WNBA Wednesday: Query Roulette 2013!

Join us for WNBA-NYC Chapter   Query Roulette 2013 Register Now! This event is nearly sold out! Ten minutes with a literary agent who will review your query letter. No pitching required. Renew your membership here When : Thursday, March 21, 2013 6:30 PM to 8:45 PM EDT Where : Assoc. of American Publishers 71 Fifth Avenue, 2nd Floor, NY, NY   Questions on Query Roulette: query@wnba-nyc.org Questions on Membership: membership@wnba-nyc.org   Participating Agents Download this pdf for information about individual agents; click on the links below to see the agency websites. Julie Barer  Barer Literacy, LLC Jenny Bent The Bent Agency Linda Epstein Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency Leigh Huffine Regal Literary Agency Eric Myers The Spiegler Agency Kirsten Neuhaus Kirsten Neuhas Literary Agency Lisa Queen Queen Literary Agency Molly Reese Einstein Thompson Agency Rita Rosenkranz Rita Rosenkranz Literary Agency Tamar Rydzinski Laura Dial Literary Agency, Inc. Mitchell Waters Curtis Brown, LTD

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Member Monday: Member Updates!

Emily Albarillo has been appointed member coordinator for the NYC-Metro chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association, and is looking forward to a year full of fun and educational events for chapter members. For more information on the EFA: http://www.the-efa.org.

Diana Altman is reading from her short story The Farm, Wednesday, March 13, at 6:00 PM at The New York Society Library‘s Open Mic Night. Reservations required. Cost $10. Tickets and information here.

Julia E. Antoine, writing under her pen name, Ju Ephraime, re-released her paranormal romance, The Man in The Black Top Hat, on December 19, 2012. She also released her second paranormal adult romance on December 21, 2012. Find all her books on Amazon.com or on Envisionschoolpublishing.com.

Deborah Batterman answers the question so many writers ask themselves—and more—via an interview on Carl Purdon’s blog, Fiction, Lies, and Carpal Tunnel: “What drives me to keep doing this, day after day, week after week, year after year?” Find her at www.deborahbatterman.com. (Also check out Deborah’s report on WNBA-NYC’s Facebook workshop!)

Barbara Brett published the e-book version of her novel  Between Two Eternities on Smashwords.com, and it is now available directly from all e-book vendors. The book was originally published by Avon. You can find all of Barbara’s books on her website: www.brettbooks.com.

Talia Carner‘s novel, Jerusalem Maiden, will be taught in Ethnic & Cultural Literature at Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan.  The novel is a story of a young woman in a strict religious society who struggles between passion and faith. Find her at www.taliacarner.com.

Jennifer Cunningham-Lozano, WNBA-NYC’s newly appointed Corresponding Secretary and owner of AAPA Concepts, is available for web design and social media projects. Recent projects include Book Blog www.areadingjournal.com. Designs range from simple brochure sites to complex WordPress designs.

Linda Epstein, Associate Agent at The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency, is teaching a workshop, Writing a Top Notch Query, at Hofstra University on March 13 at 6:00 PM. Registration is still open.

Anna Olswanger‘s Greenhorn, an illustrated children’s novel, tells the story of a young Holocaust survivor who comes to a Brooklyn yeshiva in the 1940′s, where his obsessive attachment to a mysterious box excites the curiosity and unkind attention of the other boys. Anna is also the author of Shlemiel Crooks.

Anne-Marie Sutton has posted her book trailer on YouTube. Newport RI – Discover Fun & Mystery promotes her Newport Mystery Series. The third book, Keep My Secret, is due out this spring. Find her at www.newportmystery.com.

Valerie Tomaselli, WNBA’s National President, reports that her company MTM Publishing’s latest book on women’s history, Women in American Politics by women’s history expert, Doris Weatherford (CQ Press), received recognition on Booklist’s Editors’ Choice: Reference Sources, 2012 list. See also, A History of the American Suffragist Movement by the same author.

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Looking for a Few Good Book Reviewers!

The New York Bookwoman, WNBA-NYC’s fantastic monthly newsletter, is looking for book reviewers!  Not only do book reviewers receive a free book, they get some quality online exposure too.  Most New York Bookwoman book reviews are also posted here on the blog, and there is a chance that your review could also be picked up by the national edition of The Bookwoman.  It’s a first come, first served basis, so don’t delay.

For a list of the books they have for review, please click here.

And if you have read a great book recently, or even a dreadful book that you feel compelled to write about, they’d love to hear about it.

Here’s how it works:

• Choose a book you’d like to review from the above list
• Please list three or more books in order of preference
• You will have three months to send in your 300-400 word review

Offer available to members in good standing. Join or renew here.
The New York Bookwoman cannot guarantee publication of your review.

If interested in writing a book review, contact the New York Bookwoman Coeditors Linda Epstein and Rhona Whitty at newsletter@wnba-nyc.org.

