In 2018 3rd Coast Books, LLC, sent questionnaires to aspiring writers and authors asking them what they would like to ask Publishers, Literary Agents, Editors, Successful Authors, and Book Reviewers. After compiling the questions, 3rd Coast contacted several Top Literary Agents, Publishers, Editors and so forth to ask them, in their own words, to answer these questions.
The information that they shared was insightful and invaluable. Anyone can download the Author Q&A from the 3rd Coast website for FREE. Go to www.3rdCoastBooks.com, scroll down to the bottom of our Home Page and click on Free Link to Aspiring Author Survey, Q&A. Publisher, Literary Agent, Editor and Reviewer replies have complete contact information for you.
The questions from writers/aspiring authors were very direct. The answers were just as direct.
Questions for Publishers:
- How does a writer please a publisher?
- What Genres are hot right now?
- How does a writer get permission to submit a mss to an editor or lit agent?
- What is the proper mss format for submission?
- What kind of query letter piques your interest?
Questions for Publishers:
- How does a writer please a publisher?
- What Genres are hot right now?
- How does a writer get permission to submit a mss to an editor or lit agent?
- What is the proper mss format for submission?
- What kind of query letter piques your interest?
Questions for Literary Agents:
- How much of a mss does a literary agent read before deciding “Hot” or “Not?”
- How many mss do you accept each month?
- What do literary agents want in a query letter?
- On average, how many publishers does a literary agent query on a client’s book?
- Define: “Great Writing!” (Great Answers!!!)
Questions for Successful Authors:
- What steps did you go through from being an unknown author to a successful author?
- What are some of your favorite Social Media sites to promote your work?
- To what do you attribute your success in getting known?
- What is your best advice to aspiring authors?
These are only a spattering of the questions contained in the survey. There are also questions for book reviewers, book marketers and about designing author websites.
So who are some of the professionals that answered the Aspiring Author Questions? Here is a partial list with some comments;
- Publishers—Vivian Zabel, Traditional Publisher, Ron Mumford-Hybrid Publisher, Lisa Aquilina, IPBA Board Member/Publisher
- Successful Literary Agents—Chip MacGregor of the MacGregor & Leudeke Lit Agency, Oregon. Leticia Gomez, Savvy Literary Agency, Houston, TX.
- Successful Authors—Debra White Smith, 1M books in print, published by traditional publishers, last books printed by HarperCollins. Dionne Lister, best-selling author from Sydney, Australia. Kathleen Shields, Publisher/Author of Hamilton Troll series.
- Editors—Faye Walker, Ph.D. Editorial Director. Kaye Lynne Booth.
- Book Marketers—Liz Lawless, 92 straight best-sellers through her marketing. Carla King, Self-Pub Bootcamp.
- Book Reviewers—Donna Brown, Diane Garner, Kelly Snyder.
This Q&A took almost a year to compile and is intended to enlighten both Aspiring and Experienced Authors – provided by 3rd Coast Books free of charge. Gain from the insights in the survey; it will certainly help you in your writing careers.
Just remember, “If you Quit, you Lose!” Keep writing…
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