Dystel & Goderich: A Good Publishing Blog...

On Fridays I like to find something inspirational, or at least positive in theme, to leave up for the weekend. Blogging for me is hit or miss on weekends.

Today I'm linking here to a publishing blog that's a collaboration between the literary agents at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. I started reading their blog posts when they first started blogging. I think it's probably about five or six years now. And one reason I've continued to read is because this isn't a literary agent blog that spends all its time discussing query letters. Another reason is that I've never had an agent and I often learn things on blogs like this. When you are a published author and you deal with publishers on a one to one basis instead of going through an agent, it's not always easy to know how to make the right decisions. I made one recently regarding a pen name and I'm still not certain it was the right decision. In my gut, I'm still thinking: wrong decision. It would have been nice to have an agent to discuss this with.

At the Dystel & Goderich blog you'll find interesting discussions about current publishing topics...that aren't focused on queries. Sometimes the blog posts are more personal and the agents share their experiences, and how these experiences relate to their careers as agents.

The post to which I'm linking right now is an excellent example of what I'm trying to point out. It's titled "Helping Ourselves," it's written by Miriam, and it discusses how trends come and go in publishing. In the post she talks about how self help books were so popular in the 1980's. But I found the post interesting when I related it to m/m romance. The sub-genre of m/m romance has been going strong for a while now, and I can't help but wonder how long this will last. I don't think the genre will disappear. But if history repeats itself, as it always does, m/m romance will slow down. And if you're a career author, you should be thinking ahead to what your next goal is going to be when, and if, this happens in m/m romance. I know I am.

It's an interesting post. And, the blog itself has a smart, quiet tone that's designed to help authors more than discourage them. Over the years I've seen a lot of publishing blogs and bloggers come and go. Right now, I'm seeing more going than coming. And it's nice to see things are still fresh at Dystel & Goderich.

And, once again, they don't talk about queries all the time.[image error]