Agents and Markets

Occasionally I like to share stuff I've found in my latest issue of Writer's Digest Magazine, a subscription I've had for many many years now. I never fail to find something (usually a lot of somethings!) helpful, and this month it's 25 agents who are actively seeking new work. Here are three:

John Cusick: MG and YA only.
Dawn Michelle Hardy: YA (but no fantasy), romance, and commercial women's fiction.
Paul Lucas: literary, historical, and commercial (especially thriller, horror, scifi, fantasy).

Cedar Fort, Inc. publishes more than 100 titles per year, pays advances of $2,000-50,000 and is geared toward the Latter-day Saints market. They are happy to work with new and unagented authors. To submit, mail a one page cover letter, your resume, and your full manuscript (85,000, or 300 pages) to: Acquisitions Department, Cedar Fort, 2373 W. 700 S., Springville, UT 84663 or you may email your submission to submissions@cedarfort.com.  

Lastly, just for fun, here's a writing prompt and my attempt:

Turn to the obituary section of the newspaper and choose one person to write about. Imagine a scene in that person's life.

From the diary of Sylvia Munro -

January 16, 1974

Today we went to see an old Cold War era early warning radar site. There were just a few of us - myself and my friend Peg, two other ladies and their husbands, and Mr. Jones, the tour director. The rest stayed back at the hotel.

"Well, aren't we just the bravest things," Peg said as we bundled up in our long down parkas, two pairs of mittens, wool hats, and double-lined boots we bought especially for the trip. There wasn't much to see of her once she was done and I imagined I looked quite similar. Our guide, Alice Strom, a native of Fort Yukon, said it was warmer than average outside but -10F didn't sound very warm to me and though I was horribly warm on the way over I was glad for every layer once we got outside.

The view, however, was worth it.  

source

Here are a few facts about the real Sylvia Pike Munro, who was 'escorted to heaven on Sept. 19, three days before her 98th birthday, by her precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.' 

Sylvia graduated from Norwell High School (a school I also attended) and was a direct descendant of Miles and Barbara Standish and John and Priscilla Alden, Pilgrims on the Mayflower. 

At the time of her passing, Sylvia had 11 grandsons, 12 granddaughters, seven great-granddaughters and seven great-grandsons. 

In her later years after the death of her husband in 1974, she boldly traveled to Alaska twice, once to Fairbanks, and in 1980 to Fort Yukon, a remote village north of the Arctic Circle.