If you’ve been in the business for any length of time, you know that almost everybody is reading right after Labor Day. These articles will help you shake off the lazy days of summer and motivate you to submit!

In this issue:

WHEN TO NUDGE A LITERARY AGENT ABOUT YOUR BOOK QUERY

AUTHOR PLATFORMS: WHAT THEY ARE, WHY AGENTS AND EDITORS LOOK FOR THEM, AND WHETHER YOU NEED ONE TO GET YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED

SHORT STORY OR NOVELLA? WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE AND WHERE TO PUBLISH SHORTER FICTION

POETRY WRITERS RETREATS: FINDING INSPIRATION BY GETTING AWAY

NEW WRITERS: 10 TIPS TO TURN REJECTIONS INTO ACCEPTANCES

* AND REMEMBER – Check out our free lists of publishing leads, calls for submissions, writing contests, conferences, featured books, and special services for writers!

Being patient can be difficult when you haven’t heard from a literary agent that you’ve queried. How long should a writer wait to check in with a literary agent after sending a query letter, book proposal, or even a manuscript? What’s the best way to follow up after you’ve sent your book out for consideration: by phone, email, or a knock on the door? Is it even worth a writer’s time to nudge a literary agent for a reply at all?

Writer’s Relief has been working with novelists, memoirists, and nonfiction writers since 1994, and we’ve learned a thing or two about how to work effectively with literary agents.

Is it okay to send a manuscript with a request for a signature upon delivery?

No. If you want Delivery Confirmation, don’t make a literary agent (or anyone else in the agent’s office) sign for your letter. Ask your local post office or other courier’s office how you can get confirmation of delivery without a request for a signature.

Is it okay to ask a literary agent to confirm immediately that he or she received a query letter, proposal, or book manuscript?

Generally speaking, no—it’s not okay to follow up a query with a simultaneous request for confirmation of receipt. Of course, this poses problems for writers.

Some literary agents who accept email queries have adopted a policy of replying to queries only if they are interested in the project in question. That leaves the writer in a pinch: wait and assume that no news is bad news? Or wait, and then follow up?

There’s no right or wrong answer here. If, after you’ve waited a substantial period of time (at least three months would suffice), you are really itching to write a follow-up, then at that point you may have nothing to lose. The literary agent will either confirm that you’ve been rejected or ask you to resend your query.

But we don’t recommend following up a query with a request for receipt confirmation. It’s just bad form—and the literary agent will likely find it annoying.

(TIP: Know what else will annoy literary agents? Asking them to go through some kind of anti-spam verification process in order to respond to your email. Not the best way to make friends.)

What is the ideal amount of time to wait before following up with a literary agent?

While there is no “rule” about how long to wait before asking for an agent's opinion on your manuscript, the key is to consider how you would feel if you were a literary agent. If you’re getting 500 query letters a month, impatient people annoy more than impress.

Some literary agents have guidelines on their websites that indicate how long to wait before making an inquiry. (For example: You may follow up on your submission after six weeks.) For those literary agencies that don’t offer instructions, be as patient as possible. If you push an agent to read your query, he or she will read it all right—with the understanding that you are impatient and pushy.

Are there extenuating circumstances that make it okay to send a follow-up?

If you are in an unusual circumstance (especially a circumstance that pertains to having competition for your book), then a literary agent may be more open to a follow-up.

The best circumstance for following up with one literary agent is when another agent has requested your materials. It’s more appropriate to say, “I’m following up with you because another agent has requested my complete manuscript, and I wanted to let you know” than it is to say, “I’m feeling antsy and want you to drop what you’re doing and get to my book.”

Read more: What To Do When A Literary Agent Requests Your Manuscript

How should you follow up with a literary agent?

More often than not, literary agents prefer to communicate via email, which allows them to read and reply at their own pace. It’s rarely appropriate to call. And it’s never appropriate to stop by in person—no matter how close you just happen to live to the literary agent in question.

