the agent? Or does the money go to the author, who writes the agent a check? And is all this …
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Ask the Agent: How do you Define Success?
We’re doing “Ask the Agent” all this month — your chance to ask that question you’ve always wanted to discuss with a literary agent. A lot of the questions have focused on the details of writing and publishing, but one …
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Ask the Agent: What does an average first book pay?
We’re doing “Ask the Agent” this month — your chance to ask that question you’ve always wanted to discuss with a literary agent. Someone wrote me to ask, “What does an average first book deal pay? And can you explain …
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Ask the Agent: How do I prepare for a writing conference?
We’re doing a month of “Ask the Agent” here on the blog — your chance to ask that question you’ve always wanted to discuss with a literary agent. Last week someone asked, “If I go to a conference and get …
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Ask the Agent: How important is it to have an agent today?
We’re doing a full month of “Ask the Agent,” where writers get to ask anything of a literary agent, and we’ll try to discuss it. Last week someone asked, “In today’s world of publishing, how important is it to have …
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Ask the Agent: Platforms for Fiction Writers
We’re doing a month of “Ask the Agent” questions here on the blog. The other day, somebody asked the question, “How do you suggest an unpublished novelist get started building a platform?”
Building a platform isn’t something you do overnight, …
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Ask the Agent: How do I transition from self-published to traditionally published?
We’re doing “Ask the Agent” for the entire month of April, so you have a chance to send in that question you’ve always wanted to discuss with a literary agent. The other day someone sent this: “What does it take …
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Ask the Agent: How can I do a novel series?
The month of April is set aside for “Ask the Agent” — your chance to finally ask that question you’ve always wanted to run by a literary agent. In the comments section the other day, someone asked, “If you’re writing …
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Ask the Agent: What are my odds of getting published?
We’re doing “Ask the Agent” for the entire month of April — you can ask the question you’ve always wanted to explore with an experienced literary agent, and I’ll be happy to discuss it with you. Last week somebody asked …
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Ask the Agent: What if my novel doesn’t fit?
All through the month of April we’re doing “Ask the Agent” — your chance to ask a literary agent the question you’ve always wanted to ask. Last week someone sent in this question: “If your manuscript isn’t the right …
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Ask the Agent: Do Agents Help with Marketing?
So we’re spending the month of April doing “Ask the Agent” — your chance as a writer to ask that question you’ve always wanted to know about, if you could only sit down, face-to-face, with a literary agent. A couple …
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Ask the Agent: The Role of Agents
This month I’m trying to tackle any question a writer has always wanted to ask a literary agent. This came in the other day: “I’d love to hear you talk about how you feel the role of the agent will …
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Ask the Agent: Query Letters
I’m taking the month of April to do “ask the agent” — your chance as a writer to ask a longtime literary agent anything you want. Today’s question: “Can you give me some agenty advice on query letters? I think …
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Coming in April: “Ask the Agent”
What is it you’ve always wanted to ask an agent? I mean, if you could sit down for a few minutes over a cup of coffee and ask a literary agent anything — about proposals, or writing, or marketing, or …
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What are the lessons you’ve learned about marketing your books?
Okay, so I just completed a ten-part series on marketing your book. I’d had a lot of folks ask about the process, so I simply went back to a recently published “Intro to Marketing” textbook, and walked through the basic …
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One Column for Two Chilled Cats (a guest blog)
If anyone had told me that shivering at home with two cats for five days with zero heat would land me a weekly newspaper column, I’d have said they were balmy and been envious.
We don’t see much snow or …
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Literary Devices for the Real World: Point of View
Continuing my series on using literary devices outside of the literature classroom, I’m talking today about point of view– what it is, how it’s classified, and how to use it effectively.
In what may be one of the least necessary …
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On the loss of a friend
My friend and fellow agent Mary Sue Seymour passed away yesterday, after a long and courageous fight with cancer. I just wanted to mention it because Mary Sue was one of the nice people in this business, with a friendly …