by Tracy | Oct 3, 2020 | For Writers & Illustrators, More Personally
We continue to live in unprecedented times, and that includes the way publishing seems to be working lately. Publishing has always been known as both a slow moving business and a cyclical one, but that seems to be exaggerated lately. For myself and many of my...
by Tracy | Sep 29, 2020 | For Writers & Illustrators
How to Write Your First Picture Book in Five Steps Step 1: Read Read a number of picture books published within the last five years to get a sense of the market and the language of contemporary picture books. For suggestions, check out the list of ALA Notable...
by Tracy | Dec 9, 2019 | For Writers & Illustrators
The short answer, is that agents close to queries when they’re not actively looking for more clients to add to their list… but I’m sure you were hoping for a little more information than that! The long answer is, agents close when they feel like they don’t have the...
by Tracy | Oct 21, 2019 | For Writers & Illustrators
Agents will usually tell their clients not to spend time writing a sequel while the first book is on submission to publishers, because even selling a first book doesn’t mean that a publisher will want to pick up a sequel or subsequent books. Most of the time, if...
by Tracy | Oct 7, 2019 | For Writers & Illustrators
I was reading requesteds at the Panera, and I started to think about how different it is to read for enjoyment versus to read with a critical eye towards representation. I can read a book for fun in about three hours, but I’m not reading it with my agent hat on – I’m...