Personal branding, especially as a writer, is complicated, confusing, and—unfortunately—completely necessary. While your presence and brand online aren’t the only factors that contribute to your publishing dreams or successes, your personal brand does have a huge impact on how both readers and publishing professionals alike will see you. We’ll let you in on a little secret: you’re easy to find on the internet. And yes, we do check.
Acquisitions
By Word or By Bird: Acquisitions through Twitter
By Alyssa Schaffer @alyssalschaffer & Joanna Szabo @Joanna_Shwaba
As we are both primarily internet-dwelling creatures, the natural progression was to explore Twitter. But seriously, from the time we spent on Twitter, we noticed a large community of agents, editors, authors, and more using the Twitter community to broaden their reach and visibility. The community of writers and publishing professionals on Twitter is vast, but there are a few aspects of the engagement that we thought could help us spark new connections: manuscript wish lists, Twitter pitch events, and personal branding (find us @alyssalschaffer and @joanna_shwaba).
The Writer and the Myth of Solitude
By Peter Sanchez
The editor must help the author express their art as truly as they can while balancing the vision of the publisher, and by extension bring the truth of the community back in the form of a published work. And, like any intimate relationship, it is not always easy, nor quick and painless.
How to Boost Your Query’s Success
By Alyssa Schaffer @alyssalschaffer
In the past, the Ooligan blog has posted some great advice about query letters. For those who have never written a query before, you should go check those out first. However, with those resources available, we wanted to dive deeper into some pitch concepts: framing and in-person pitches. While the latter will primarily be of use to those participating in Write to Publish (or similar writing conferences), framing your book correctly is useful in all cases. Doing it correctly can really give your query letter a leg up on the competition.
Announcing the Updated Submission Guidelines
By Alyssa Schaffer and Desiree Wilson
Recently, as Acquisitions managers, we reviewed our Mission Statement, Submission Guidelines, and Our Interests and have decided to make some changes. While our press’s vision and commitment to publishing diverse works from the Pacific Northwest has stayed the same, we believe that these changes will broaden that goal.
Predicting the Future: Managing Your Story within Trending Book Crazes
By Maeko Bradshaw @makosharkattack and Vi La Bianca @Vi_LaBianca
Writers will often see a trend they like and try to emulate it, sure that if they capitalize on something that is currently popular or has been recently well-received, a publisher is sure to pick it up. This isn’t always the case.