Author Heather McCorkle

In the vacuum created by the loss of our favorite chat years ago, a friend, Tee Tate , and I created the #WritersRoad. We also have a Facebook group , though the live chat occurs on Twitter (via Tweetdeck is one of the easiest apps to use). Tee and I co-host this chat every other Monday night on Twitter at 6:00pm Pacific Standard Time (9:00pm for our east coast friends). We chat about everything related to the writer's road. We decide on a topic based on the needs of our chatters (suggestions are welcome on both Twitter and our Facebook group) and we announce it the weekend before on Twitter. On the off weeks that we don't chat, we engage in #WordWar (still using the #WritersRoad hashtag as well), an hour long writing sprint where we check in at the end with out word count and encourage each other along the way. We often have outstanding guests be they authors, agents, editors, or another type of publishing industry professionals. This is a great opportunity to networ...

Yesterday on the live #WritersRoad Twitter chat we discussed the evolution of agents. Here are some highlight tweets from the chat: ‏ @HeatherMcCorkle Having an agent is still the best way to get a pub deal with one of the big 6. We still need agents. #WritersRoad @Tina_Moss : Two new agent models are emerging w/ authors who dont land traditional or epub deal... #WritersRoad @Tina_Moss : 1) Agent-assisted self-pub where agent helps author with formatting, cover design, editing, etc. and takes 15% #WritersRoad @Tina_Moss 2) ePub press where the agency sets up a separate ePub division. See Lori Perkins & Ravenous Romance as a model. #WritersRoad  ‏ @HeatherMcCorkle A must check resource when searching for an agent: http://pred-ed.com/   #WritersRoad ‏@HeatherMcCorkle Before searching for an agent, know your options, and know what you want out of the working relationship. #WritersRoad @HeatherMcCorkle Definition of a vanity press: Press that charges you fo...

I haven't been able to make it on Twitter nearly as much as my tweeting addiction demands so I apologize for the small selection of tweets that I have for you. But they're good ones! This first one is from agent Jill Corcoran on closing to queries and getting published: @JillCorcoran CLOSED TO QUERIES +UpPDATED: THE HOWs AND WHYs OF GETTING PUBLISHED nblo.gs/mWqHa Agetn Sara Megibow tells us that reviews sell books, and proves it by adding a few based on reviews she read: @SaraMegibow good reviews DO sell books! I added UNHEADS by @SophieFlack and AMPLIFIED by @AuthorTaraKelly to my BUY pile based on recent PW reviews. This book sounds awesome, you want to win it, trust me! @HeatherMcCorkle  Win an arc of GLOW by Kathleen Ryan: tinyurl.com/3sh787l via@cvaldezmiller Great looking sci-fi YA! #WritersRoad #writecampaign Writer's Digest brings us word of another new agent: @WritersDigest New Agent Alert: Barbara Scott...

I caught a lot of great tweets for you last week! The wonderful and frank Audry T brings us this great post about why we should plot: AudryT  Are you a pantser-by-default? Get off your ass and start plotting: terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/03… One of my favorite blogs talks about when to do research: LTWFblog Let The Words Flow When to do Research? Before the first draft, or after? wp.me/pF0gi-1Tf #amresearching #amwriting #amwriting Agent Sarah LaPolla stresses the importance of reading our manuscripts aloud: sarahlapolla Sarah LaPolla by julichilliard: Writers: Read your work aloud. If you trip over too many words or poorly constructed sentences, it's time to rewrite. Agent Sarah LaPolla brings us a tip on dialogue: sarahlapolla Sarah LaPolla by julichilliard:  #writingtip If it's obvious who is speaking, you don't need dialogue tags. Narrative is much cleaner when you remove unnecessary "said." My critique sisters and I are hosting another critique sess...

Today's Twitter Tuesday is chalked full of agent advice! Diving right in, a gent Sarah LaPolla warns us about the 'ly's': @sarahlapolla  Sarah LaPolla Writers: If you want to emphasize an action or emotion by adding "truly" or "really," please curb that impulse.   Agent Sandy Lu gives us her thoughts on word count: @ sandylunyc  Why do I keep getting 180,000+ words  #queries ? Sorry, no matter how good your writing may be, that number is just too overwhelming for me.   Agent Sara Megibow drops a thought about word count as well: @ SaraMegibow  It's such a relief to be reading this 55K YA submission. Seems like all YA submissions recently have been 80K.   Jane Friedman's famous list of best tweets for writers: @ JaneFriedman  I've curated this list for 2+ years to help you find best links to writing advice: Best Tweets for Writers:  bit.ly/qlH6MT   Editor Heather Howland of Entangled Publishing reveals their wish li...

