Kate McMullen of Hub City Press
“It doesn’t matter what degrees or fellowships or programs or journals have supported your work. Those things tell me about your network—but your book must connect with me as a reader.
Agents & Editors Recommend
A dependable source of professional and creative advice, this regular series features anecdotes, insights, tips, recommended reading and viewing for writers, and more from leading agents and editors.
Anni Liu of Graywolf Press
“Writing requires a certain ferality. One of the things I hear my colleagues and myself saying to authors speaks to this wildness: You write it and let us worry about how to sell it.
Megan Cummins of A Public Space
“Remember that every page you write, over the long timeline of hours spent writing, makes you a better writer.
Vivian Lee of Little, Brown
“I always tell writers to find their people and to build a community they trust.
Emily Everett of the Common
“We all want our work to be subtle, but I too often see writers prioritizing that stylish subtlety over simple understanding, which is what readers will really connect to.
Faye Bender of the Book Group
“As you read books by writers you admire in a wide variety of categories, make note of who you think does specific things beautifully.
Patrik Henry Bass of Amistad Books
“I recommend that one write to the human condition. Loneliness. Anger. Vanity. Pride. All universal feelings are not assigned a race.
Amelia Atlas of Creative Artists Agency
“A book is an idea, but it’s also an object on a shelf in a store. You need to give people a reason for your book to be the one they spend their money on.
Naomi Gibbs of Pantheon Books
“It could be that the one agent or one publisher raising their hand right now is indeed the perfect partner and advocate for you—all you need is one. It could also be that they’re not, and if your gut is telling you that’s so, hold true to that instinct.
Catherine Cho of Paper Literary
“What’s most important to agents—and the thing that we’re all working toward—is finding great work. It is also the one thing that’s in a writer’s control. The rest is noise.