by DGLM
Looking for the DGLM blog? We’ve moved on over to WordPress and merged our blog into our website for your one-stop shopping convenience, so please come join us over at
http://www.dystel.com/!
by Lauren
Hello there, blog readers! I've recently been alerted to a couple technological snafus related to our blog. Fortunately, you guys have been super helpful in the past, so I'm coming back for more. In the eternal tech conundrum, it's near impossible to troubleshoot a problem you can't replicate, so naturally both these things don't appear to be an issue on our end (and we haven't changed any settings recently, related or otherwise).
First DGLM client Joelle Anthony let us know that sometime in April or so, she stopped being able to comment on our blog. Here's what she says:
"Just so you know, what happens is I click comment, the window opens, I type my comment, I choose my name and URL (I’ve also tried anonymous) and then when I hit post, instead of word verification coming up like it used to, everything just disappears and I’m back reading the comments that are already there."
She can comment on blogs where comments are formatted like this:
http://anthonysundaysoup.blogspot.com/ but not on blogs where comments are formatted like ours:
http://ramblingsofadevotedbookworm.blogspot.com/.
And
second we heard via Facebook from reader Mark Janousek that lately our blog entries don't show up in his Facebook news feed. I suspect Facebook's the culprit here, with their constant setting switches and such, but I don't see a way to change those settings.
I still get the blog feed on my Facebook and have no problem commenting on our blog.
So for both questions: a) does anyone know why that happens?, b) does it happen to anyone else?, c) has anyone narrowed down the circumstances under which it happens to a narrower set?, and/or d) does anyone know what settings I need to tweak?
If you
can't comment, please feel free to email me at
[email protected] with any answers to the above!
Thanks in advance, guys, and thanks especially to Joelle and Mark for giving us the heads up!
by Chasya
These days we often advise our clients to get out there and build a presence on the internet. We may sound all
broken-
recordish on this issue, but the free publicity an author can get simply by engaging in social media is becoming more and more necessary and invaluable! And, of course, we’ve been practicing what we preach right here on our blog and by spending time reading and boning up on social media ourselves. Which is why
this great piece from The Awl caught my attention. Looks like the
New York Observer is offering cash prizes for certain achievements made by their staff on the interwebs! Authors, take note, because the tips they offer to achieve these goals are fantastic and can be used to boost your own web presence. Check out their advice on how engaging readers in discussion and offering commentary on buzz-worthy topics can get your name out there.
Any other helpful tips you’ve come across in your own quest for internet domination?
by DGLM
Thank you very much to
Chuck Sambuchino at the Guide to Literary Agents Editor's Blog for naming the DGLM blog
one of the five Best Agent Blogs for 2010! Now, with more than half of 2010 still ahead of us, we're going to have to figure out how to live up to it!
by Miriam
Being the chatty bunch we are here at DGLM, we spend almost as much time talking about whether we should be blogging as we spend actually blogging. For us, the issue is the time it takes to come up with a blog topic on our allotted blogging day each week, the time it takes to find an interesting story to comment on, the time it takes to write our post, the time it takes to read the ensuing comments and respond, if appropriate or necessary…. In short, all of us are conflicted about how much time away from our always reproducing piles of work blogging demands. And, yet, we do it because you can’t be a forward thinking outfit in this day and age without a blog presence (secretly, some of us even enjoy the interaction with our readers and followers).
This piece in the Daily Beast is interesting in that it raises another topic. Is blogging making writers less able to write anything with more substance than a
People magazine article? Is it imperiling long, satisfying narratives, replacing them with the literary equivalent of gossipy chit chat?
Obviously a lot of people are worried about the fate of the publishing business. But what about the fate of literary works and the actual craft of writing?
by Stacey
As some of you might know, I had identical twin girls 10 months ago, and have 2 "older" girls at home (3 and 4 1/2). So, while I have continued to work throughout my entire pregnancies and maternity leaves, my life has had a lot to do with topics like dirty diapers, play dates, and nursery schools lately. Listening to some of the respondents from
Lauren's earlier post, I wanted to give a little insight into what I'm looking for right now. For obvious reasons, I'd like to see more smart, unique, well-told parenting titles. The category is really overcrowded, so it's important that the authors have a strong platform, a fresh message, and a voice that resonates with today's overstressed, exhausted parents. It doesn't have to be practical either. There are some great narrative books out there that aren't in the parenting category per se, but appeal to that market, books like the one I just recommended on our site,
One and the Same by Abigail Pogrebin. I'm also always looking for more narrative nonfiction, like a project I represent,
The Widow Clicquot, which tells the little known story of the dynamic French woman who created the champagne brand. Another category I'm very fond of both personally and professionally is memoir. Also overcrowded but when it works, it's so satisfying , like
Come Back by Claire and Mia Fontaine,
which I've blogged about before, and which I sold after sending the proposal to 54 publishers before finding the right one! It helps for memoir to have a platform already in place, like Shreve Stockton's
The Daily Coyote, based on
her very popular blog. In the practical area, I am always interested in working with how-to authors on craft books and cookbooks. And finally, I've had some good success recently with young adult fiction, and I'd love to see more smart, quality work in that area. I hope to hear from you soon with new submissions!
(Now seems a good time to point your attention to our relatively new sidebar: "I wish I saw more..." We'll use it as a way to keep you all up to date on the "Why can't someone just send me a query for X?" conversations that go on 'round the DGLM offices. Check it out to the right! -Lauren)
I will add the new address to my feed reader!