Start stretching, it was a good week on Twitter! This first one is from agent Vickie Motter about query letters:  @Vickie_Motter #queries If you are going to personalize your query, add details. We both love the same books (such as?) You love my blog (fav post?) Writer Lisa Green brings us this great tweet about writer Angela Ackerman's post on blog tips:   @lisagailgreen AWESOME blogging tips! via @angelaackerman The Bookshelf Muse: Blogging Tip: 3 Fast Fixes   thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/ 2011/08/bloggi …   If you write YA and are looking for a good competition check this tweet from writer Julie Musil out:   @juliemusil Writer's Digest YA competition  bit.ly/qUQqdJ   #amwriting  #YA    Writer Monica B.W. brings us a tweet about an agent judged contest:  @Monica_BW Looky here, Pitch Contest with agent Mandy Hubbard!  we-do-write.blogspot.com/2011/ 08/pitch- … on @DorothyDreyer 's blog!   Editor Martha Miha...

Amidst the craziness of debuting I managed to snag a few great tweets for you. Here is one from my writer friend Tori Scott about Amazon entering the publishing realm: @ToriScott All Eyes on Amazon Publishing: tinyurl.com/4ykrzsj #writetip Agent Vickie Motter brings a great opportunity to our attention: @Vickie_Motter RT: Inaugural Seattle Publishing Salon for Writers: wp.me/pRGY1-pr Agent Sarah LaPolla gives us a bit of query advice: @ sarahlapolla Writers, stop sending pre-queries & "Do you rep this?" emails. They waste everyone's time. Just query. Worst that happens is it's a no. Writer Monica B.W. announces another agent-judged contest on her blog! @Monica_BW Psst, Tweeps, by the end of the month I'm having another agent-judged contest on my blog!! Details + interview coming next Monday! :D Jane Friedman of Writer's Digest gives us valuable highlights from the Willamette Writers Conference: @JaneFriedman 3 invaluable tak...

I have a lot of fun links for you today, tons of books to win and bit of great advice thrown in for good measure. This first one is a giveaway of a great book you don't want to miss: @HeatherMcCorkle   Want to win A Touch Of Frost by Jennifer Estep? Enter here:    tinyurl.com/3vn55rn   Giveaway by  @DarkFaerieTales Agent Weronika Janczuk brings us this tweet from agent Kelly Sonack about a career in publishing: @KSonnack   by WeronikaJanczuk     Great blog post by  @literaticat   on the path to a career in publishing and GREAT comments from everyone:   tinyurl.com/3nhud8n   Looking for a good adult urban fantasy novel to win? Look no further:  @HeatherMcCorkle   Love urban fantasy? Then be sure to enter to win a book by Kelly Meding:   tinyurl.com/3dpbnbv   br ought to us by  @DarkFaerieTales Fine Print Literary bring us this tweet by Delilah Dawson about an available literary ...

The craziness of organizing a blog tour kept me away from Twitter a lot last week so I'm sorry to say I don't have many links for you. I did find a few though! This first is a chance to win a few great books:  @HeatherMcCorkle  Enter to win three excellent books: tinyurl.com/3ar2pld from the wonderful @AnneRiley ! #WritersRoad #writing If you're querying, or plan to be soon, this might help! @WritersDigest Writer's Digest Read the query that got YA writer @karstenknight his agent. (His book WILDEFIRE comes out today.) http://tinyurl.com/2czdbqp via @kid_lit Another chance to win an excellent book, this one from Catherine Fisher: @HeatherMcCorkle   Want to win a great book by Catherine Fisher? Of course you do! tinyurl.com/3rjkzgu Giveaway by @DarkFaerieTales If you're planning on pitching you'll want to read this: @JaneFriedman   The Basic Pitch Formula for Novelists: http://ow.ly/5R4dz [great advice from #mww11 ] Agent Marissa Corvisie...

