Your First Novel: An Author Agent Team Share the Keys to Achieving Your Dream

Your First Novel: An Author Agent Team Share the Keys to Achieving Your Dream
by Ann Rittenberg, Laura Whitcomb

Your First Novel: An Author Agent Team Share the Keys to Achieving Your Dream
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Book Summary Information

Author: Ann Rittenberg, Laura Whitcomb
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2006-09-08
ISBN: 1582973881
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Writers Digest Books

Book Reviews of Your First Novel: An Author Agent Team Share the Keys to Achieving Your Dream

Book Review: Invaluable to Aspiring Authors
Summary: 5 Stars

I am so glad I bought this book! I write as a hobby and my goal is to become an author. A few years ago I quickly wrote a story, randomly picked a publisher off the internet, and sent it off with dreams of success. I thought it didn't need to be absolutely perfect--that's what editors are for, right? Won't they help me develop my story into what they want? After reading this book, I now know why 6 months later I received a cold, generic rejection letter. (I was probably lucky to even get that!) I unwittingly sent in a rough draft and an awful query letter that publishers/agents despise and toss in the garbage minutes after it hits their desk. Left to my own devices, I'm sure I would have sent another quick rough draft to yet another publishing company or agent and wondered why no one seemed interested in my work.

The truth is, publishing companies and agents are swamped with desperate pleas from new writers and piles of awful manuscripts, and they aren't going to look at anything that isn't the best. This book shows you, step by step, how to develop YOUR skills to write a terrific novel and revise and polish it to perfection. Lots of reviewers said they skipped this section, but I encourage any writer to read it. What writer doesn't appreciate great advice from another writer who has achieved success? The second section of the book actually left me scared and ready to give up in despair! So few manuscripts are even looked at by publishers, let alone go on to become a best seller, that it seems hopeless. However, the agent gives you valuable (and sometimes harsh) information that every author mailing out large envelops stuffed full of sloppy, rushed chapters and dreaming of the day they are rolling in royalties needs to know.

I feel like I now have insider tips into the world of publishing, my blinders are stripped off, and my novel will stand out from the others laying on an agent's desk. This book is invaluable to me, and I expect it to be worn thin as I write and attempt to publish my work.

Summary of Your First Novel: An Author Agent Team Share the Keys to Achieving Your Dream

In Your First Novel, novelist Laura Whitcomb and seasoned literary agent Ann Rittenberg team up to provide you with the skills you need to write your dream novel and the savvy business know-how to get it published. In this all-in-one resource, you'll discover essential novel-writing techniques, such as:

? How to best structure your research so that you can save time later ? How to card your story before you start writing ? What to consider when developing your cast of characters ? How to adapt classic story structures to fit your own ideas

… and insider information on what it takes to get published, including:

? What agents do at those three-hour power lunches—and how it affects you ? What makes an agent instantly reject a manuscript ? How to correctly translate submission guidelines ? What happens if you get multiple offers—or no offers at all

Plus, learn about the publishing process from the firsthand accounts of such noted authors as Dennis Lehane, Kathryn Harrison, Jim Fusilli, Kathleen George, and others!

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