Cover Released for DEADLY ECHOES

The dashing cover for Philip Donlay's DEADLY ECHOES has been released!  The novel is due out on shelves on April 1st, 2014 by Oceanview Publishing.

Like Philip Donlay on his website or his Facebook for more news on his upcoming novel.

For more news and updates follow @K_C_Associates on Twitter.

D.P. Lyle on Writing Up A Storm

Recently, D.P. Lyle, author of MORE FORENSICS AND FICTION went on Gayle Trent's Writing Up A Storm podcast to talk about writing, his past work, and his radio program, Crime and Science Radio.


Listen to the Writing Up A Storm podcast featuring D.P. Lyle below.

For more on D.P. Lyle, you can visit his website, check out his radio show, and follow him on Twitter @DPLyleMD.

For more news and updates follow @K_C_Associates on Twitter.

SILENCING SAPPHIRE Wattpad 'Cover Off'

Please join in the fun on Wattpad's Facebook page and vote on Mia Thompson's SILENCING SAPPHIRE cover, soon to be released by Diversion Books.

Wattpad is hosting a book club of Mia's first book in the Sapphire Series, Stalking Sapphire.  The book club will end on the release of SILENCING SAPPHIRE, which I'm right in the middle of editing. The pressure's on.

Wattpad is a great resource for readers and authors.  It boasts 16 million users, most of which are under 20. Stalking Sapphire shows over 10,000 reads.  And Mia's book is the third book club that Wattpad has hosted, though I believe authors can set up their own book clubs through Wattpad.

Please visit the Wattpad Facebook page and vote on the cover you like best, or leave a comment on the blog.

Congratulations Mia and Diversion Books on all the great things happening with this series!

More Buzz On James Gunn's TRANSCENDENTAL

The Topeka Capital Journal's Carolyn Kaberline recently released an article highlighting James Gunn's contributions to science fiction and his most recent novel, TRANSCENDENTAL.

The article discusses James Gunn's career in the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, his many awards, and his plans for the future.  Check it out here.

For more about James Gunn or his novel, TRANSCENDENTAL, visit his website at www.sfcenter.ku.edu/bio.htm.

For more news and updates follow @K_C_Associates on Twitter.

Outstanding Review for Susan C. Shea's THE KING'S JAR!

The glowing review of Susan C. Shea's THE KING'S JAR by book reviewer, Elizabeth A. White has just been picked up by four different websites!

The review praises THE KING'S JAR's main character Dani O'Rourke, stating, "In Dani O'Rourke, Shea has created a character who wonderfully skirts the line between traditional cozy and straight-up crime fiction."

For more information about Susan C. Shea or her novel, THE KING'S JAR, visit her website, http://www.susancshea.com/ , and follow her on Twitter @susan_shea.

THE KING'S JAR is out on shelves now from Top Five Books.

For more news and updates follow @K_C_Associates on Twitter.

The "Good News" About Writing Your Query

Last week our agency served as the coaches in the Writer’s Digest University class “Agent One-on-One: How to Craft Query Letters & Other Submission Materials That Get Noticed Bootcamp.”  (Catchy title, I know!) There was a seminar, a couple of fast-paced one-on-one online Q&As, and manuscript reviews (I did 22 critiques over Labor Day weekend!) After all of that, I noticed clear trends in the questions from frustrated writers trying to navigate the querying process, so I've boiled down the query advice that was most commonly sought.

Format:  Shoot for THREE paragraphs containing: (1) info about your genre, your title, comparable titles, and word count; (2) a paragraph introducing your protagonist, the main plot points, and the themes; and (3) a brief bio. WHY WRITERS ARE FRUSTRATED: Different agents will tell you different things. Some want the word count, genre, and title at the top. Some want you to dive straight into the hook of the story. How can you know an individual agent’s format preference before you send your query? GOOD NEW: As long as your query is concise and well organized, agents will be able to quickly find the info they want, and they will respect your professionalism.

Query word count: Keep it under 250 words. WHY WRITERS ARE FRUSTRATED: Honestly, it is challenging to boil the plot of an entire manuscript into one paragraph. Writers tend to want to push this beyond its limits. GOOD NEWS: By keeping your query short, agents are less likely to skim and more likely to read it word for word, so YOU can focus their attention on what you think is the most important information.

Comparables: Find comparable that have been published within the last 5 years (1 to 2 years is even better!) WHY WRITERS ARE FRUSTRATED: They think Jane Austen is the best comp or they don’t know of anything that is quite like their manuscript. GOOD NEWS: Here is the deal. Comps are important because agents want to know what to expect when they open your manuscript, and publishers want to know how to position your book in the marketplace. So if you do your research and identify a book (or two) that could legitimately sit on the bookshelf next to yours (and, ideally, has had some success recently), agents and publishers will take notice.  

Bio:  Include previous creative writing credits, your education, jobs related to creative writing and literature, the writing organizations you belong to, web and social media presence related to your writing, and your awards. You do not need to include that your beta readers (or friends and family) love it.  WHY WRITERS ARE FRUSTRATED: Some don’t have many (or any) of these things. So then what? GOOD NEWS: If you don’t have anything, just keep it simple by mentioning in one sentence that this is your debut novel and move on! An agent will value your brevity over having to weed through irrelevant info. That said, get on twitter! Join an organization! Beef up that bio!

Writing a query can be challenging. I write queries to pitch my client’s books to editors, and it takes time and work to capture a book with brevity. But with so much competition, putting in the time to create a professional query will make you stand out and go a long way toward earning you the result you seek. Good luck!

Follow Amy on Twitter: @amycloughley

Why You Should Never Respond to a Rejection Letter

As we slog through hundreds of submissions in the slushpile, day after day, week after week, year after year, it is hard not to become the hardened cynical arrogant bastards that many authors think we are. When you see the same mistakes made over and over again, the same cliches done, the same "thinking out of the box" tricks, you sink lower and lower beneath the mounds of manuscripts, grumbling and growling and rolling your eyes the whole way down. But here at KC&A we actually read and respond to every query, with what we hope is a gentle rejection and encouraging words, even as we descend into the depths of slushpile madness. Most authors are professional and only write back to say thank you for the response. But some, some get angry. And then we get responses such as this:

You aren't extremly selective.
This book is the next Harry Poter.
You know about what you're talking.
If you were extremly selective, you would choose my book.
To say that this book isn't selective, it means you know nothing about what works or what doesn't work.
You are the shame of the market.
You discuss me.
THIS BOOK IS EXTRMLY SELECTIVE.
YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING.
YOU DONT WANNA MAKE MONEY
This is your problem,not mine.
Being extremly selective, I choose that uncapable like you aren't enough strong to sell my  book.
You're fired!!!!

So think before you respond to a rejection. Because we will remember you. And please know this, we did consider your submission. If we rejected it, then for whatever reason it was not a good fit for us. We love our authors and we love books. We want you to succeed as much as you want to.

For more query tips follow Mary on Twitter, @Mary_C_Moore