When you do send a follow-up email, be polite and brief. Don’t choose a vague subject line like “My book.” Instead, be specific:

SUBJECT: Joe Writer, follow-up, The Case of the Missing Facts

or better yet

SUBJECT: Joe Writer, follow-up, notice of manuscript requests

Writer’s Relief submission strategists are always on hand to help our clients navigate the submission process. We provide our writers with valuable advice about when and how to follow up with a literary agent—and all elements of publishing. Want us to manage the submission process for you? Give you more time to write? We’ve been targeting submissions for writers since 1994!

What is an author platform? The term platform is generally most relevant to writers of nonfiction (especially those working with book proposals); however, novel and memoir writers can also be included in terms of their platforms. Literary agents and editors use the word platform within the publishing industry to talk about an author’s relationship with his or her audience. Let’s get into the specifics of what a platform is, why literary agents and editors take them seriously, and whether or not you, as a writer, need one.

Author Platforms in Real Life

When you write a proposal for a nonfiction book, you’re expected to have a good, strong platform. A platform involves many components: the author’s expertise in the field that he or she is writing about; the author’s preexisting popularity, notoriety, and status as a leader in his or her field; the author’s personal, already-established connection to the readership that will be interested in his or her book.

In short, a platform is the author’s background within a given field that establishes him or her as the right person to publish (and sell) a book on the subject.

Most of the time, writers of self-help, how-to, or even biography proposals will need a strong platform.

What Is A Strong Platform? A Weak platform?

Let’s say you’ve written a nonfiction book proposal to publish a book about a brand-new diet: The Lima Bean Diet.

An author who has a strong platform:

Is a highly educated nutritionist with multiple degrees and special studies about lima beans

Has written and published many peer-reviewed articles on lima beans in science journals

Has written and published many popular weight-loss articles about lima beans in major commercial magazines

Has a blog with a strong following of people who have had success with The Lima Bean Diet

Has gained some preliminary media coverage (local TV spots, articles, interviews) that suggests The Lima Bean Diet is the next big thing

Has led high-energy seminars all over the nation about The Lima Bean Diet and has a growing mailing list

A writer who has a weak platform:

Has minimal or informal education in his or her field (relies on personal experience to prove The Lima Bean Diet works)

Has published a few articles on The Lima Bean Diet with “underground” blogs, websites, and zines

Has not published anything in commercial magazines or has published only in small-circulation periodicals

Has a blog, but not many followers—and few followers are active

Has a following of family and friends (with some friends of friends and some strangers)—but that’s where it ends

Has had little to no media coverage

Has no reputation for being an expert, leads a couple of local seminars in libraries or health food stores

What Your Platform Means To A Literary Agent Or Editor

To make “big numbers” on a nonfiction book, a literary agent will look for an author who comes with a built-in audience (an audience that depends on and trusts said author’s expertise). Many writers believe that they “have a great idea for a book.” And still more believe that their personal experiences alone make them the authority about their subject.

Nonfiction writing is especially competitive. If a literary agent “falls in love with” a project, he or she may be willing to work with an author to build up a platform (in order to impress an editor), but this happens very rarely. Instead, writers should build their own platform before querying an agent.

How To Build Up A Better Platform For Your Writing

1. Be (or become) an expert in your field.

2. Establish a strong online presence via an author website, a blog, and social networking.

3. Write articles for major commercial magazines.

4. Be approached as an expert source for other people writing about your subject.

5. Offer seminars and establish yourself as a speaker.

6. Hire a publicist who can help with media exposure.

One last note: if you’re writing a memoir, it helps to be high-profile, but it’s not necessary. Memoirs are not sold via proposal, and, therefore, their authors don’t necessarily need a platform. For all intents and purposes, a memoir works like fiction: The book must be complete, not pitched via proposal.

Writer’s Relief has been helping writers of fiction and nonfiction connect with the best literary agents since 1994. We’ve successfully helped many creative writers build up their publication credits (and platforms) within the literary-magazine market. When you have a strong writing bio or platform, you’re more likely to receive interest from a literary agent. So check out Writer’s Relief today!

How do you know if your short prose is a short story or a novella? How long is a short story? A novella? What’s the difference? If you want to get your short story or novella published, you’ll need to know who is publishing your type of fiction—and you’ll need to know the best way to target your writing to literary agents and editors of literary magazines.

