Finding an agent who is excited to work with you is more like dating than choosing a skilled doctor to visit. It’s personal. It’s subjective. It’s about first impressions, common interests, and establishing mutual excitement to build a bright future together. Ideally, it’s a committed, long haul relationship, prepared to weather any bumps. It’s no wonder that there can be frustrating rejections of “I like but just don’t love enough to pursue.”

BUT there are smarter ways to vet and curate your wishlist—to tip the scales a little closer in your favor. And it boils down to doing your homework. Sometimes lots of homework to tailor your search, so it seems like “fate” has landed your query in said agent’s in-box.

Ask a Book Editor, Patrick Price, Publishing Resources, How to Get PublishedPatrick PriceOctober 26, 2020Ask an Editor, how to find an agent, query letter, How to Get Published, literary agent

Why Do Literary Agents Take So Long?

It’s every aspiring writer’s least favorite scenario: waiting to hear back from a literary agent.

But it’s possible—hardly even uncommon—to never get a response from your queries, or even after an invite was extended. What gives? Is your work that bad or wrong for them to justify query amnesia? Are agents so inundated that even a form letter rejection is too much to ask? Because, like in dating, getting “ghosted” is by far THE WORST.

Well, I’m going to let you in on some secrets. Or rather,

12 Hard Truths About Getting Rejected (Or Receiving “the Silent Treatment”) from Agents

How to Get Published, Ask a Book Editor, Book PublishingPatrick PriceJuly 8, 2020Ask an Editor, how to find an agent, query letter, How to Get Published, literary agent, Publishing Advice, Patrick Price

Patrick Price as Featured Guest on the Startup Hustle Podcast

I recently had a lot of fun being a guest on the Startup Hustle Podcast to talk about the process of publishing a book and the business behind it. There’s loads of practical advice regarding making the leap from idea to manuscript. Plus we give plenty of attention to the rise of indie authors.

Ask a Book Editor, How to Write a Book, Patrick Price, Book Publishing, Media InterviewPatrick PriceJune 3, 2020Ask a Book Editor, Patrick Price, How to Get Published, Start Up Hustle Podcast, Publishing Service, Freelance Editor, Ask an Editor

Ask a Book Editor: Indie Publishing Services Available from Start to Finish

Congrats to Chris Roberts on the publication of his inspiring personal tale, You’ve Earned It!

Increasingly, indie publishing can be a viable alternative to the “query and wait/pray” path of traditional publication. If you’re willing to invest in yourself, producing a polished book helps build one’s vital “platform” and share your ideas or story with others. And with print-on-demand (POD) and ebook formats, no longer is “self-publishing” a dirty word or synonymous with a car trunk or closet stacked with books.