MAKE IT COUNT by Megan Erickson #NewBookRelease

If you haven't already heard, tomorrow is book release day for MAKE IT COUNT, book 1 in the Bowler University Series by the sweet, funny, and oh so talented Megan Erickson. She is, of course, one of my brilliant clients at the Corvisiero Literary Agency. 

We are all super excited about this book released by William Morrow Impulse, Harper Collins, and edited by the equally brilliant Amanda Bergeron. It is everything a New Adult novel should be. Throw in a great plot, humor, clever unique voice, well developed characters, and a super hot nerd, and you've got a #MustReadBook. 

I love the sexy male MC, Alec, who I guarantee will be trending as #NerdIsTheNewBlack... The female MC, Kat, is a beautiful young woman who has a learning disability that has gone undiagnosed until she is close to flunking out of college. For many personal reasons I really connected with Kat, and Megan's voice. I love everything about this book, and yes, the HEA. I know you will too. 

MAKE IT COUNT
Kat Caruso wishes her brain had a return policy, or at least a complaint hot-line. The defective organ is constantly distracted, terrible at statistics, and absolutely flooded with inappropriate thoughts about her boyfriend's gorgeous best friend, Alec...who just so happens to be her brand new college math tutor. Who knew nerd was so hot?

Kat usually goes through tutors like she does boyfriends--both always seem to bail when they realize how hopeless she is. It's safer for her heart to keep everyone at arm's reach. But Alec is always stepping just a little too close.Alec Stone should not be fantasizing about Kat. She's adorable, unbelievably witty, and completely off limits. He'd never stab his best friend in the back...But when secrets are revealed, the lines of loyalty are blurred. To make it count, Alec must learn messy human emotions can't be solved like a trigonometry function. And Kat has to trust Alec may be the first guy to want her for who she is, and not in spite of it.

Megan Erickson grew up in a family that averages 5’5” on a good day and started writing to create characters who could reach the top kitchen shelf.

She’s got a couple of tattoos, has a thing for gladiators and has been called a crazy cat lady. After working as a journalist for years, she decided she liked creating her own endings better and switched back to fiction. 

She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids and two cats. And no, she still can’t reach the stupid top shelf.

Megan's social media links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter

Please pick up a copy and show your support for this awesome new author! 

Thanks! 

~Marisa

Literary Agency and LitPow: Up to Speed.

Hey folks... lots going on here! This post started as a brief hello on Facebook this morning, but it as it turned out, I had lots of catching up to do and lots to say... no surprise to anyone on that later note I'm sure ;). I'm sorry that I haven't been been doing as much social media interacting as I'd like, but with the launch of the new Corvisiero Literary Agency, the new Literary Powerhouse Consulting site and the Growth of my law firm The Corvisiero Law Practice, I've been a little occupied.

At the Agency, we are in the process of creating... a process. Yes, lots to do to get the machine going. My two Jr. Agents, Jordy Albert and Brittany Booker, are fabulous and are working the butts off with reviewing queries, reading manuscripts, pitching clients, etc, etc. We have two new interns Stacy Donaghy and Brittany Howard, who are now actively reading manuscripts and have started to get little 'projects'.

I am busy with coordinating, preparing my current clients to sell, and selling. Many of my clients have submitted new project to me too, so I'm busy reading those. I'm also working with some contacts to bring in more talent to the Agency! And are still considering bringing in more interns, but I'm holding off on that because that is still more work for me (in managing). So if you're wondering why I haven't read your ms or why you haven't heard back yet... now you know. As always clients come first. I have lots of work to do with them before I take on new projects. But you should know that in spite of the crazy schedule, I have been reading every day, here and there, and have put some things aside for serious consideration. Some of you reading this may be very happy, very soon ;) Click here to see the Agency's new Facebook Page.

With Literary Powerhouse, my partner JoAnn Kairys are in the process of converting the site to WordPress. We hope that this will enable the site to better merge with current big social media plugins and be easier use, with hopefully less glitches. The membership to the LitPow Portal will soon be FREE for everyone! Yes, this is a big step, but we decided that we can better build a fabulous network on the site if you can all log in freely, share with your social media platform and connect easier with everyone. Our LitPow Facebook Writer's Network has almost reached 300 people in less than a month! Our goal is to have this network commune happily and enjoy all of the resources LitPow offers as soon as the site is functional again. With membership you will be able to use the Forum, the social media platform, chat, e-mail, blog, etc, etc. Then if you wish, you can upgrade ($) your membership to the Literary Membership to access the resources, and PowerTools beyond the Portal. We know that this will work much better for you, and can't wait to do our weekly Live Chats and Workshops on the site. And yes, members get discounts to the Workshops of course!