How long is a novella?

A novella is a “short book.” As such, a novella is considerably longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. A novella must be able to stand on its own as a book, but the exact word count is not set in stone: 30,000 to 60,000 words may be an appropriate length for a novella in most markets.

Who is publishing novellas?

Imagine the weight and size of a typical novel (80,000 to 100,000 words) when you hold it in your hand. Now imagine holding a slim, 30,000-word book—almost a pamphlet—in your hand. In order for a publisher to justify the production and marketing overhead of taking on a novella, the publisher must give the reader a valuable experience that justifies the price of the book.

The trouble is, the profit margin of a novella can be lower than the profit margin of a novel in certain circumstances. For that reason, few “big New York” publishers will take on a stand-alone novella—except in certain circumstances. When a novella is published, it is often bound in a collection of novellas by various authors or the same author, creating an anthology.

Because novellas are difficult to market as print novels, they have become very popular in the world of digital publishing. E-publishers are readily taking on novellas of all genres, and readers of e-books are on the rise. In fact, some e-publishers prefer novellas to novels because some readers of electronic formats prefer shorter books—and a good novella can pack a lot of story into a limited number of pages!

How long is a short story?

Although a short story could be as long as 30,000 words, stories of that length begin to become too bulky for their genre. These days, editors of literary magazines are readily publishing short stories of approximately 3,500 words, and they are shying away from longer works.

Short stories published in online literary magazines are often held to even smaller word counts, sometimes as little as 1,000 words or less. The Internet has dramatically changed the way that modern readers approach fiction and prose, and the trend is that shorter short stories are more readily published than longer ones.

Read more: Stories And Poems: Why Length Matters

Who is publishing short stories?

The best place to publish a short story is a literary magazine—be it an online journal or a print magazine. Literary magazines have a long history of being both cutting-edge and traditional; if you’re a writer, you can bet there is a literary magazine out there for you. It’s just a matter of researching the right literary magazines for your writing. (Note: Writer’s Relief can do this research for you.)

Many writers dream of publishing a collection of their short stories; however, the short story genre is not especially popular with the book-buying, mainstream public at this point, and in order for a collection to be appealing to a literary agent or publisher, the writer would do well to have a significant number of publication credits.

Read more:

How To Write A Query Letter For A Short Story Collection

How To Publish A Short Story Collection: Tips For Getting Agents’ And Editors’ Attention For Your Short Stories

Writer’s Relief is NOT currently working with writers of novellas. However, we do work with writers of short stories and, when merited, short story collections. Writer’s Relief is an author’s submission service; we assist creative writers with the process of making submissions. We lift the burden of researching markets and give our (invitation-only) clients more time to write. Learn more about how Writer’s Relief can help you submit your novel, short story, or short story collection.

If inspiration is all around us, is there any true value in attending a poetry writers retreat? Many poets believe there is.

Poetry retreats offer solace to some and an infusion of creative inspiration to others. Three good reasons to go on a retreat:

1. Inspiration and Encouragement: Sometimes our surroundings are where we find our greatest inspiration. A peaceful retreat in the smoky mountains of Tennessee or a summer amid the beautiful nature trails of Vermont can have a calming effect and open your imagination. Spending time among other writers offers validation and encouragement.

2. Unwavering Focus: Few of us have the luxury of uninterrupted time to write. Many of us, however, need to leave our usual work space to avoid the busyness we live with. With life’s disruptions all around us, it can be nearly impossible to focus. Poetry retreats offer unique opportunities for writers to be absorbed in their craft and really focus on writing—through quiet reflection, life’s “disruptions” become inspiration for art.

3. Personal and/or Spiritual Growth: Time spent alone and/or in the company of similarly focused writers in a safe environment can be nourishment for our personal development. Such an atmosphere can present occasions for spiritual connections within ourselves and our writing. This growth and development can stay with us for a lifetime and offer positive results which help our poetry evolve. 

What's the difference between a writing retreat and a writers conference?

