As The Demonslayer's Handbook nears completion, I have found myself casting the net of Googleness into the icy vastness of the interweb, hunting for morsels of information about what the hell I'm supposed to do with this stack of 120,000 words.

There's plenty of info out there on the process of landing a book deal, and you can get some good stuff from writers who have been through the whole rigamarole, but if you asked me for one source which would give you the layman's low-down on agents/inquirys/submissions/slushpiles/publications and everything leading up to any kind of "Book Deal"...

I would send you to Miss Snark. I have read her blog posts every week for at least the past six months, and saved/memorized/internalized as much as I could.

Yesterday, Miss Snark announced her retirement from the blog, and while I'm flummoxed and saddened, I'm not too surprised. There are only so many ways you can keep answering the same questions.

Her archives will remain open for those who get to the point of seeking agents/publication, and seekers will find a lot of harsh reality there for them.

I'm sad to see her retire, but also pleased that she was aware enough to know when it was time to move on. Off the top of my head, I can give you the very best of her advice:

-Write well
-Follow the damn instructions
-Focus on the writing
-Query much and widely
-Keep Writing (well)

Goodbye Miss Snark, and thanks for the good laughs and the good info. I hope you and Killer Yapp have fun slurping from the Gin Pail with George Clooney...

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Authors, Cool Website, Praise, Writing