Straight Talk from the Editor, by Terry Whalin

I sometimes discover a new blog, grab the RSS feed and then neglect to keep up with it as much as I ought to.  That's exactly what happened some time ago when I found Terry Whalin's blog, The Writing Life.  Lucky for me, this was one of those days when I decided to work through my RSS feeds in reverse alphabetical order, which means his was one of the first blogs I caught up on today...

Terry is a published author, used to be an acquisitions editor and currently works as a literary agent.  Read through a few of his posts and you'll quickly agree that he brings a lot of valuable insight to the table.  But if you only have time to read one thing from Terry, make sure it's this: Straight Talk from the Editor.  That link will take you to a registration page where you'll simply provide your first name and e-mail address.  Moments later you'll receive a link to a 25-page document that lays out the "18 keys to a rejection-proof submission."  Nothing in life is guaranteed, of course, but Terry does a fine job hitting the highlights of what an editor looks for and, more importantly, what an editor doesn't want to see or hear.  He offers 6 reasons why book ideas are rejected, 6 keys to guarantee rejection and closes with the most valuable element of all: 6 ways to get an editor's attention.  Good stuff.

Comments

[VickiH]

Have you ever tried Google Reader to keep up with your feeds? I have found it quite useful...

[Anne Wayman]

Great resource Joe... lots of solid info there, thanks.