The Chopping Blog

Book Broker – An interview with Matt Belford

July 21, 2019

One of the early warning signs I’ve seen a few times is when authors tell me in their query letter that they’ve “just completed my first draft.” The issue here is that people have a warped view of what writing entails. There’s a reason this industry takes as long as it does to publish books; it requires a lot of editing, rewriting, more editing, etc.

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Book Broker – An interview with Jess Dallow

July 19, 2019

Keep submitting, even if you get rejections. Writing is so subjective and not every agent is going to like your manuscript and request it. It doesn’t mean it’s not good or you’ll never get published. Publishing is also a waiting game. It can take a while to hear back. In the meantime, start working on something new. Always be writing and always be reading.

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Book Broker – An interview with Dana Newman

July 13, 2019

If it’s a non-fiction project, I’ll work with the writer to polish the proposal and ensure the sample chapters represent their best writing. For fiction, I usually won’t take it on until the writer has already been through several revisions, ideally working with a professional editor, writing critique group, and/or beta readers.

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Book Broker – An interview with Aimee Ashcraft

June 27, 2019

For me, a good submission tends to do three things: it gives a good idea of what the project is about; it lets me know where the author sees their work fitting into the market; and it shares a bit about the author.

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Book Broker – An interview with Juliet Mushens

May 07, 2019

A lot of letters focus too much on the author, or talk generally around the themes of the book. A good cover letter should be 90% about the novel, 10% about the writer.

Agent interviews

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Book Broker – An interview with Catherine Cho

May 02, 2019

Be patient and use rejection as a learning tool. Continually try to improve, all it takes is one agent to believe in your work. Agents want to find writers.

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Book Broker – An interview with Noah Ballard

April 30, 2019

When you’re writing your synopsis, tell me what’s fresh about your book. If it’s a procedural police thriller, what’s new about this crime, this police officer, this setting, this time period, this prose style?

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Book Broker – An interview with Emma Finn

April 28, 2019

There’s been a huge upswing in enthusiasm for smart non-fiction right across the board recently, which is a pleasure to see. And I think and hope both agents and editors are being more proactive in looking for and championing stories from exciting new voices from a range of backgrounds, so we should be heading for a much richer and more representative publishing landscape in the months and years to come.

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Book Broker – An interview with Albert Longden

April 26, 2019

I love the thrill of finding a gem. It might not make me a millionaire but if it grabs me, that's a wonder to behold. Most challenging is having to reject so many good people and good authors.

Agent interviews

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Book Broker – An interview with Isabel Atherton

April 24, 2019

Potential clients need to really nail their query letters. It is the absolute key to making an agent want to read your submission. Craft it, hone it, nail it.

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Book Broker – An interview with BJ Robbins

April 15, 2019

BJ Robbins established her Los Angeles-based agency in 1992 after a multi-faceted career in book publishing in NY, first in publicity at Simon & Schuster and later as marketing director and then senior editor at Harcourt.

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Book Broker – An interview with Jennifer March Soloway

April 02, 2019

It's not so much the query letter as the opening pages. I see potential in almost every submission, but most projects I receive are at too early a stage for me to offer representation.

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