Literary Agents: It's almost impossible to sell a book without a good one. Here's
a list of winners,
including some you wont find in any of those Writers Resource books. Consider
it a web exclusive, that is, until I get in trouble for listing them. For
the latest publishing news and a list of hot agents, check out my Hot Agent of
the Month page which lists the names of agents who have a good buzz
in New York publishing right now. Don't know what to say in your cover letter?
I've got some tips
that may surprise you. And I've got a sample letter, too. (To get news about
new agents and other publishing opportunities, join our list--it's free.
See the box towards the bottom of this page.)
Magazines: Most of us already know
that the BIG list of fiction magazines can be found at the back of Best
American Short Stories (Houghton Mifflin). It's updated every year,
so check the most recent edition. BUT if you want to find some exciting
new magazines
not yet listed there. Click here.
And check back. I'll update it regularly.
What I'm Reading: I just picked
up a collection of novellas, The
Granta Book of the American Long Story, edited by Richard Ford. It's
absolutely fabulous, a follow up to his The Granta Book of the American
Short Story. In this one, he has collected such great short novels as Goodbye,
Columbus (seriously, one of my favorite American books), Jane Smiley's emotionally
poignant The Age of Grief, Peter Taylor's The Old Forest, and (Oprah's own)
Edwidge Dandicat's Caroline's Wedding. 11 short novels in all, most of which
have been published separately. Seriously, check this one out. -TJP
Speaking of Stories: Do you have car trip in your future? If so, you might consider
American
Masters, a new Random House audio anthology, featuring selected stories
by Raymond Carver, John Cheever, and John Updike. About eight hours in all.
The stories are terrific when read aloud. A great way to tune your ear to
good writing.
Suggestions: Have a great book recommendation,
a suggestion for this site, just want to contact me, then drop me a line:
Todd James Pierce
This site maintained
by Todd
James Pierce.
Last updated 3/1/99. |
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Fiction Writer's Resource Page
-Agents, Ideas, Tips, and More-
site maintained by Todd
James Pierce
The best
advice you'll ever hear: Keep writing. And believe in yourself. But as you
already know, that doesn't tell you how to write, so I've assembled a list
of web articles and books that'll do just that, help you understand the
craft of fiction.
Books:
If you end up in my Fiction Workshop, you'll most likely read one of these
two books: The
Art of Fiction by Gardner or Plot by Diebell. The first is absolutely fabulous and
the second has well-structured step-by-step directions for story structure,
despite the Writer's Digest overly gung ho tone. Check them out with the
links to Amazon.
More
Books: Avoid the Writers Digest Guides, such as the 1999 Writers Market
or the 1999 Writers Market for Novel and Short Story Writers. For the most
part they are filled with bad advice. More importantly, many successful
agents and editors ask their names NOT be listed in them because of the
unsolicited manuscripts they will receive as a result of their names being
placed there. A far better resource is Jeff Herman' Writer's
Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents. (It also comes in a Special
Book & CD-ROM edition.) It
offers personal information on individual agents and editors, along with
addresses, contact numbers and lists of recently published books. Very helpful.
And the good news, many editors who have removed themselves from the Writers
Digest Market Guides are still listing their names here.
Magazines:
Without doubt, the most helpful magazine for an author trying to sell a
novel is Publishers Weekly. PW will disclose new book contracts, listing
author, editor and agent names. You will find more out about who is actually
selling books through this magazine than anywhere else (except perhaps this
web page, check out my Hot
Agent of the Month page.) It's
a professional magazine, therefore expensive. Most libraries carry it. It's
also on the web. Follow the articles on Hot Deals and contracts;
contact these agents and editors before the good news gets around and the
unread manuscripts pile up in that person's office. As you probably know,
successful agents don't really need young unproven writers (they're doing
fine as it is, and besides they're busy), so you need to find agents who
are working their way up and willing to take on unproven writers. By the
time an agent's name appears in, say, Writers Digest, it's far, far too
late.
More
Magazines:
Two other useful magazines, especially for short story writers, are the
AWP
Writer's Chronicle and (to a lesser
extent) Poets & Writers. Both list contest dates and magazines requesting
stories.
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So you thought Catcher in the Rye was pretty good and The Great
Gatsby was impressive. And now, like many published authors, you're writing
in the first person as well. It's not as easy as it looks, is it? I've put
together three articles about writing in the first person that will help
you understand this unique form. More importantly, they'll get your own
novel up and running. Best of all, each article is only a few pages long.
Part One - Understand First Person
Part Two - It's All in the Voice
Part Three - Structure, Structure, Structure
Tempted to take a short course in writing? Before you do, check out my
Notes
to Writers on Fiction. It explains
everything. It shows you how to structure a story, how to find the right
characters. It gives you diagrams of classic plots. It will focus your ideas
on writing and help you imagine your story more clearly. Click here to find out how stories really work.
Want to know he BEST
ADVICE I ever received about writing?
It's here in this short article. Learn the writing strategies of Richard
Ford, Ethan Canin, Michael Chabon, and others.
More Links: Need more places for info? Check out this link page, collected by P&W, for useful sites. (Before you go, bookmark
this site so you can find it again.)
Do you teach fiction writing?
If so, check out some of these ideas for instant
lesson plans. I teach the Fiction Workshops at Florida State University.
I've posted a few handouts here. I'll put up more over the coming months.
Do you have a good exercise of your own? Email
it to me.
Before you go, please click
over to my
personal homepage, which has links to stories published by The Literary
Review and WebDelSol. And yes, you'll notice that the layout of that page
looks a lot like this page. And yes, again, I stole it. So don't tell anyone.
See you over there.
--Todd James Pierce
PS Once there, you'll find links to Creative
Writing Programs, Fiction Magazines, and Fiction on the Web.
Copyright Todd James
Pierce, 1999 |