Ask Andrea

I’ll be answering the questions you, as writers and readers, have about agents and editors, the publishing industry in general, and about the authors of your favorite books. If I don’t know the answer to your question, I’ll do my best to find out for you. Also, I will respect anyone’s request for anonymity. 

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Word For Words

On a Clear Day: Editing for Clarity and Publication

There’s nothing like clear communication to get a point across. Even literary fiction writers must know what they want to say and how best to say it, how to obscure and reveal. For clarity in revelation, we’ll explore and provide fixes for four common problems that keep writers...

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Supplementing Your Fiction Habit

Show Me The Money

It’s the cry of every freelancer. And for the starving novelist, that cry can reach a fever pitch. After all, fiction writers spend their lives waiting on checks to arrive. There’s the advance check (the one you receive upon signing), the second advance check...

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POD and Self-Publishing

Cover Your Assets

Have you ever slaved over your computer for a couple of hours, composing a section of the great American novel and then something happened causing you to lose your work? The resulting frustration and sinking feeling is extremely unpleasant. Just for jollies...

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Bookclubs

Lena Nelson Dooley Book Club Interview

What lead up to your starting a book club, Lena? Had you ever been part of a book club before? What’s your club’s name?

The first book club I started was when I was the manager of the church bookstore. I had never participated in a book club before but knew there was interest among the members who shopped in the store. 

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