A writers (or writing) conference offers great opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals, learning experiences through workshops with accomplished poets, and dedicated sessions to receive feedback from your peers.

A retreat provides a safe, tranquil place to be with your thoughts and find quiet inspiration without interruption while offering the opportunity for constructive feedback.

How do you know whether a writing retreat or a writing conference is best for you?

Consider your writing needs and your personality. Perhaps your writing craves the privacy and solace a retreat has to offer. Or maybe the motivation found at conference venues better suits your needs, because you prefer to share the time with peers who can encourage and inspire through their creativity, as well as provide constructive feedback not always accessible to you.

Whatever your choice, your writing will be better for it.

Want to find a list of writing retreats and writing conferences? Visit our Writers Classifieds for fantastic leads and opportunities! PLUS, Writer’s Relief can help you get your poetry published. Learn about our submission management and targeting for creative writers.

Are you a new writer? Do you have a stack of rejections sitting on your desk, taunting you? No problem! Starting out in the writing biz is never easy, and, in the end, you can’t control whether a literary agent or editor accepts your work. What you can do is develop a strategy that, when honed, will increase your chances of publication.

1. Practice, practice, practice.

It’s nice to think that we are all naturally gifted writers from birth, but as with most creative pursuits, everyone has to practice. Your writing skill is like a knife. Sharpen it! The deeper you explore your talents and the more techniques you try, the better you’ll be able to gauge where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

2. Write often and a lot.

A common mistake many new writers make is not having any backup. It’s great to have a piece of work you’re proud of, but you’ll quickly run out of places to submit to if you send out the same stuff over and over again. If one particular piece isn’t eliciting any positive responses, it might be time to switch it up and send something new.

3. Format and proofread thoroughly.

The importance of this step cannot be stressed enough. Make sure it’s PERFECT! Editors and agents get hundreds of submissions passing across their desks every day, and one of the first lines of defense is to cut out the sloppy stuff. Spell-checker and grammar books are your friends! If proofreading isn’t your forte, Writer’s Relief proofreaders can help.

4. Do the research.

Research the best literary journals for your short prose and poetry, and research the best literary agencies for your books. You can’t find the right places to submit your work without a little legwork. Do NOT send your work out to someone “just because.” If you’ve been getting a lot of rejections, it may be because you’re not submitting to the journals or agencies that are right for your work. Every editor and literary agent is different, and they’re all looking for different things. Read the submission guidelines and take a look at the work they have published previously. If your work doesn’t match up, don’t waste your time. Move on!

NOTE: if you despise tedious hours of researching literary agents and magazines, Writer’s Relief can research (and target) the best markets for your unique writing style and publishing goals. We’ve been helping writers successfully connect with agents and editors since 1994.

5. Have a killer cover or query letter.

Think of your cover letter as a handshake. When you meet someone, especially in a professional setting, you don’t give him or her a limp, noodly handshake, do you? So why send out a weak and bland cover letter? Create one that is concise, professional, and efficiently informative. Show your confidence as a writer. Let your personality shine through. This is an editor's or agent’s first impression of you, so make it a good one!

Note: Guess what? Writer’s Relief can create your cover or query letter too! Put our expert submissions strategists to work for you!

6. Don’t be afraid to start small.

Boy, wouldn’t it be nice to get published in The Paris Review at the beginning of your career? Sure! We just wouldn’t suggest holding your breath. We do recommend going for the smaller journals first, at least while you’re starting out. Smaller publications are incubators for emerging writers and, best of all, they’re LOOKING for the new and unpublished! Be open to online journals as well, as they have gained a lot of popularity and respect over the years. Do that and you can…

7. Build your publication credits.

Once you start getting acceptances from smaller journals, more prestigious publications will look more favorably upon your work. It’s not a matter of snobbery—a list of credits shows that not only is your work good, but there is a market for it. This also applies if you are seeking representation for a book. Publication credits in poetry or prose not only show your potential, but also prove your versatility.

Learn more: No Publishing Credits? Get Publishing Credentials: How To Build Up Your Writing Bio Super Fast.

