The beauty of the literary profession is that it’s wide open to all manner of tastes, tones, styles and abilities. For example, you need not be a master storyteller to have a successful writing career. The arena of nonfiction has innumerable subcategories, and publishers are constantly on the lookout for new titles in every single one of them. Whether you’re a bonafide expert in a particular subject, or you simply have a fervent interest and are willing to do the requisite research, chances are good you’ll find potential publishers to at least give your work the consideration it deserves. And it all starts with the proposal. Unless you’re a celebrity, household name, or VIP whose agent or pu

Besides the material you’re trying (hoping!) to publish or sell, a query letter is the most important document you will ever write. If that sounds like I’m being overly dramatic, consider the intended purpose of the query letter—to introduce your work (and yourself!) to an agent or publisher. Remember the old adage: You never get a second chance at a first impression. Unless you’re already a known entity to the literary community as a whole, or to the specific agent/publisher you’re reaching out to, that query letter will be the very first snippet of writing you’ll be judged on. And trust me when I tell you, in the insanely competitive arena of so-called “professional writing” (writing as a

Depending on the state of your literary career, an agent or manager could very well be the final ingredient in your recipe of success.