Ah, crap. Thankfulness.
When we started this journal, I volunteered for Fridays thinking that would be easy to remember. What I didn't realize was that by the time Friday hit, everyone had already said everything clever.
Blahblahblah thankful for family, friends, book-career, blah blah.
So I'm going to derail a bit (as usual) and talk about, instead, the industry websites that *I* am thankful for:
Agent Turnaround Times - This little livejournal community was started by a good friend of mine, Jodi Meadows. It's a database of agent names and the turnaround-time feedback that other people have experienced. There's a few others out in the marketplace that do the same (Forward Motion's agent tracking thread comes to mind) but this one is the easiest to read.
The Rejecter - A blog run by an agent's assistant. She's the person you have to get past to get your work seen by the agent, and some of her observations are extremely keen. Plus, I like her wit.
Bookends LLC - Jessica Faust runs this blog, and she doesn't advertise about her clients ad-nauseum. She just talks about a lot of publishing items, queries, and what's hot on the market and what she'd like to see. A great read.
QueryTracker.net 's Who Reps Who - I can't speak to the actual Querytracker tool itself, but I find the 'Who Reps Who' database fascinating. Want to see who reps your favorite author? Look up their name and the agent will be listed. Invaluable if you're agent-searching and think that fans of Neil Gaiman would love your book, but you don't know who reps Neil Gaiman.
Verla Kay's Message Boards - Mostly for children's authors and YA, but there's a big section on agent/publisher/magazine responses and one for agent news. Great stuff.
Agent Query - If you haven't figured out agent query yet, nothing I say will be able to help you. :)
Publisher's Lunch - Yes, Publisher's Marketplace is expensive, but the lunch is FREE and once a week they email a smattering of deals out. It's interesting to see who buys what. And if you can spring for the full package, so much the better.
Editorial Ass - Moonrat blogs anonymously about life as an underpaid editor in NY, and Robert the Publisher. I think Moonrat is utterly charming, and her tidbits about the industry fascinating (and sometimes horrifying).
Karen Fox - Karen Fox has an amazing website. Not only does she list all the romance deals posted to Publisher's Marketplace, but she also has a running list of what sort of agency is looking for what, and what publishers (and editors) you should send your projects to. A must-read for romance writers.
Melinda Goodin - Melinda's website features a 'Locus Sales Spreadsheet' that categorizes every SINGLE sale that Locus Magazine has announced for the past couple of years. You can sort by agent, publisher, editor, etc. A must-read for fantasy authors.
Absolute Write Forums - I faithfully visit this board a few times a day (okay, several). The two most helpful boards here? Bewares and Background Checks, and Ask the Agent.
Dear Author - The 'J's of Dear Author review a wide variety of books (not just romance) and also keep readers up to date on e-readers, bestseller lists, and other topics related to publishing. I love this site.
I could go on and on, since my reading list is a mile long. I still haven't covered Tess Gerritsen's blog, or Mrs. Giggles, or 70 Days of Sweat, or Romancing the Blog...but I thought I'd leave this before your eyes cross. *g*
Happy Thanksgiving, all!
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