By the way don't forget that tomorrow is the last Friday of the month, that means that we are doing the Live YA Chat. Check out the site and the LitPow Facebook Page for the time and place! The live Chats by genre schedule will be posted soon. We are doing them on a weekly basis. First week of the month- Romance Wednesdays. Second Week- Thriller Mondays. Third week- SciFi/Fantasy/Paranormal Thursdays. And the last week- YA Fridays.

Oh and #LitPow and #CorvisieroLaw are both now on Twitter too! So be sure to follow us! :)

So yes, busy busy, as always... and just the way I like it. ;)   I'm very exited about all of this, and hope that you all stick with me... because together are going to make success seem like author's play! oxox

~Marisa
@mcorvisiero

Taming the Evil Monster! (Platform)

Guest Blogger: Dean Sault

Countless hours spent revising, editing and polishing your manuscript led to query letters and nerve-racking long waits for responses from those literary gargoyles that regulate admission to traditional publishing houses. In a twisted logic, quick rejections become desirable, providing relief from the mounting anxiety of waiting. Then, it happens! One of the literary agents requests a full manuscript reading and actually likes the story. You’re on cloud nine.

Evil lurks just around the corner, though. You and the agent begin talks about representation, and a contract seems imminent. Suddenly, your surging literary locomotive derails! The agent asks about your “platform.” She warns that publishers want to know your credentials. Without a platform, she claims, they’re not going to accept you as an author. Soaring expectations crash under the evil assault of the platform-monster. Why? Because you have no special platform. You’re commonplace. Perhaps, you’re a stay-at-home mom and wife, or maybe, a lifetime insurance broker who spent twenty years kissing customer asses in order to support the family’s needs.

What are you going to do? Hopes fade.

My commoner examples of a homemaker and insurance agent are not random choices. JK Rowling was a stay-at-home mom, on welfare no less, before she and Harry Potter became household names around the world. Tom Clancy was a boring insurance broker before The Hunt for Red October exploded into the book world. Neither author offered much “platform” for publishing companies to consider.

Let’s strip the frightening fangs from this platform-monster. When a publishing company, or literary agent, asks about your platform, what is the real question lurking behind those ominous, red-glowing eyes staring at you from the literary abyss? It really comes down to, “Can you sell books?” Pretty simple, huh? All platforms boil down to the business of selling books. Publishing companies balance potential for profit against money at risk. They are not philanthropic or not-for-profit agencies. Every aspect of an author’s platform must suggest, or prove by historic results, that the author is a good business gamble.

So, what happens if mythical author, Karen Stoddard, wrote the world’s best romance novel, but this is her first foray into the publishing industry? She has no sales history. She dropped out of college, got married and started a family. Her life experience revolves around PTA meetings, soccer cheering, shopping and wiping noses until her spoiled kids get over their colds. She feels she has no platform to offer an agent.

Is she right?

Depends. Let’s start with her “business” experience. She runs a family. That involves all kinds of valuable skills. When she dropped out of college, she had been a police science major and performed volunteer work as an intern in juvenile hall for extra class credit. PTA meetings forced her to stand up and be heard on school issues. What about leadership skills? Yes--leadership! Turns out, organizing that annual PTA Pancake Breakfast makes her an experienced community leader. Now, let’s re-visit her “platform.”

“Karen Stoddard, author of romance novel, Delinquent Love, offers a background in criminal justice with experience in community leadership. Her management skills include organization, scheduling and public speaking. She looks forward to using her life experience and public persona to actively market her books, both in person, and through active internet promotion.”

Sound better? I will admit I was tempted to add “skilled in hostage negotiations,” but I worried that she might have to explain that it meant negotiating with her 12-year-old son for the return of her 8-year-old daughter’s hidden Barbie doll. That might not quite fly if asked.

