Tag Archives: how to get published

Toe crossing, and the current YA market

(Sorry about the picture. It was the only one I could think of to go with this post.) Jay, editor-in-chief of Bitingduck Press, asked me the other day, what makes your story unique? It was time to create another blurb … Continue reading

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Editing, dummies for dummies

The editing process has several phases. Once the manuscript has been accepted, there’s a close read for plot and its problems. The details have to be right. Right? In our case, we’re working from a Word file and ping-ponging it … Continue reading

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Marketing a book: in with the old & in with the new

As you probably know, marketing of a book is a very big deal. In some ways, like the  music industry, the marketing can be a bigger deal than the work itself. It’s also the most difficult for most authors. I … Continue reading

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Editing the book: getting it “righter”

Let me spend a few words on describing what happened once Bitingduck accepted my manuscript. Editor-in-chief, Jay Nadeau, once the contract was signed, asked me to work on some initial revisions. Now, instead of just one set of eyes on … Continue reading

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Patting the pocket (Floating the duck, part III)

(Photo borrowed from “Duck of the Day“) Last spring, I was surfing newpages.com, looking under “publishers” and what should meet my eyes than this crazy call for submissions by an American company, Bitingduck Press. I enjoyed the cheeky call and … Continue reading

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Rejection slips, God’s rude angels (Floating the duck, part II)

(Photo borrowed from “Duck of the Day“) But by this time, I had met a novelist, and he offered to read the first 35 pages of my story for free. He also explained how important those first 35 pages were. … Continue reading

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Death of an agent (Floating the duck, part I)

(Photo borrowed from “Duck of the Day“) The submission process for Duck Boy began 16 years ago. I began to submit the story to publishers every spring. Spring seemed to be the season when some publishers take new material. I … Continue reading

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