Looking At Investment in Your Career From Another Angle

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Just moments ago (in Internet time), we posted a link to a series of lovely letters from authors to the publishing industry (particularly their editors). MJ Rose suggested we visit Mad Max Perkins to continue the discussion. As we don’t know Max personally (but have it on the best authority that he’s a stand-up guy), we opted instead to visit his blog*. Mad Max (we’re not sure if he prefers to be known as Mad or goes with the first name-middle name affectation. We’ll err on the side of too much.) has entertained what would formerly be called a modest […]

Square Pegs, Tools and Craft

Though Not Seemingly Possible, Some Authors May Not Feel Jolly About the Publishing Industry

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Over at M.J. Rose’s Buzz, Balls & Hype, the letters to Santa continue. Or, in this case, letters to the Book Biz Santa. For the past three days, she’s posted a series of three letters to publishers from authors (common theme: without authors, there would be little to publish). We strongly recommend checking out all three days (this being a blog, you scroll up to get to the end…it’s like a fun game only with a mouse). Just a few favorites from Day One: 1. No more legs, asses or boobs on the covers of women’s fiction. Believe it or

Publishers and Editors

Going “Live” at 8 ET!

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I’d just hit “publish” on Booksquare to post the first bit about the road trip when my e-mail icon began to bounce. The instructions on how to login and do the live chat on writerspace.com had arrived. And here come the nerves! Why I’m getting nervous, I don’t know. No one can see my still unmanicured fingernails, and I don’t plan on even wearing shoes. Writerspace has been VERY supportive and helpful, giving tips like on how to handle long answers. There are also no paragraph breaks (something I think Booksquare also told me about on the blog, but I’m

Jill's First Blog

And Now…the Road Trip

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Wow, real life has gotten in the way for the past two days, but was able to snatch a few minutes to work on my writing. When we bought the car I’m driving now, there was the option to buy one of those nifty navigational systems. Option being the operative word – we opted out. After the road trip, I’m not so sure it was the wisest decision. I did make one discovery on this road trip…I have actually found someone who has a worse sense of direction than I do – Gena Showalter. I’ve been to Gena’s house before,

Jill's First Blog

On Job Benefits

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“I see the poet laureate throwing out the first ball at Dodger Stadium,” [Adam] Gottlieb said. State Still Has a Job Where You Can Feed Public a Line (Note: registration required. Sigh.)

Quote of the Week

While It’s Too Early To Think, We Give It Our Best Shot

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Have we dwelled on agents and what they do recently? We confess, we have a rather romantic view of literary agents. We see them as the ones who feed and nurture their talented clients. Lots of chicken soup, lots of creative banter. Hmm, it is quite possible that we are confusing literary agents with movies starring Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Doris Day, and/or Rock Hudson. Probably also Cary Grant. Being one of the two-brain lobed creatures, we carefully compartmentalize the agents we encounter into business-oriented and editorial-oriented. For example, the fine folks at DeFiore and Company are business-oriented. Yet they’re

Agents

Perhaps The Next Time, Tom Wolfe Will Approach Us For Advice

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First, we’d like to thank everyone who saw the Tom Wolfe story and immediately thought of us. We’re not sure if we’re honored or creating the wrong impression. Probably honored but concerned as it’s clear this topic is much more up Jill’s alley than ours. We cannot pretend to understand what goes on in another person’s mind during sex, though we suspect there’s a fair amount of “will this ever end”. That being said, we also think it is rare that the phrase “otorhinolaryngological caverns” comes to mind. Seriously, if you’re thinking words like this, somebody is doing something wrong.

Square Pegs

Giving Love A Seriously Bad Name

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Now, we’re not the type to make fun of our fellow humans…oh, right, we are. It’s what keeps us going. If we didn’t have our species to enjoy, we’d have to make fun of cats*. Since we think shopping online is the greatest invention since the Gutenberg press, we like to think we have expertise here, not that lack of such would stop us. Thus we offer some advice, especially for those who are looking to use the Internet in new and creative ways. For online auctions, your photo doesn’t add much to the experience. Unless you’re selling your personal

Square Pegs

“When Seduction Goes BAD”

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The great ladies at eHarlequin have set me up, and I now have my own official topic! “When Seduction Goes BAD” Okay, I have the same kind of fears I did with my first signing. No one shows up, but I won’t have to worry about distributors or giving directions to the bathroom. eHarlequin also has a spell check (something I haven’t been able to find on Booksquare even with all my snooping). Here’s the intro they gave to my topic: The time is right, you’ve got it all planned…tonight, you’re going to be naughty and he’s going to like

Jill's First Blog

And now there’s real “live” promotion

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This week I’m going to be doing a lot of talking. Actually, it’s a lot of typing. Somehow I scheduled my two promo moments for the exact same week. This is the last week my kids are in school before break – so doing it now sounded like a smart idea at the time. Now I’m just really nervous. First up is a week long discussion on eHarlequin on Seductions Gone Bad!!!! (Yeah, unfortunately there’s some personal experience there.) I’ll also be doing a live chat Tuesday on Writerspace. One of the great things about being a Harlequin author is

Jill's First Blog
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