8. Track your submissions.

Keeping an updated list of your submissions and responses will give you a sense of the bigger picture. Editors or agents sometimes give constructive criticisms and feedback—keep note of these personal comments! When you’re ready to submit again, these should be the first people you send to. You’re on their radar. Take advantage!

Learn more: Successful Record Keeping For Writers’ Submissions.

9. Be honest with yourself.

Even the best writers can write mediocre stuff. It’s a natural part of the creative process. And while it’s not easy to admit that a piece of work isn’t necessarily amazing, being honest with yourself about the quality of your work will help you in the end. Is your book query not getting the raves you expected? Step back and look at it objectively. Don’t let your proximity to the work block your view of what might be improved.

And remember…

10. Don’t take it personally.

Discouragement is a new writer’s biggest enemy. It’s easy to assume that if no one is accepting your work, you are an awful writer. Not true! Perseverance and patience are a must for writers: they are absolutely key when you’re breaking into the writing industry. Literary agents and editors aren’t sinister figures sitting behind flaming stacks of crappy writing—they’re just doing their job and they have nothing against you. So chin up!

If any of the above sounds daunting, remember that Writer’s Relief offers assistance in all aspects of the submission process. Our submission strategists are ready to help you stay encouraged and get your writing published!

Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life. ~Lawrence Kasdan

Creative writers everywhere are often tempted to kick back and turn things down a notch from time to time, but here at Writer’s Relief, we’re always working hard to send our clients’ books, poems, stories, essays, and novels to literary agents and editors. We’ve also put together this issue of our Newsflash for Writers. 

Remember: While other writers are slacking off, the publishing business is always moving forward. By sending your work out regularly, you could position yourself to be at the right place at the right time. So keep at it! And know that Writer’s Relief is here to help.

In this issue:

** YOUR PROFESSIONAL BIO: QUERY LETTER AND COVER LETTER TIPS

** IS IT WORTH YOUR TIME TO WRITE A MEMOIR?

** LET' US POOFREAD YOU’RE MANSCRIPT B4 U SUMBIT

** LITERARY AGENT MANUSCRIPT REQUESTS: GET THE ADVANTAGE

** RHYMING POETRY: DOs, DON’Ts, AND DEFINITIONS

** WHERE NEW WRITERS CAN GET PUBLISHED

** HOW TO MEET A DEADLINE

PLUS—remember to check our brand-new Writers Classified Pages! Enter contests, submit to anthologies, find writing conferences, featured books, and writers services—all in one convenient place! Seriously, folks. It doesn’t get any better than this!

Writing a bio for a cover letter or query letter is difficult, whether you’re a new writer with no publication credits, a mid-level writer with significant publications, or a professional writer. Literary agents look to authors’ bios to ascertain whether writers are dedicated craftspeople or well-intentioned amateurs. Editors look to a writer’s publication history to support a tough decision to fill tight page space, or to include in the contributor’s notes.

The biography in your cover or query letter should be good—and while this article stresses the importance of having strong publication credits, it’s not unheard of that a writer with no experience at all will gain national attention. Just be sure that the bio in your query or cover letter is professional, succinct, and helpful to literary agents and editors of literary journals.

Length Of Your Writing Bio

DO keep it short. Your professional bio should be no more than one paragraph—two at the most.

DON’T attach your resume, CV, or other professional documents unless they are specifically requested. Editors and agents won’t read them; they might skim them (if you’re lucky). And if you don’t prominently emphasize what is most important, your best credits may be overlooked.

Your Creative Writing Publications

DO put your best writing credits first, where they’ll get noticed. 

DON’T include credits that will peg you as an amateur, like disreputable poetry contests or shady Who’s Who listings.

DO stick to the facts. Don’t overinflate or falsify. Don’t get gooey and sentimental about your past successes.

DON’T list your self-published book projects (or any pay-to-publish projects) unless you’ve received some kind of noteworthy accolades or had strong sales. Here’s more information: Self-Publishing: When (Not) To Include Your Self-Published Book In Your Cover Or Query Letter Bio.

DO list any books you’ve worked on, including the publisher and the date of the release. Example: The Book I Wrote (AnyName Publishers, 2010).