Here’s the good news. Everybody HAS a platform. It might take a bit of creativity to identify it, but all the publishing industry wants to know is, “Can you sell books?” It is that simple. And, if you don’t have a rich history of marketing-compatible experiences, then go make some. That’s right. You can build a platform over night. Join Toastmasters or volunteer as a teacher’s helper at school. Set up a volunteer-student daycare program at your local community college. Anything you do to show publishers that you ARE a public figure with community involvement will improve expectations of your book-selling potential.

You can also borrow prestige. I know a woman who writes serial-killer thrillers. She set up an internet-based, discussion group for writers in her genre. She attracted the attention of one of the most well known serial killer profilers who agreed to speak with the group on a regular basis. It’s a big deal! Her platform borrows prestige from this guy’s awesome reputation and obvious endorsement.

Have I defanged the platform monster? While your bio can make or break your marketability to publishing companies, if you understand their motivation, it is much easier to build an acceptable platform. Let’s see, how can I redefine cleaning toilets? I’ve got it! “Extensive knowledge of the Coriolis Effect in the northern hemisphere.” (For those who don’t know, flushed water in the northern hemisphere always circles clockwise. It’s called the Coriolis Effect.)

Visit Dean Sault's Blog - Inside a Writer's Mind: Enter at your own risk.

The Corvisiero Literary Agency

Yesterday was the Grand Opening of the Corvisiero Literary Agency. We would like to give a special thank you to all of you who have sent us good wishes and goodies. We appreciate the support and look forward to many years of service to our literary community. Our goal will always be to find good talent and ideas, to foster both, to make best sellers out of our clients and to help them enjoy the process.

Writing is an art, but it is also a business. A difficult one at that. The publishing industry is influenced by many factors from pop trends, to economic cycles, to technological advances. Our job is to keep abreast of all trends, developments, and demands of the market and connect our talented clients with the right publishers in order to take advantage of such trends, satisfy the demands and utilize the newest technology  to accomplish our goals... which aren't just to sell books, but to spread the wonderful written word. 

The Corvisiero Literary Agency website is now up. We have included agent profiles, submission guidelines and links to our clients' sites and blogs. We also have a fan page on Facebook, are a part of the LitPow Writers' Network Group on Facebook, and participate on the Literary Powerhouse Forum every day for special events. Please feel free to check them all out and stay in touch! 

~ Marisa

Interview Of Marisa: by Sarah Hoss

Interview with Literary Agent, MARISA CORVISIERO

Thank you for stopping by Heart of Romance. You all know that I am a pre-published author. As with anyone, part of my job is to research all aspects of this career. We all have questions we would like to ask an agent and I have been given the opportunity to do just that and I wanted to share this interview with you.

I would like to introduce to you, Literary Agent, MARISA CORVISIERO, of The Corvisiero Literary Agency, New York.

SARAH- Marisa, Thank you for coming to Heart of Romance today!

MARISA- Thanks for having me!  

SARAH-Let me start off with asking what exactly is the job of a Literary Agent?

MARISA- A Literary Agent’s job is to represent an author and his/her work for the purpose of selling it to the best suitable publisher and get the best possible deal. Although the relationship continues, especially when the client writes anther book that the agent agrees to sell, the agent will guide and advice the client and look out for the client’s best interest for as long as that person is a client. Contrary to popular misconceptions, that’s about it. Some of us are more active in our client’s lives and careers, but the agreement is basically that the agent will sell the author’s book.

SARAH- Not only are you a Literary Agent, but you are also a Lawyer. How do the two go hand in hand and does it give you an edge over other agents?

MARISA- My knowledge base, experience, and skills as an attorney come to play every single day in many facets of agenting. My legal knowledge and contract experience helps me with drafting, editing, and negotiating contracts. The analytical and active reading skills make me a good reader, and an organized problem solver. I also have a Bachelors in International Business and Marketing. I feel that part of my education and business experience also give me an edge in making deals, seeing opportunities, helping my clients with different ventures and ideas for placing them into the right markets with the right editors at the right time; and also to help them market and promote their work, expand their platforms, and build their brand.

SARAH- What constitutes a good query letter?

MARISA- A query letter is the cover letter that is sent to Agents to introduce their work and offer their work to the agent for consideration. A letter should be professional and well written. It should contain the genre and word count of the finished work (rounded off to the nearest K); a brief description of the work in one or two paragraphs of 4-5 sentences each at most. The last paragraph should contain relevant information about the author that shows their qualifications or formal writing training, involvement in the industry (conferences, publications, awards, associations, critique groups, etc.), and their platform if it is significant and relevant to the work they are pitching.