This week I bring you a lot of great advice from agents and editors to digest, plus a few contests. Since so many of you have been asking, this first one is the first of my big announcements (mark your calendars): @ HeatherMcCorkle Heather McCorkle The first of my big announcements (and the last one happening!): tinyurl.com/4x2rzhy A live chat on YA Bound August 30th! #WritersRoad This one is an indispensible list of great tweets for writers from Jane Friedman: @WritersDigest Writer's Digest Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 7/15/11) - I watch Twitter, so you don't have to. Visit each Sunday for the wee... http://ow.ly/1dQNGP If you love writing contests then you've got to check out Writer's Digest's new contest: @WritersDigest Writer's Digest Win $1000 in our new YA writing competition: http://bit.ly/qehF57 Enter your science fiction/fantasy story in our new competition: http://bit.ly/r0mbe0 Got winning romance? Enter it in our new Romance comp...

I hope you're ready for another great week of tweets! Here we go: Writer (and awesome friend) Monica, is hosting a fantastic agent judged contest. Don't miss it:  @ Monica_BW   Monica B. W.  On the blog: Details about the Agent Pitch Contest with Kristin Miller (D4EO Literary)  monibw.blogspot.com/ 2011/07/detail… Agent Sarah LaPolla gives us her opinion on vamp books (hint, don't query her with them): @ sarahlapolla   Sarah LaPolla   Unless you are an already established author, your vamp book likely won't sell. Don't throw it out; just put it aside & query another novel. Agent Jill Corcoran breaks down publishing for us: @ JillCorcoran   Jill Corcoran  THE HOWs AND WHYs OF GETTING PUBLISHED tinyurl.com/6ajbbqu   # fb Writer's Digest brings us a great post about the writer's platform:  @ WritersDigest   Writer's Digest  The Hidden, Secret Ingredient of Platform: Relationships - Today I'm a guest over ...

I hope you're ready for another full post of tweets! Here we go. You'll want to get our your planners and take down the dates on this tweet from Jane Friedman of Writer's Digest. She lists great contests for writers of YA, crime, romance, and more! @JaneFriedman Jane Friedman 7 Free-to-Enter Writing Contests That Impact Your Career: http://ow.ly/5lm8E In an #AskYAed session, publisher Egmont USA reminds us of a harsh reality in publishing:  @EgmontUSA Egmont USA Okay - I need to get this out there. Despite the mega-deal advances reported, most advances are not very big. #AskYaed Writer Jolina Joy brings us this insightful tweet from Anne Allen about what agents are doing to prepare for the evolving publishing industry:   @Jolina_Joy Jolina Petersheim How are literary #agents preparing for the future? http://bit.ly/jvV4Fc Agent Laurie McLean is taking notice of Anne Allen's post on the future of Literary agents too:  @ agentsavant Laurie McLean A very in...

Every now and then last week I ducked away from editing and peeked in on Twitter to find a few good tweets for you. Sorry there aren't more but I've been crazy busy. This first one is from Writer's Digest, reminding us why a great hook in a query letter is so important: @ WritersDigest Developing the Hook in a Query Letter - Sometimes you only have seconds for your query to catch interest, and a grea... http://ow.ly/1detOF If you have questions about querying then you have to read this post by agent Vickie Motter: @ HeatherMcCorkle Agent @ VickieMotter dishes out some great #querytips on her blog: http://tinyurl.com/3flmkyc #WritersRoad #writing Going out on submission? Don't miss this new agent featured by Chuck Sambuchino of Writer's Digest: @ WritersDigest New Agent Alert: Meredith Barnes of Lowenstein Associates - Reminder: Newer agents are golden opportunities for new ... http://ow.ly/5izaI If you missed my big giveaway be sure to click on the li...

Twitter was much more lively this week, which means lots of great tweets for you! This first one is about the millionaire success of self-published author Amanda Hocking. Her story is part of what inspired me to take the plunge: @ KappaDeltaWrite   Excellent interview with @ amanda_hocking   on her journey to becoming an indie writing trailblazer.       http://bit.ly/jMq7HS Writer's Digest is celebrating hitting a momentous number of posts on their GLA blog with a giveaway! @ WritersDigest   To celebrate 1500 posts on the GLA, there's a double book giveaway. Just comment for chance to win both     http://ow.ly/5aC0Y An agent offers up a helpful query tip: @ RivetingRosie   #qu erytip :  please include your email after your sig in a query letter. Even if it appears at the top. Makes requesting a lot easier Get those query letters ready, agent Gina Panettieri announces a new agent at her agency:  @ gi...