Congratulations to us! One year in the blogosphere! And while I'm no Miss Snark (may she agent in peace), I am thrilled with what we've done. Even more so, I'm thrilled that I'm actually able to come up with something to write about on a daily basis.
As you can see, we've decided to celebrate this day with a whole new look, and I hope you like it. We wanted to make ourselves stand out just a little more and help brand the blog—which I hope to continue writing for quite some time.
We've also added a couple of features to make reading and using the blog more easy. All of our posts will now carry labels at the bottom pertaining to the subject matter, such as submissions, queries, the romance market, etc.; simply click on any of the labels and you can see all the posts related to a given subject. (For older posts that aren't labeled, you can still enter a topic in the Search box in the upper left-hand corner of the page and see all the related posts.) And for those of you who use aggregators, we've activated full-text RSS feeds, so now you can have the full text of each new post automatically delivered to you.
I also want to reach out to all of you. Now is the time to let us know if there's anything you would like to see me talk about, questions you want to ask, or concerns about the blog in general. We'll read all of your comments and answer some soon, some later. And I know . . . some of your questions have not yet been answered from the last time I called for them. Patience, my friends, they're on their way.
Jessica
32 comments:
Happy birthday/anniversary!
I am sure I speak for all your eager readers when I say "best wishes for many more successful blog years." (Are blog years like dog years? Is one chronological year equal to seven blog years?)
I'd love for you to talk a little about the legalities of contracts, etc. The recent changes at Simon & Schuster make me -- and I am not alone, I am certain -- realize just how little I understand about the meaning of certain clauses in contracts.
Other than that...anything you want to write is great!
Happy anniversary! The new look is great. Very appealing.
It's been lovely getting to know you all through your blog. Thanks for doing it.
Happy blogiversary!
I get such a kick out of starting each day with a word from BookEnds. It takes a lot of your time and energy, I know, which makes it all the more delightful that you choose to do this. Thank - oops, wait, can't say thank you, hmmmmm ...... :-)
Love the new look! And I'm glad you guys are still 'yakking' away! This is one of my 'must' stops to read. Thanks,
Cole
Happy Anniversary!! Here's to many great things in the coming year!
Like Kris, I love starting my day with your blog. Even if I do lurk most of the time. You're blog has helped me in many ways in understanding the industry. I thank you most sincerely for sharing with us.
wah, I kind of liked the old blog...
yeah, I'm good with anything you want to write about too. :)
Congratulations! I like the choice of colors, very cheery.
;)
Happy Blogaversary! I read it every day and enjoy it a lot.
Happy anniversary!
I liked the old look, but the new one is also eye-catching.
No questions at the moment. Your query critiques have been very helpful, and I've linked them to several people interested in good query writing.
Grace
http://grace-draven.livejournal.com
BookEnds blog and a cup of coffee start my day in front of the computer. Great job!
Happy Anniversary to you all!
Happy Blogiversary! The new design is nice. I always check out your posts on my reader, so thanks for the full feed. You've been very helpful!
Happy anniversary to you! Thanks so much for helping out your next generation of writers get started. It really helps us to know there are some agents who are really trying to help us get started. Thanks!
Love the new look! I'm with Laura--would love to know more about S&S's new contract and how that might affect other publishers. It seems, at this point, to be doing S&S more harm than good with all the negative publicity. What's your take?
Congratulations on a year of great blogs. Great work!
~ Bella Andre
I'm hoping you can address an issue that continues to come up in one of my writers' groups: agent feedback on full requests.
I keep hearing my fellow writers say, "I know agents don't owe us feedback, but they should provide at least a clue as to what the problem is."
I understand why most agents don't provide personal comments. But when I try to explain some of the reasons this happens, I hear, "Yeah, but . . ." I think it would be a big help if some of these writers heard it directly from BookEnds.
Thanks for all you do.
Great new look! And congrats on the anniversary. May you have many more!
A question I've had for a while: at an agency that isn't a single person agency, how does it work to take on a new client? Does everyone have to agree or can one person decide on his/her own to take on the new client?
I would also love to know more about what agents would like to see in their clients - behaviour, attitudes, things that we might think are good to do but really aren't, that sort of thing.
And thanks for your year of blogging - it's been fabulous!
Heather
Could you explain why it's common for agents (not the agents at BookEnds, of course) to stop responding to client emails and phone calls when they lose interest in a client?
Happy Anniversary BookEnds! I only recently found this blog, but thus far, it's been a great learning experience. I'm constantly looking to learn more about the business, since I'm new to writing in general, and I feel this place is very informative, curteous, and sincere. I like that.
Keep it up! Here's for more years to come!
Happy Blogiversary!
I have a question about agents that ask for exclusives. When they don't get back in touch with you in the time they've alloted, should the writer email or call to remind them that they're time is up, or should they just start querying other agents again?
Happy Anniversary!!!!! This blog has been awesome. So glad you've kept it going.
Love the new look.
Happy anniversary! I love your blog, it's one of my first stops every day, and the new look is fantastic! Happy agenting, and I hope you keep blogging for quite some time! =)
this blog template is great - much more appealing and stand-outish than the former one!!
if you have an offer from a major publisher - what is the SOP for the unagented?
call? email a query and put the offer by publisher at the top?
Happy first. Thank you. Cut to chase:
* If you read a partial, love it, but know that you cannot sell it, do you ever request the full manuscript just so you can read the rest?
* What powers do editors/publishers have over one's work? What do they have full control over? Partial control? No control? And what is the difference between an editor and a publisher or are they the same thing?
* Should the query's salutation always include agent only? Is it ever OK for it to include the assistant?
* One of you ladies "failed grammar all through high school" but later became an editor. Care to explain that?
Oh, yes, I forgot a question. How does one address an agent in a query? Dear Jessica? Dear Jessica Faust? Dear Ms. Faust?
Such a little thing to obsess over, I know, but since I rarely query/submit to people I haven't met at conferences or other places, it feels odd to call them "Ms So-and-so."
Thanks!
Congratulations!
And I like the new 'do!
Looking forward to another great year. Thank you for entertaining and educating us!
Happy anniversary! I love reading your posts because I always learn something new. Thank you so much for blogging. :)
Like the new look.
Tags are a wonderful thing.
Congrats and Happy Blogaday!
Happy Anniversary! Love the new look!
Like the new look and I do have a question. Thanks for providing all of us needy writers a palce to coem and learn.
Let's say a new auhtor signs a two or three book deal. Are books two and three forthe exact same terms,(advance, print run, percentages, etc) or is everything renegotiated upon acceptance of the second MS.
I would like to think if the first novel sold well that at the very least there would be larger print run for the second. Or maybe even a tiny bit of the elusive marketing dollar would go to promote book two or three.
Looking back on my previous comment, it seems a bit impersonal. I didn't mean it to sound that way. I got a bit tired of reading "Happy anniversary," so I decided to skip it in case you were tired of it too. But we are not the same person. I apologize if the tone of my comment bothered you.
And right after I posted my comment I realized that I should have ended it with, "I'm looking forward to hearing from you." (Did I not learn anything from your query critiques? :-)
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