SARAH- What tips would you give to a writer starting the querying process?

MARISA- Do your research. Knowing that the agent is taking queries, how they want submissions made, likes the type of work that you are shopping, and is a reputable agent, are key items that you must know to avoid wasting your time. Give your self the best probability of receiving a favorable response.

SARAH- What seems to be the new trend coming in the next year? Werewolves? Pirates?

MARISA- Editors are tired of the Werewolves, Fae, Vampires, cliché superpowers, etc. They are searching high and low for really creative ideas, high concepts, and well developed character driven stories.

SARAH- What do you expect from an author who signs with you?

MARISA- Any author who signs with me needs to be responsive, open minded, professional, respectful and willing to communicate. They need to understand that we will be partners and that together we will have the best chance of achieving success. They need to be willing to do revisions and at least listen to advice and discuss options in a flexible manner. And they need to be willing and able to work their butts off to meet deadlines and do whatever it takes to promote their work.

SARAH- Okay, let’s switch it around. What can an author expect who signs with you?

MARISA- Any author that signs with me can expect to always get my honest opinion, and someone who will be in their corner always looking to propel their careers forward. We will be business partners in this endeavor and both of our goals will always be to get as many books sold as possible. However, they need to understand that as with any other business, a huge part of being successful is to build relationships. So we need to communicate with each other and foster a bond that will help us present a unified front and a professional image. This will help us to create better relationships with our editors, publicists, and readers.

SARAH- With the trend of authors self-publishing, do you see this as a negative for the author who may later decide to try traditional publishing?

MARISA- Although some still believe that self publishing is a negative or a deterrent to becoming a successful author, I will say that the trend has changed a lot in the past few years, and it continues to change. In the past, vanity press was frowned upon. Now, with so many resources and the ease of self publishing in contrast with the time delays and decreased acquisitions by traditional publishers, many more authors have turned to self publishing. Being self published no longer means that the book is just not good enough or that the author is difficult to work with. It may just mean that the author is willing to spend time and money to sell their book and that they are eager to create a following. So the old perceptions are shifting into a more neutral and acceptable plane. I have recently sent out questions to some contacts at NYC top ten traditional houses and all ten told me that if they love the work and the book has been doing well, they will try to acquire it. The magic number for “doing well” is about 5K book sales! That is not an impossible number to achieve today with all of the social marketing and e-book opportunities that cost almost nothing! I always say, “the work speaks for itself”… when the editors love the book, they will usually not turn it down.

SARAH- Jo Ann Kairys and you started a new company called Literary Powerhouse. Please tell us about this new endeavor.

MARISA- Literary Powerhouse is an entity that Jo Ann and I created for authors. The idea of starting this business was an evolution of a demand that each of us was experiencing separately in our jobs. Jo Ann is a children’s book award winning author and a publisher, and like me, she would be constantly approached by people in the industry for advice. So one day during one of our extensive chats about the industry and trends and the lack of homogeneity, consistency, quantifiability, accessibility, and overall practical availability of information that is available in this industry, we decided that we should do something that is helpful and fun for authors. We both agreed that it would also be helpful for us to have one place where we can provide all of these things. So we created Literary Powerhouse Consulting, and started to offer consulting services for anyone that needed it in a professional controlled setting that is separate from our other endeavors and therefore clear of any conflicts or confusion as to what the client could expect.

Then as time went by we started coming up with all of these really useful resources, high tech modules and platforms that we have started to incorporate into our site for the purpose of providing “PowerTools” to folks in the industry that would help them achieve so much more in an efficient and stress free manner. The first thing that we did was put up a Forum. This is an interactive chat board on our site where authors can sign up as free members and enjoy asking questions, posting answers or just reading what others are discussing. We recently added the LitPow Portal. The portal is a literary industry exclusive social media platform that is only available to paid members. Members of the Forum can upgrade these memberships to Literary Memberships at reduced rates to access the Portal where they can use social media platform, chat, e-mail, blog, use the PowerTools and access all of our resources and participate in special events (Weekly chats with agents and editors live, workshops, telecasts, valuable resource lists (publishers, agents, conferences, publicists, contests, reviewers, etc), and tips. We have started filling the portal up with all of these goodies and loading up the PowerTools a little at a time. As we add these things we are working out the glitches and are enjoying the growth and progress the site is making as users have flocked to the site and have been raving about what is up so far. Some of them have no idea that we have so much more planned for them. It’s super exiting!

