Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:

  • I am writing a ghost story too! Can you give me advice? So cool that you’re writing a ghosty tale! Most of my advice is out there already. You can read How To Write A “Realistic” Paranormal on Career Authors, you can read about my personal ghost experiences on Jungle Red Writers, and I have done several Q&A interviews that have helpful tidbits on Strand Magazine, The Big Thrill, and The Mystery of Writing. There are even more interviews under the Media tab on my News and Reviews page if you really want to go down a wormhole.

  • I want to get published. Can you give me advice on query letters, writing a synopsis, picking comp titles, etc? A great resource on query letters is Query Shark, and man do I hate writing a synopsis, but this article gives the best advice on how to do it. (Thank you Susan Dennard.) I love to use Literature Map as a jump start for finding comp titles. Type in an author who’s work you think is similar to yours and several other authors come up. Start researching their stuff and go from there. I also write a lot about craft on my weekly blog. Use the ‘Contact Me’ form if you’d like to be on the notification list. Here’s an entry I wrote where I detailed the publication advice I felt would have benefited my younger self.

  • Can you read my pages? I am honored that you want my opinion on your writing. However, unless I know you personally and have already offered to read for you, unfortunately, the answer is no. I do encourage you to continue to solicit feedback, however! A good critique partner is invaluable. Here’s a blog I wrote on giving and receiving feedback. When things calm down a bit from my recent launch, I will be putting up prices on various critique offerings, but right now I just cannot take anything else on.

  • Can you give my manuscript to your publisher? Unfortunately it would do you very little good, as there is no line-skipping in traditional publishing. (At least, I haven’t found any wormholes.) I will tell you what I have told my personal friends: the best way to be considered at CamCat is to fill out the submission form. Yes, it is long, but if you’re actively submitting, you should have most of what they’re asking for anyway. (I recommend reading it over first and getting all of your information in one place and then sitting down to submit. That’s what I did.) As with any submission, you want to make sure that you carefully read over the guidelines first and ensure that your work aligns with what is being considered. Another resource to find both agents and publishers is Query Tracker. I recommend making a spreadsheet to keep track of those that may be a good fit, but I nearly always recommend a spreadsheet. It’s like the duct tape of the organization world.

  • I saw you on a panel at a conference! Can you tell me how to conference? First of all, thanks for coming to my panel! I hope you enjoyed it and thought that I was funny. Here’s a blog I wrote on acing writing conferences, and here’s another one I wrote with five tips on surviving conference season. Here’s one I wrote about how to NOT do an author panel.

  • Do you have any advice on how to do live pitches? At this point, I have only done live pitches online, but from what I have seen, they’re basically the same except you don’t have to stand in a physical queue. Here’s a blog I wrote about it.

  • You also work in publishing. What wisdom can you share from both sides of the table? Well, you’re in luck! As you may have guessed, I’ve written a couple of blogs on the topic. Here’s 5 things I’ve learned working in publishing and here’s a very long one about my personal publication journey.

  • Wow, you’ve written a lot of blogs, but I’ve gone through your entire list all the way back to 2016 and my question was not covered. Excellent. I’m going to bring the blog back from hiatus in January and would love some ideas. Shoot me your question through the contact form and not only will I do my best to answer you, but it may end up on my blog!

  • I loved Ghost Tamer/I want to read Ghost Tamer/How can I best support the book? First of all, thank you thank you thank you! Buying the book is huge, of course. I love when people request the book at their local bookstore because the store will usually buy more than one copy and that means more people in your area will pick it up. If you aren’t in a position to buy right now, requesting the book at your library is also fantastic! Library sales are a big part of a book’s success. And finally, leaving an honest review wherever books are sold. The more reviews a book has, the more it will come up in searches, which means more readers are going to run across it. Of course this includes Amazon (check out that Editors’ Pick badge) and Goodreads, but don’t forget Barnes & Noble, BookBub, Storygraph, and yes, even Walmart.

  • My bookclub is reading Ghost Tamer. Can you meet with us when we discuss the book? If at all possible, YES. Meaning if I can drive to where you are in a reasonable amount of time, I will show up in person. If not, I’m happy to Zoom in. I even have a packet for book clubs that you’re welcome to download.

  • Are you available for interviews? I love interviews, it’s the actor in me. Here’s my press kit. Contact me via the form and let’s chat.