Hang around publishing people of all types and you’ll see the same questions and answers surfacing over and over again, despite the zillions of excellent resources on the internet. So, I decided to pack the most common questions and my most favorite answers into one work-in-progress place. Ta da!

(Note that you can also find a lot of info on this site. To find what you need, check out the site guide.)

Writing/Revising

Q: What should my target word count be?
A: This post by agent Jenn Laughran.

Q: How do I keep my book up to date when trends are rapidly changing?
A: This post by agent Sarah LaPolla.

Q: I’ve heard that as a white person, I should not be using food terms to describe People of Color’s skin. What are good ways to respectfully describe it?
A: This post by Writing with Color.

Q: How do I find sensitivity readers/cultural betas?
A: This Writing in the Margins Database.

Q: How Can I Increase My Word Count Output?
A: This post by Lindsay Smith.

Querying

Q: If I were bookmarking one post of publishing info, what should it be?
A: YA Highway’s Publishing Road Map.

Q: Where can I find out who reps my category/genre?
A: Querytracker.

Q: How important are comp Titles, and how do I choose them?
A: This post by Eric Smith on Pub Crawl.

Q: How do I handle multiple agent offers?
A: This pair of posts by Lydia Sharp and me.

Q: How do I handle querying after a split with my agent?
A: This post by me. (Note that this varies depending on how well-known/published you are. This post is assuming no prior reputation/publication.)

Marketing/Publicity

Q: How do I run a successful preorder campaign?
A: This post by Erin Bowman.

Q: When should I start promoting my book?
A: This post by Jodi Meadows on Pub Crawl.

Q: How do I build a social media platform?
A: This post by Eric Smith.

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