SARAH- You just started your own Literary Agency. Can you tell us about the plans you have for it and what made you decide to go out on your own?

MARISA- Yes I have finally hung up my own agency shingle. The name is not a very creative one, but it has some recognition- Corvisiero Literary Agency, which I intend to grow into a prominent and quality home for talented agents and authors to succeed together for a long time. Some may say that that’s a smoky answer, but it’s exactly what I mean. I want this agency to be a place that is known for representing excellent work that does well. I want publishers to trust us when we tell them that they have to acquire a certain book. I want authors to know that they will be treated well, with respect and sensitivity to their needs and time. And I want us all to make a happy living while we do what we love!

SARAH- How do you differentiate the two or are they meant to work together?

MARISA- The two entities are completely separate legal entities that provide different services. The agency, as all agencies do, will be a place where authors query their chosen agent to get them to represent their work. In return, we will consider such work as quickly as possible, and if we like it, we will contract the author as a client and do our best to sell their work. There will never be any fees charged to prospective or agented clients for any services rendered. Our agents will earn the industry standard commission of 15% for national sales and 20% of international sales.

In the consulting business our model is different. This business operates much more like a law firm would in that we charge clients fixed fees per project, or on an hourly basis for specific services rendered. If anyone in the industry (an author, agent, publisher, printer, distributors, reviewer, publicists, conference, etc) has a need for a knowledge base or a service to be provided for their projects, or issues they may have encountered, we will give them a proposal illustrating how we can help them and how much it will cost. We often have more than two options in these proposals unless it’s as simple as me critiquing their query and helping them find a good target agent. A more complex project may be editing a manuscript, deciding how to get it published (traditional with an agent, small press, e-pub, or self pub), getting them into brick and mortar stores, helping them apply to the right writing contests, getting them reviews or quotes from people with healthy platforms, and creating a publicity plan. We also help agents organize their submission process; set up publishing companies; design professional websites with blogs, etc. We have a wonderful staff and network that can assist us in many different tasks and projects as the need arise and as budgets permit.

SARAH- Is there anything I haven’t covered that you think would be beneficial to know for authors everywhere?

MARISA- I have type A+ blood. ;) Just kidding…actually it’s true…. But to answer the question, I would love to tell people to check out everything that we offer on our Literary Powerhouse website and become a part of our growing network. We also have a LitPow Writer’s Network group on Facebook that is a lot of fun and a great way to share info with other writers. So far we have about 150 members, including 4 National Best Selling Authors.

SARAH- Last but not least, would you please tell my readers all the places they can find you?

MARISA- Sure! I’m including links… (links omitted by Marisa for brevity)

SARAH- I want to thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us today. I know I can speak for all of us when I say that we really appreciate your advice and time. I would like to wish you luck in your future and I hope you have a great rest of 2012!

MARISA- Thank you so much, Sarah. I appreciate the opportunity to share with you and your readers.

This interview was posted on Sarah Hoss' wonderful Blog the Heart of Romance. Check out her blog for an endless array of info and insightful interviews.  http://www.heart-of-romance.blogspot.com/2012/03/interview-with-literary-agent-marisa.html#comment-form

Thanks Sarah!! ox

Oppression Virtual Launch...

Debut release by author Jessica Therrien. This brilliant YA novel is sure to capture the hearts and imaginations of young adults and adults alike... 

JESSICA THERRIEN: OPPRESSION Virtual Launch Party!!jessica-therrien.blogspot.com

Book Excerpt: 

                                                                   

When I left Cearno’s in a state of half sleep, I found the door to my apartment ajar. I grabbed the knob and pushed it open 

with caution, assuming I had forgotten to close it all the way.

     “Hello?” I asked, just in case.

No answer. I shut the door behind me.

It wasn’t until I reached the top of the stairs that I felt something wet on my palm and realized I had blood on my hand. 

I made my way to the sink, looking for where I’d cut myself when I heard her.

     “It’s not your blood,” Kara said from behind me, making me jump a foot in the air.

     “What are you doing here, Kara?” I asked, callous and guarded. The last time I’d seen her, she’d stabbed me in the leg.

She was slumped down in the corner, sitting on the floor of my kitchen, a bloody mess.