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Member Monday: Member Updates

Diana Altman, author of the novel In Theda Bara’s Tent, speaks about the creation of the Hollywood studio system at the Harvard Club, October 24 at 6:45 PM. Come see rare footage of Ava Gardner, Bob Hope, and Henry Fonda screen tests inherited from Diana’s father, a famous MGM talent scout. 27 West 44th between 5th & 6th avenues.

Julia E. Antoine was interviewed on the Mom’s Choice Award.

Deirdre Bair’s new book, a biography of Saul Steinberg, one of The New Yorker’s most iconic artists, will be published by Nan A. Talese, November 20, 2012. Read a review of the book in Publishers Weekly’s print edition which praises Deirdre’s writing as working “subtly and slyly to unearth psychological depths beneath the amusing surface of Steinbergian picaresque.” (Deirdre will be the guest author at our 2013 Spring Brunch. All members in good standing are invited to attend.)

Gabrielle Barnes held Poetry Performance and Publishing workshops for high school poets at Northeastern Academy. The resulting poetry has been published as a part of the Northeastern Academy Not The Average Thinker Anthology.

Linda Epstein, Associate Agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, announces the sale of  Openly Straight, a YA manuscript by her Lambda award-winning client, Bill Konigsberg, to Cheryl Klein at Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, for a June 2013 publication. Linda also contributed to the October issue of Writer’s Digest as one of the 25 Agents Who Want Your Work (pgs. 26 and 31).

Susan C. Finelli announces publication of her  novel, Fading Shadows, by PublishAmerica. Get a 20% discount on the book online at http://www.publishamerica.net/product48087.html with the coupon code: Discount20.

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For Newbies: How To Get An Agent & Why You Need One

The following piece is an excerpt from a blog post by Linda Epstein, published originally on her blog, The Blabbermouth.

I’ve been in a number of conversations recently where I explain to people what I do. I think a lot of people think I’m sitting around my house reading books and eating bonbons. (Maybe that’s just my family… ) Anyway, I’ve explained it a bunch of times now, and that’s forced me to go through the “how publishing works” spiel, to get to the part where I explain what a literary agent does. Then a friend of mine sent a friend of hers to me, because her friend was writing a book and she figured I’d be able to help her figure out the whole publishing thing. After writing the friend’s friend a big old e-mail, beginning to explain how the whole process works, I figured I’d put up a blog post for folks just getting started down this road. So this one’s for you, newbies!

#1. Write a kick-ass manuscript. If you’re writing for kids, you’d better have read a lot of kids’ books. You need to know what Middle Grade (or MG) means. You need to know what YA (Young Adult) means. If you’re writing for adults, you need to know what genre to call your writing. Is it a thriller, scifi, mystery, literary, upscale commercial women’s fiction, self-help, spiritual, romance, fantasy,  western, Christian, erotica? You’ll need to know this for when you write a query letter. (see #4)

#2. When you’ve finished writing your kick-ass manuscript, go back and re-write it. That’s called revision. There are special groups called “critique groups” that you should seek out. Or sometimes people have what they call a “critique partner.” That’s someone who’s (usually) not related to you, who’s not afraid of hurting your feelings, who will give you the truth about your writing. Even if that makes you cry, these people are the key to improving your writing. Re-write your manuscript until it sings to you, until it’s shiny and beautiful, and there’s nothing to improve. You’ll probably still have to revise it after this, but you need to at least think you’re done (for a while).

#3. In order to have an editor at a publishing house want to buy your manuscript (which is how it gets published), you’ll need a literary agent. Some publishing houses accept “unsolicited manuscripts,” which means you can send it directly to them. But most don’t. A literary agent is someone who sells your manuscript for you. You don’t just hire a literary agent though, like a plumber or accountant or something. You see, the literary agent picks you. So in order for you to get picked, you do something called “querying.”

#4. With all your masterful writing skills, you will need to craft a letter (usually an e-mail) that performs a few functions. It’s called a query letter. It a. tells about who you are, as a writer; b. tells about your manuscript in such a way that the agent wants to read the manuscript, piques the interest of the agent, tells enough so the agent requests to read more; and c. conveys information about how to get in touch with you via e-mail and telephone. It does not explain how happy or honored or lucky or miserable you are to be a writer. It does not share that you’re recently off your meds. It does not blow smoke up the agent’s skirt with flattery. It does not tell the whole story (even in a synopsis) of your manuscript. It just does a. b. and c. There are books about query letters. Classes about query letters. Magazine articles about query letters. Places online with information about query letters. Make sure you write a kick-ass query letter. Otherwise nobody will want to look at your kick-ass manuscript.

To read the next five steps in finding an agent, visit Linda’s blog here!

Linda Epstein is an Associate Agent at the Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency, as well as the Vice President, Communications for the WNBA-NYC Chapter.

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