How To: 7 Steps to a Great Writer Blog

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Literary agent Carly Watters gives tips on making your writer blog work for you when you’re querying agents. Great tips!

Carly Watters's avatarCarly Watters, Literary Agent

Screen Shot 2012-04-26 at 4.18.09 PMI love it when writers link to their blogs when they’re querying me. I know not all agents agree, but if I’m interested in a query or a project I’ll definitely be looking you up. So what do agents look for when we’re going through writers’ blogs (which are different than author websites)? Here’s a glimpse into my thought process.

How To: 7 Steps to a Great Writer Blog

1. FREQUENCY

My biggest pet peeve is writers who set up a blog but don’t keep it up. I know things get in the way (life, marriage, kids, day job, etc) but the most important thing is some sort of schedule. I’m not saying you have to blog everyday, because you certainly don’t! What I am saying is try to create a pattern: once a week, twice a month, twice a week–whatever you can manage.

2. CONTENT

What querying…

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99 problems (in my submission pile)

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These are 99 problems with queries. Read it, and you won’t be one.

Carlie Webber's avatarCK Webber Associates

  1. Query is for a book in a genre I don’t represent.
  2. Query is for a vampire book. Come back in 3-5 years.
  3. Query letter is addressed to “Dear Sir or Madam” or “To Whom It May Concern.”
  4. Query letter is addressed to “Dear Agent.” My name is not Agent.
  5. Query letter is not addressed at all. It just begins, “Hi!”
  6. Query letter is addressed to Kristin Nelson. (This is not a problem if you’re actually sending your query letter to Kristin Nelson.)
  7. Query letter is 2 pages long.
  8. Query opens with a rhetorical question.
  9. Query opens with a tagline.
  10. Author has spent too much time constructing a one-sentence hook and not enough building the rest of the query.
  11. By the end of the query, I’ve learned more about the author than I have about the book. (Does not apply to nonfiction.)
  12. I can see that you’ve copied 100 other agents…

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Book Songs Blog Hop

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booksongs

I thought it would be fun to share my book playlist with you all. Do you have a soundtrack for your book? Do you want to share? In October I’ll host a #BookSongs blog hop. All you have to do is create a playlist, post it on your blog in October (using the image above), and give me some information so I can link to your playlist.

Your book can be published or in progress. Your playlist can be a Spotify playlist, a Youtube playlist, or just a list of tracks and artists. It can be as long or short as you want.

my playlist

Book Title: ROBIN EVANS AND THE WORLD SONG

Status: Work in Progress

Genre: Time Travel Fantasy

Age of protagonist(s): 25, 21, 17

Setting: Minnesota, 2009 | Wales, 1176

Moods: Wonder, dreamy, falling in love

more playlists

Anne Brennan

Book Title: THE WANDERER

Status: Work in Progress

Genre: Portal Fantasy, Time Travel

Age of protagonist(s): 22, 26, 11

Setting: Tennessee, Present Day – The other side of the portal 😉

Moods: Falling in love, Emotional, Darkness

Find her playlist on her blog!

enter yours

Step One: Create your playlist.

Step Two: Post it to your blog or website including:

  1. The image above
  2. The text “Lara Willard’s BookSongs Blog Hop” in your post, with link to this post
  3. The information above (book title, status, genre…)
  4. Your Twitter handle if it isn’t obvious on your blog (So we can follow you if we like your playlist!)
  5. Links to your book (if it’s published)

Step Three: Fill out the form below so I can link to your post on my blog.

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Step Four: Get your friends to participate!