My face registered with shock. “What happened to you?”

I waited for an answer, but she only glanced at me briefly, annoyed by the question, and continued staring off into the distance.

     “Are you hurt?”

If she wasn’t going to talk to me I would find out for myself. I knelt down in front of her, looking over her blood stained hands, 

arms and face. She seemed fine.

     “It’s not my blood either,” she said, her eyes finally meeting mine.

$0.99 E-Book

Amazon Kindle Edition (US)

Barnes & Noble NOOK Edition (US)

Amazon Kindle Edition (UK, France, Germany)

$12.99 Paperback

Amazon (US)

Barnes & Noble (US) - (Currently SOLD OUT - check back for updates)

Amazon (Canada)

Amazon (UK, France, Germany, Japan)

--

Visit her Blog: http://jessica-therrien.blogspot.com/
Find her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/JessicaTherrien
Find her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jessica-Therrien/215976241749831

LitPow PORTAL PowerLaunch: Launching the Portal in Phases and Pricing

Announcing the LitPow Portal PowerLaunch. We are starting our registrations for the Portal tomorrow, Thursday Jan 26, 2012 with Forum Members, and will be open to the general public next Wednesday, February 1st, 2012.

On my last blog post I described the LitPow Portal as your go-to resource for all your literary needs, both now and in the future. And explained that we want to be the safe harbour where your craft can get refuelled, refreshed and prepared for wherever your writing takes you.* In other words, the only website that you'll ever need.

Such a huge endeavor would be a bit too much to launch all at once...to paraphrase Gary's comment to that introductory post, it would be like swallowing a very heavy meal. We all know that heavy meals can be uncomfortable and cause indigestion, and that is certainly not our goal. This is partly the reason why we are introducing the LitPow Portal in phases. Each phase will be a delicious meal of its own, or at least a healthy snack. Each one providing you with more tools to fuel you on your quest to becoming a best selling author.

We are Launching the first Phase of the LitPow Portal to Forum Members at special rates. This is our way of saying THANK YOU for participating in the forum!

This week we are also opening registration to the Literary Powerhouse Workshops. You do not have to be a Member of the Portal to sign up to the Workshops, but Members of the Portal receive discounts.

This initial phase of the Portal will include the Social Media PowerTool with all of the bells and whistles, chatting, groups, and sharing capabilities, etc.; the PowerOrganizer PowerTool (previously listed as Writer's Life); and the SupperBlogger PowerTool. See my earlier post for all PowerTool descriptions, and note that there will be EVEN MORE to follow.

By now you're probably wondering, "Just how much will this wonderful life changing tool cost me?"... Well, the answer is less than the membership to one of the sites that currently offers a part of only one of our PowerTools.

I know, that's a big tease, and you want to know more now. So here goes...

LITERARY MEMBERS will pay $20 per month. But get TWO FREE Months when they sign up for a full year. These members also get a 10% discount for all workshops, plus special offers.

However, we will have two Early Adopter specials, that hopefully you won't be able to resist! And honestly, you shouldn't! :)

First, as Early Adopters, for a limited time after our PowerLaunch, you will get the Literary Membership at $5.00 per month fixed for 6 MONTHS!! AND, if you are signed up to the LitPow FORUM before February 1st, 2012 you will also receive 1 FREE MONTH if you sign up for 6 months. Everyone gets an additional FREE MONTH with a yearly membership.

Second, every time you get TWO FRIENDS to sign up for a year, you will get yet one more MONTH FREE on top of whatever membership you signed up for!

Next we have an Upgraded Membership which we call POWER MEMBERSHIP. These PowerMembers get all of the benefits of the Literary Membership, plus access to exclusive PowerTools, %50 Discount on all workshops AND exclusive offers (free workshops, PowerMember's only workshops, etc.), 15% discount on Website building, AND 1 Hour of Literary Powerhouse Consulting services. This yearly membership is valued at over $2775, and we are offering it for just $800. However, for a limited time, you can become a PowerMember for Only $500 for your first year!

Now, I know that many of us have been affected in some way by difficult economic times. And I know that most writers don't make a lot of money, YET. This is why we have put together all the special discounts that I've mentioned.

