5-Minutes in the Bible - READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

KING DAVID escapes Saul

5-Minutes in the Bible

Jonathan Saves David - 1st Samuel Chapter 20

SAUL TRIES TO KILL DAVID (AGAIN) - READING THE BIBLE

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: 1st Samuel 18

A Story About a Giant Battling a Boy - David & Goliath

Spend 5 minutes in the Bible today

TO OBEY...Reading the Bible this Year

Jonathan Attacks the Philistines-1st Samuel-READING THE BIBLE

Jesus and Beelzebub - READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

Mark Chapter 2 - Jesus Heals

John the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus

Christ's Resurrection - READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

The Death of Jesus and Judas Hangs Himself

THE LAST SUPPER - Matthew 26 - Reading the Bible

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR-1st Samuel Chptr. 13

READING THE BIBLE - 1st Samuel Chapter 12

5-Minute Bible Study

Reading the Bible this Year: Samuel Anoints Saul as King

The 7 Woes - Parable with Warnings from Jesus

The Wedding Parable-READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

Jesus Enters the City on a Donkey - READING THE BIBLE

DIVORCE-What does the Bible Say

The Supernatural Ark of the Covenant-READING THE BIBLE

The Ark of the Covenant-READING THE BIBLE

READING THE BIBLE-1st Samuel 3-The Lord Calls Samuel

Hannah's Prayer-READING THE BIBLE-1st Sam. Ch. 2

Reading the Bible This Year: 1st Samuel Chapter 1

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR-Matthew 15-Jesus Heals

Jesus Walks on Water-Matthew 14

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: Matthew 13

READING RUTH CHAPTER 4

Reading the Bible this Year: Ruth Chapter 3

5-Minutes in the Bible-Ruth Chapter 1

Curious about Demons? Join us as we Read the Bible

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Judges 20

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Judges 19

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: Judges Chapter 18

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Matthew 10 - Jesus Sends Out the 12

What does the Bible Say About Judging Others?

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: Micah's Idols

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Samson & Delilah

Read the Bible with Us-Matthew 5-The Beatitudes

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR-John the Baptist Prepares the Way

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR-The 3 Kings

Reading the Bible this Year: Judges 14-Samson's Marriage

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: Judges 8

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Revelation Chapter 22

Forgiveness in the Bible

READING THE BIBLE - REV. 20 - SATAN'S DOOM

Hallelujah! - READING REVELATION 19

Curious What the Bible Says about Prophesy?

Reading the Bible - Revelation 17 - The Woman on the Beast

7 Angels & 7 Plagues - The Tribulation in the Bible

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim - Reading the Bible

666 - The Number of the Beast - READING THE BIBLE

Joshua's Farewell-Reading the Bible this Year

The Woman and The Dragon - READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR

The Two Witnesses for God - Revelation 11

The Angel & The Little Scroll - Revelation 10

Misunderstandings Can Start Wars - Joshua Chapter 22

Cities of Refuge: Joshua Chapter 20

END of DAYS: DEMONS & DESTRUCTION

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 5

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Joshua Chapter 21

Revelation Chapter 2 - Angels, Stars, & the Future

HAVE A PEACEFUL WEEKEND - Read the Bible With Us

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: Joshua 18

Revelations Chapter 1 - Hope in Crisis

Reading the Bible-The Division of land of the Children of Israel

Our Daily Reading of the Bible

CHAOTIC TIMES - READ the Bible with Us for Peace

Join Us As We Read Through the Bible This Year

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Lies, Trickery & Deception

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: Ai Destroyed

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Joshua 7 - Greed, Theft & Punishment

Reading the Bible- Talking about Atlantis, Math & More

Angels...? We're Reading the Bible Today: Joshua 5

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: The Death of Moses

Generosity and Divorce are themes as we Read the Bible this year

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: History of the Children of Israel

The Nation of Israel - Reading the Bible in 1 Year

Monday, July 6, 2009

Fishing for an Agent?

In the book business, we wannabe-writers can use all the tips, hints, and breaks we can get because – believe me – those breaks are few and far between.

So, what’s a newbie writer to do?

Play the writing game like a sport – fishing to be exact. Bait editors and agents to read your manuscript by developing a web presence. It’s a long path to publication but here are a few helpful shortcuts that might help you.

CREATE A WRITER’S WEBSITE

This one small investment will make it easier for agents and/or editors to do their research, when it comes to potential writers. With the click of a mouse, everything is right at their fingertips. (Not every agent or editor will go through the process to click their way around your website - but some will.) And we, writers, will save a boatload of money in postage and mailing expenses. It’s a win-win proposition.

• Keep it simple or people will jump ship before the pages finish downloading. Great graphics sound interesting but they usually take way too long to display. Don’t waste time with fancy flash animation and graphics which will only discourage impatient viewers.

• Lure people to read more by posting a picture of yourself somewhere on your webpage. This helps readers identify with you as a real person out there in the vast sea known as cyberspace.

• Chum your readers by offering links to other great websites.

• Bait your buyers by having an “Upcoming” or “News” tab so that fans (we’re all hoping to have them one day) will be able to look ahead and get ready to buy your next great masterpiece.

• Don’t make too much noise or you’ll scare away the fish and readers too. Music may be fine for mood setting but most people check websites at work, on breaks, during lunch, etc. And, no one wants to disrupt coworkers.

• Update your content regularly. This is vitally important. People don’t want to waste time reviewing old news.

• Remember to post contact information so that readers can comment and/or ask questions, like where can they find your recently published book, article or poem?


Tomorrow I will be posting an interview with professional critique maven Margot Finke. Please come back and visit tomorrow and leave a comment for a prize donated by Marvelous Margot herself.

7 comments:

Jean said...

Great summary for blogging, Kim.

Your trip looks like it was loads of fun, too.

We stayed home July 4 except for going "downtown" to watch the parade in Indian Trail, NC.

It was small-town-America at its finest. Tomorrow I'll post photos on my Encouraging Words blog.

Blessings,
Jean
http://www.jeanmatthewhallwords.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

VERY nice suggestions. I'm passing this along to a few folks.

MG Higgins said...

Great tips, Kim. Looking forward to your interview with Ms. Finke.

Adrienne said...

Thanks for the great tips!
I'm looking forward to the interview, too.

Kelly Polark said...

Great post, Kim. I just realized I have no contact info on my blog profile. I should probably change that! Thanks!

Christina Farley said...

This is really great Kim. I've found it hard to keep up with blogging between traveling, work and kids. Oh! And writing too! Ha!

But really, these are all great tips. Thanks for the lowdown.

I really need to work on my website. Sigh.

David Batista said...

Love the advice, Kim. I confess that the only reason I started my blog was because I knew some day, somewhere, an agent or editor would ask (read: order) me to create a my own site. I dreaded the thought, so I do what I always: faced my fear straight on!

But I have to say, blogging is quite relaxing and fun. I actually have to hold myself back from updating, because I find the opposite of bloggers who don't update often to be equally annoying.

It's a delicate balancing act.