The Business of Writing: Professional Advice on Proposals, Publishers, Contracts, and More for the Aspiring Writer

by Jennifer Lyons (Editor), Oscar Hijuelos (Foreword by)

Overview

Whether you’re unclear on what to expect from your first book deal or just a little puzzled by your editor’s whims, The Business of Writing is the book for you. In it, literary agent and publishing veteran Jennifer Lyons empowers aspiring and experienced writers with everything they need to know about the business of selling books, from publicity to legal and financial aspects of the trade. A senior agent for seventeen years before opening her own literary agency, Lyons has taught numerous courses on the business of writing at Sarah Lawrence College, and has visited both undergraduate and graduate writing programs to share her expert knowledge. 

This enjoyable guide brings Jennifer’s in-depth tutorials to the broader public, balancing accessible, bulleted information for writers on the critical stages of acquiring and maintaining representation with interviews with professionals in the field. Interviewees include a Harper’s magazine editor, a contracts manager, and other publishing professionals that you can expect to encounter as you advance in your career. Covering everything from how to write the perfect query letter to deconstructing the terminology of a publishing contract, this indispensable handbook to the writer’s trade will give you a thorough introduction to the nuts and bolts of publishing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621532552
Publisher:	Allworth
Publication date:	11/13/2012
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	908 KB

About the Author

Jennifer Lyons was a senior agent at a large agency for seventeen years. She then went on to found her own agency. Her authors have won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for both fiction and nonfiction, the Nobel Prize, PEN awards, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Coretta Scott King Award. Oscar Hijuelos is the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love and seven other novels, and most recently, Thoughts Without Cigarettes: A Memoir.

Table of Contents

Foreword Oscar Hijuelos xi

Introduction Jennifer Lyons xv

Queries and Cover Letters: A Cosmic Approach Bob Silverstien 1

God Forbid ... The Legal Stuff Paula M. Breen 11

Writers: Tax Rules, Rituals-and Reminders! John Giacchetti 23

An Interview with Rose Carrano, Rose Carrano PR 29

Personal Branding: Advice for Authors Fauzia Burke 35

To Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal, You May Need to Include a Little Fiction Leora Tanenbaum 39

Reverse Engineering: One Writer's Path Liza Monroy 47

Real Books Tonya Bolden 55

An Interview Emily Stokes 67

To Reach the Literary Editor Mark Jay Mirsky 75

Some Advice for the First-Time Author Avi Steinberg 85

An Interview Alane Salierno Mason 95

An Interview Marcela Landres 99

An Interview Jeff Rivera 105

With Fiction I Am Looking for Art Kathy Belden 111

Publishing Nonfiction: A Look Behind the Scenes Ronit Feldman 123

An Interview Erika Goldman 133

Children: The Toughest Audience You'll Ever Love (to Write for) Caitlyn M. Dlouhy 141

Children's Picture Books: The Format Changes but the Process Remains the Same Howard W. Reeves 151

Sci-fi/Fantasy, Children's, and Young Adult Books: An Interview Sharyn November 159

A New Chapter Judy Sternlight 165

What are Subsidiary Rights? Jennifer Thompson 175

When a Book Becomes Something Else Michael Cendejas 187

An Interview Steve Kasdin 191

Seeking Visibility in a Mist of Rising Choices Colette Inez 199

Self-Publishing: How it Works, Who It's Right For Irene Gunther 205

Getting Started as a Literary Translator Jason Grunebaum 213

Your First Book-Length Translation Project Peter Constantine 217

The New American Page Lori Marie Carlson 223

Getting from there to Here Ken Krimstein 227

The Accidental Writer Peter Steiner 233

On Writing Smart: Tips and Tidbits Leslie T. Sharpe 241

To MFA or Not to MFA? Melvin Jules Bukiet 253

Acknowledgments 261

Afterword 263

Resources 265

Index 277

Editorial Reviews

Writer, you hold in your hands a book that earns the adjective ‘invaluable.’ Information, reassurance, support, and inspiration are to be found here. New writers will be enlightened, and seasoned writers will find in this book strategies for navigating the twenty-first century’s changes to the writer’s life.

Laura Kasischke

From publishing insiders, an indispensable guide for every kind of writer—refreshingly frank, often surprising, and always useful.

Sara Bershtel

You think you know what you are doing as a writer? You don't until you read Jennifer Lyons's book The Business of Writing. It's all changed, kiddo, and the center ain't holding. Read this book or go into the used clothing business.

Malachy McCourt