The first and foremost reason why I started consulting is to help authors and make a difference in the industry. Putting this Portal together helps me accomplish that. For ME giving back on FaceBook and attending conferences isn't enough. The industry is changing quickly and there is a lack of available information and uniformity out there. Information is difficult or time consuming to find, scattered, and often inaccurate or based on biased opinion. I want to change that.

I want to make it easy for authors to gather all of the information that they need, so that they can focus on what they do best and what they love to do...writing!

These memberships will become more and more valuable as the network grows, and because of all the things that will be added almost on a weekly basis. I would urge everyone to take advantage of the Early Adopters' specials and unbeatable offers, and lock in at these great prices!

I would like you to think as joining the Portal as becoming a Member of an exclusive community with your same needs and goals, and your interest at heart. It is an investment not just in your career as an author, but in your life... because succeeding as an author will change your life.

Even if you are writing simply because you love it, and not for recognition or financial gain, I know that you'd want your work to be the best that it can be. Most of us thrive when our work is read and enjoyed. Through this Portal, and our consulting services, Literary Powerhouse can show you how to get your work ready for submission, for massive sales and readership... and we will help you get those sales!

Taking the first step to join the LitPow Portal will bring you a few steps closer to becoming that Best Selling Author. We hope you join us!

Here's to your success!
~Marisa

* A special thanks to Joan I. Kendall. for the fitting language ;)

Introducing the LitPow PORTAL: A first look at what the Portal will offer to the Publishing Industry

For purposes of introducing you to the Portal, and to let you know what our goals with it are, I've decided to briefly tell you about it here. Please note that the Portal is due to launch soon and that it will launch is phases because it is so huge that we need to iron out all the wrinkles. We feel that introducing too many tools at once may just prove to be too overwhelming... This means that on a weekly basis, we intend to add new tools, resources, features, bells and whistles. So be sure to sign up early to take advantage of the early bird (or Early Adopters) prices.

So what is this "Portal" that I keep talking about? The LitPow Portal is your doorway to wonderful "PowerTools" designed especially with Writers, Editors, Agents and other literary industry member’s goals in mind. The Portal is fundamentally a closed universe social media network that is accessible only to Members. Through this multifunctional social media platform you can connect and meet friends and contacts, create or join private groups, chat, post and share posts to other social networks, invite your friends from anywhere, e-mail, upload and share photos, videos and files… essentially, you can do all of the things that you love to do with a social network. However, this network is only open exclusively to people who are, or wish to be connected to the Publishing World.

The PowerTools are tools that will enable you to find the right Publisher, Agent, Publicist, Printer, Editor, Contest, Conference, Job, Reviewer, Designer, Coach, etc. for your specific project; to track your submissions; to report and see publishing deals; to have your book critiqued; and so much more. The tools are programs that are loaded with a massive amount of resources and data that will put information, that typically takes hours if not months of research to gather, at your fingertips. Our goal is to provide you with all of the tools you need for all of your literary projects, from words to dollars.

The PowerTools are the following:

LitPow Portal: The LitPow Social Network is our platform for introducing and providing access to the rest of the PowerTools. It is a Portal to the world of publishing.

PowerForum: Information and knowledge are power, so we offer you this interactive chat board where you can ask questions and post answers or comments on all related topics. We have publishers and agents on these boards chatting with authors on a daily basis. Get all of the information you need here!

LitPow Univeristy: Get your Literary Powerhouse Degree (LPHD) when you complete 10 PowerShops. These are workshops taught by our well qualified, incredibly talented, and skilled faculty. When you sign up and complete ten workshops classified as PowerShops, you will receive an LPHD Certificate signed by our founders.

Writer’s Life: This PowerTool is a project manager specifically designed to help you organize your projects. You pick the project that you wish to work on, post your goals, your tasks, your milestones, etc., and the program helps you keep track of your progress, and basically keep all of your ducks in a row. This tool allows you to invite other members to the project and assign them designated tasks that you can both keep track of and tackle jointly. This is great for joint writing and other projects, organizing events, critique groups, etc. There are a dozen special features here that will change your life!

SuperStar Agent: This PowerTool allows you to look up an agent’s profile and to find their location, contact info, website, find out if that agent is taking queries, how to submit to that agent, look up the agent’s track record and latest sales, etc… Here agents will have the option to edit their own profiles and keep them up to date all the time. Authors will have many features to enjoy, including the opportunity to tell us when they submit to the agent and how long it took to get a response. The information submitted here will be used to compile statistics to let you know what to expect from each agent.