Your Personality

DON’T say things like, “It’s my dream to be a writer,” or “I’ve been writing since I was five.” Ask yourself: Of everyone who is submitting, who doesn’t want to be a writer? Also, everyone learns to write at about age five.

DO include personal information if it’s appropriate to your submission or if it might set you apart.

Format Of Your Writing Bio

DO be consistent. You can write your bio in first person or third (though first is more common). Whichever you choose, stick with it.

What To Do If You Have No Writing Credentials

At some point, every writer has NO publishing credits at all. Don’t panic; editors and literary agents know that everyone has to start somewhere—even you.

Here are some things you might consider listing in your cover or query letter if you want to build up your writing credentials quickly. But as stated above, don’t fake it. If you really have no credits at all, don’t fudge.

You may want to say a few words about yourself to indicate that you are dedicated and serious. We’re not talking about lip service. Editors and agents want proof, such as involvement in literary organizations, that demonstrates your commitment.

Writer’s Relief composes cover and query letters on behalf of our clients. For more information on how we can help you write a cover or query letter, learn more about Writer’s Relief author’s submission services.

Guest writer Denis Ledoux has been assisting people to write personal and family stories (since 1988) and training the memoir professionals who work with them (since 1996). For your free memory jog question book, go to http://turningmemories.com/memorylist.html.

“Worth the time to write?” I repeated—raising my voice into a question—when a man said to me recently that most people didn't have a memoir that was worth their time to write.

“Not only is every life worth writing about,” I countered, “but the writing of a memoir is a healing and developmental process for the writer. There is something precious in the telling of every tale.”

“I don't know about the healing,” he said, “but I do know that most people haven't done anything interesting enough to write about, let alone have someone else read it.”

“I don't think children and grandchildren feel that way,” I answered. “I've never met anyone who wasn't happy to have a memoir of a father or mother.”

“Well, okay,” he conceded, “but who else is interested?”

“The breadth of the audience is not what makes the writing of a memoir significant. There is worth in the telling itself.”

There continues to be an insatiable hunger to know about one's family and culture. Writing a memoir is a meaningful way one generation can transmit stories to another.

In the man's commentary, of course, there is an important point to consider. If one has not led a momentous life, are there things one can do if one wishes to write a memoir that goes beyond the interest of a small family readership?

Let me emphasize that it is appropriate to write stories solely to family readership. There is nothing “wrong” with a small audience. The value of any piece of writing is not measured by how many people—total numbers—have read it. This emphasis on size is a spin-off of the commercialization of worth. It is a result of the creation and promotion of the “superstar” in our culture.

But the true worth of a memoir is better measured by the inherent value to the writer and to its selected audience. The act of writing will change you and your relationship to your life. Writing is significant for itself.

Begin writing your memoir today!

Want to find a literary agent for your memoir—an advocate who will help you submit your memoir to major publishing houses? Writer’s Relief helps writers of memoirs get published by managing the submission process and targeting the best literary agents and editors who want to read true stories.

Have you finished a novel? Are you submitting your poetry manuscript to competitions? If so, your manuscript should be proofread and prepared to publishing industry standards. The format and presentation of your manuscript matters in the same way as how you present yourself at a job interview. Show up in jeans at your own risk!

Writer’s Relief offers a proofreading and formatting service (novels, nonfiction, and poetry manuscripts included). This service is designed to help writers prepare their manuscripts for publication and/or for submissions to literary agents and publishers, as well as contests and competitions.

Want to get a proofreading and formatting quote? Send us an electronic copy of your book manuscript (Proof@wrelief.com). Include your contact information: mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address. We’ll evaluate the manuscript and quote a price to prepare it for you. Be sure your subject line refers to the project you want proofed.

You can also call our proofreading department today at (866) 405-3003 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. ET.

You’ve done the work of writing a great manuscript, so don't skimp on the final steps. Make sure that your pages are ready to pass muster with the agent or editor who receives them. We will format the manuscript to meet industry standards, and we can assist with special formatting for contests and/or competitions. Remember, presentation is everything!