Tuesday, February 10, 2015

New to the Blog: Monthly Themes

You may have noticed that we’re updating things here at BENT ON BOOKS. New look, and new topics for discussion, coming your way! Beginning this month, we’re going to post on a theme or subject. For February, we’re tackling Conferences and how to get the most out of them. Look for posts from some of our clients with their good advice; an interview with Kim Turrisi, the Director of Special Projects at SCBWI; a fun conversation between Gemma Cooper and her client Mo O’Hara, who met at a conference; and more!

We’re cooking up some good ideas for future themes, but would love to hear from you – what would you like to discuss here on the blog?  What subjects do you want to know more about?  Leave a note in the comments section, and hopefully we can work it in.
Thanks and see you back here for more on Conferences!

6 comments:

  1. I always appreciate How-To's with tips on what you look for in a query, synopsis etc.I am looking forward to your Conference posts, and specifically any advice that you can offer on networking with desired agents at them.

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  2. In line with Elsie. I love it when agents brutally dissect query letters, and tell us what worked and what didn't.

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  3. I'll be following the conference posts with interest! I also had a really interesting discussion once with Molly there about what scouts do (I was totally clueless!) And I see that you have interns joining the crew there also, which makes me think that a neat theme might be the roles of the various people who might become involved in a manuscripts journey at every step along the way? (Of course someone has to find a way to say that in a pithier way. Perhaps an editor.) We could hear from/about interns, about editors, scouts, publishers, marketers, illustrators, etc. I'm always fascinated to learn about people!

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  4. Great idea with the topics! I love reading about themes in the slush pile and query stats. Also how far into a submission you get before you realise it just isn't for you. Stuff like that. Could even do a twitter Q&A and post a transcript. They're just a few things that come to mind.

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  5. I would love to see a "day in the life of" style post with one or two of the agents.

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  6. Wonderful blog. I'm so happy to discover it, Jenny! I'd love to hear your take on current trends in women's fiction, especially where you see boundaries fuzzing between commercial and literary, chicklit and other kinds of women's books. In your interview on Kirkus, you mentioned "plot-driven books with great characters and lots of heart" and quirky books about families. I'd love to hear more! I also loved reading somewhere that you liked discovering I CAPTURE THE CASTLE, and wonder if you would consider it an early form of chicklit. I love stories about quirky families too, having been raised in one.

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