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January 19, 2020 By Anne R. Allen 46 Comments

How to Write a Professional, Not-Embarrassing Query to an Agent, Reviewer, Editor, or Blogger

How to Write a Professional, Not-Embarrassing Query to an Agent, Reviewer, Editor, or Blogger

Don’t embarrass yourself with a clueless query. by Anne R. Allen I don’t know why, but I’ve recently been hit with a barrage of requests from new writers who want me to critique their query letters. Most of them come from LinkedIn, which I’ve happily ignored for years, but for some reason I’m suddenly getting […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business Tagged With: agent query, Elevator pitch, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, How to query a book blogger, how to write a query, Jane Friedman, logline, Nathan Bransford, Query Shark

July 6, 2014 By Anne R. Allen 97 Comments

12 Dumb Things Writers do to Sidetrack Our Own Success

12 Dumb Things Writers do to Sidetrack Our Own Success

by Anne R. Allen   We writers tend to be a delusional lot. Most of us know the average writer doesn’t make a bunch of money, but we secretly believe our own efforts will bring us fabulous fame and fortune. Or at least pay the rent. When we start out, we’re certain our books will […]

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Filed Under: Scams and Alerts for Writers, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Publishing Business, The Writing Life Tagged With: advice for writers, bad book contracts, Big Al, Catherine Ryan Hyde, David Gaughran, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, Jordan McCollum, Nathan Bransford, Query Shark, Writer Beware

April 22, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 60 Comments

I Have Written a Book. Now What? 22 Steps to Getting Published.

I Have Written a Book. Now What? 22 Steps to Getting Published.

by Anne R. Allen I’ve had a number of people ask me that “now what” question in the last few months. There’s tons of info out here in Cyberia, but not everybody knows how to access it. And along with the good info, there’s plenty of bad—especially from predatory vanity publishers and bogus agents. So here are some basics. […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, The Writing Life, Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection, Writing Craft Tagged With: AgentQuery, Casey McCormack, How to publish a novel, Janet Reid, Literary Rambles, Nathan Bransford, Query Shark, QueryTracker, Saffina Desforges, Spywriter

February 26, 2012 By Ruth Harris 56 Comments

8 Tips for Turning “Real Life” into Bestselling Fiction

8 Tips for Turning “Real Life” into Bestselling Fiction

by Ruth Harris   A lot of people start writing because they’ve got a real-life story to tell—something that happened in their own lives or the lives of friends or family members they think would make a great book. Sometimes these stories work well as memoirs, but, for a lot of very good reasons, a […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: Decades, How to write a bestselling novel, how to write a novel based on real life, Janet Reid, memoir or fiction, Query Shark, Ruth Harris

February 13, 2011 By Anne R. Allen 25 Comments

Do You Know How to Spot a Bogus Literary Agency? 8 Red Flags to Watch For

Do You Know How to Spot a Bogus Literary Agency? 8 Red Flags to Watch For

by Anne R. Allen I’m working on a couple of new projects—watch this space for exciting developments—so I’m running a New! Improved! version of an oldie-but-goodie. The original post garnered a visit and an approving nod from agent Janet Reid—the Query Shark herownself. ****** I belong to the generation of women who were told we […]

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Filed Under: Scams and Alerts for Writers, The Publishing Business Tagged With: Absolute Write, AgentQueryConnect, bogus agents, Janet Reid, Jenna Glatzer, newbie advice, Preditors and Editors, Query Shark, Query Tracker, scams, The Street-Smart Writer, Writer Beware

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writers digest 101 best websites for writers award

Anne R. AllenAnne R. Allen writes funny mysteries and how-to-books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. She’s a contributor to Writer’s Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market.

Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.

Ruth Harris NYT best selling authorRuth is a million-copy New York Times bestselling author, Romantic Times award winner, former Big 5 editor, publisher, and news junkie.

Her emotional, entertaining women’s fiction and critically praised novels have sold millions of copies in hard cover, paperback and ebook editions, been translated into 19 languages, sold in 30 countries, and were prominent selections of leading book clubs including the Literary Guild and the Book Of The Month Club.

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