Latest posts from Chip MacGregor
-
Snippet's Writer Dashboard Launches Today (a guest blog)
I’m excited to be able to share with you that Snippet–a brand new publishing and reading app–is moving their Writer Dashboard from private beta to open beta today.As an author, it’s been amazing to be involved with Snippet. (If …
-
Making a Living at Writing: Two Types of Writers (a repeat)
Last month I blogged about the two types of writers. Normally I try not to repeat myself much, but since we’re now talking about making a living at writing, I’m going to repeat much of what I said in a …
-
The (new) MacGregor Theory of Making a Living
A few years ago, I created a talk about how an author can make a living with his or her writing. I called it “The MacGregor Theory” (with apologies to the MacGregor who came up with all the Theory X …
-
SPREAD THE WORD! We’ve Moved.
Earlier this year, our agency moved to the Oregon coast. We love the new digs! We’re less excited about how much mail is still being sent to our old office address.
For all regular US mail please use this address:…
-
The word from the marketing seminar…
I’m just back from our MacGregor Literary Marketing Seminar in Chicago, had a wonderful time with more than 50 authors we represent, and enjoyed the Windy City. One of the discussion points that came up at the gathering was the …
-
Writing as Marketing (a guest blog)
When I put my mind to marketing, something I have noticed is that things feed in to each other. As I am not outgoing by nature, ‘putting myself out there’ has not worked well for me, but a strategy that …
-
How do I go about getting an agent?
Someone wrote to ask, “Can you tell me the basics of how to get an agent, when to get an agent, and how the agent relationship works?”
I have responded to this basic question in the past, so let …
-
Spread the Word — We’ve Moved
Earlier this year, our agency moved to the Oregon coast. We love the new digs! We’re less excited about how much mail is still being sent to our old office address.
For all regular US mail please use this address:…
-
What do I need to know about agents?
Someone wrote to ask, “With all the changes in publishing these days, what do I really need to know about agents?” Let me offer a dozen thoughts…
1. Do your homework before selecting an agent. DON’T sign up with somebody …
-
Writing Out of the Box (a guest blog)
My novel Digging Up Death, the one Chip signed me with five or six years ago, made its debut last year at this time. Yes, I know. I did the math (and the waiting,) and the fact that it didn’t …
-
What did the publisher do to help make the novel succeed?
Recently I had a couple writers ask me about two particular novels that did well in the market. In both cases I had been the agent for the books, and they wanted to know what the publisher had done to …
-
What about a mega-giveaway? (a guest blog)
BY GUEST BLOGGER RAJDEEP PAULUS, author of Swimming Through Clouds
Life is about give and take. My mom taught me this at a very early age. We learn this on the playground: “Give me a push on the …
-
Amanda's "The Extroverted Writer"
When Amanda Luedeke (an agent who works with me at MacGregor Literary) told me she was writing a book entitled The Extroverted Writer, I laughed. I mean… let’s face it — most writers are simply not extroverts. They tend to …
-
Do I need to copyright my work?
The US has great copyright laws. The fact is, if you wrote it, and you can prove you wrote it, our laws already protect your work. That means if you have written words, music, dance steps, art, a screenplay, a …
-
What do I need to know about memoir?
I’ve had several people ask me about memoir lately. It’s been a growth category lately in publishing, and that means we’re going to see more memoir proposals from writers. In reviewing what we’ve been seeing, could I offer three general …
-
Finding Your Voice (a guest blog)
Fiction writers are told to find their voice. Well, what is it, and for that matter, how do you find it?
I mastered the mechanics of good writing by learning and following the guidelines or … stay with me here …
-
Yes, You Need an Agent
BY CHIP MACGREGOR
We’re living in a new publishing economy. Over the past five to ten years, nearly everything about the publishing industry has changed significantly. The way information is gathered, tracked, and shared has changed. We now live with …
-
'Novel Crossing' One Year Later: A Marketing Perspective
Today we’re featuring a guest blog from Amy Haddock, Senior Marketing Manager at Waterbrook Multnomah, a division of Penguin Random House. Amy helped create the popular “Novel Crossing” website for inspirational fiction readers…
Writing a book is one thing. Getting …
-
More Words of Wisdom from Joyce Magnin
BY GUEST WRITER JOYCE MAGNIN
Below is the second half of the text from a speech given by the well known novelist Joyce Magnin. Part I ran on September 19th.
THE POWER OF WORDS: Part II
I soon became …
-
THE POWER OF WORDS
BY GUEST WRITER JOYCE MAGNIN
Below is the text from a speech given by the well known novelist Joyce Magnin.
THE POWER OF WORDS: Part I
As I thought about this topic my natural inclination was to go back through …