Blog Highlights: Bent on Books

I write every single day. I wish I could say that I'm adding to my WIP's word count every day, but sometimes, those words just don't want to come. But still ... I need to write. It's who I am.

I don't count emails so there are 3 other places where I write: christinepuddin.yelp.com, my personal journal, and here, my public blog.

So, I'm way behind on Twitter and Google Reader - which annoys me to no end. I think I may be a bit OCD. I wonder if every writer is. Anyway, I thought I'd combine everything (my need to write, being behind on Reader, being behind on my own blog) and highlight one of the 81 blogs I follow. So if you're interested in writer-ly, agent-ly, publish-y topics, here's what I learned recently from "Bent on Books" ...

Great advice from Agent Jenny Bent:

"You know how you always hear don't write for the market? It's true. Even for the practical reason that by the time you've finished writing the market has usually changed."

"So the plan is two-fold. First, write the book of your heart. Don't worry about the market. At the same time, pay attention to the market in every way you can. Watch bestseller lists, read industry news. When you're done with the book, put your knowledge of the market to use and figure out how what's going on in the market matches your particular genre/style/characters/plot. Preparation will meet opportunity. You'll make your own luck. And the great thing is that the way the market shifts and changes, the windows are always opening up."

"If you can't sell your book to a traditional publisher get it out there however you can. So many of my clients self-published first: Laurie Notaro, Will Clarke, Frank Daniels. In fact, go check this out: http://www.myspace.com/nfrankdaniels . Frank's first novel, FUTUREPROOF was published this month by HarperCollins, and the story of how he got there is pretty amazing."