RainMakers: This PowerTool allows you to report a publishing sale, or see which publishers and agents are making the deals. This tool is connected to our Publisher and Agent databases, so you can look up deals or report deals by genre and they will automatically show up when you click on the publisher’s or agent’s name on our site to see what deals they have made.

PowerCritiques: This PowerTool is a huge platform in itself. It allows authors to upload their work to receive constructive critisism and peer review. These reviews will create book rankings. It also serves as a place where books can begin to gain a following and possibly be discovered. You will have the ability to also create private critique groups. More details will be posted when the tool is launched.

PowerReviews: This PowerTool is a place to have your book reviewed by the experts. Every week we will feature a book that has achieved the highest ranking in the PowerCritiques PowerTool, and will occasionally feature independent reviews by professional reviewers.

SuperBlogger: This PowerTool is a blog building tool that will allow you to set up and promote a gorgeous and super functional blog through our site, that will be connected to our blogs network and streamed and shared anywhere. Special features will be added to allow Power Members to do blog tours. This will allow you to indicate when you are available to do a blog tour or if you are willing to take blog posts on your blog. The blog of course, will be accessible to anyone on the internet. We offer special packages for professional Author Websites.

PowerJobs: This PowerTool is a literary industry Job Board. Freelance, ghost, editing, publishing, agenting jobs, etc. are posted and streamed here for members only.

BestSeller: This PowerTool is an interactive to do list and timeline offered in conjunction with Coaching and to "Power Members" to guide authors on the road to becoming a Bestseller.

A New Literary Agency...

By Marisa A. Corvisiero

After over two years with the L. Perkins agency, I'm very exited to announce that as of March 1, 2012 I will be opening the proverbial doors to the Corvisiero Literary Agency, LLC. My last few years have been an amazing learning and growing experience. I am grateful to Lori Perkins for the opportunity to work and learn from her and her team (Louise Fury and Saritza Hernandez). What started off as helping author friends submit their work, evolved into something I could have never imagined. I love being an agent, and I feel that these last years have really prepared me in way of skills, contacts, and knowledge of the industry to head my own agency. I'm happy to say that my Jr. Agents Jordy Albert and Brittany Booker will be joining me in this new endeavor.

We are all eager to make this the most successful and accessible agency! We will be working closely with Literary Powerhouse Consulting, my other baby, in order to also provide authors with services beyond agenting and beyond literary services to help them improve their skills, their work, and their careers!

As we get closer to March, I will be posting the new website address and submission guidelines. We are implementing a new electronic submission system that will help authors submit their queries online, and also see status updates simply by logging on! It's going to be an excellent tool for efficiency for the agency and it will help authors always know where they are in queue. There will be no more wondering if the query made it in, if it was declined, or when it is being read! Stay tuned for posts with more information.

For now, I will tell you that I will continue to represent most of the same work that I have been representing. I'm primarily looking for well drafted stories with a unique voice and well developed characters. The heat level of a romance, the action of a thriller, the explicitness of all may vary, but it has to fit an awesome plot. I love unique stories, especially in mixed genres. I will consider Romance, Thrillers, Adventure, Paranormal, Fantasy, Science Fiction, and the same for Young Adults and Middle Grade readers. In non-fiction I enjoy out of box and high concept spiritual, self improvement, parenting, science, and pop-culture.

My Jr. Agents are currently in training and helping me with the submissions that are sent to me. When their status changes, I'll be sure to let you know. In the mean time, please don't submit anything until we make the announcement with the proper guidelines.

Thanks for reading. We hope to hear from you!

~Marisa

Literary Powerhouse Consulting Website

Announcing the New Literary Powerhouse Consulting website at www.literarypowerhouse.com

Literary Powerhouse is pleased to offer a broad array of services across the continuum of writing and publishing!

From writing to printing or e-booking, publicity, finding an agent, self-publishing and distribution, Literary Powerhouse services span them all. One-on-one coaching and consultation with experts in your niche, plus the most current resources and how-to guidance at your fingertips, help make any task more efficient and effective.

This site provides a platform rich with multiple opportunities for interacting with peers and experts, seeking advice, and finding answers to questions at all stages of your book-related projects. It's also a place to share your own offerings with colleagues and peers. We invite you to participate in enhancing both the range and quality of services through ongoing feedback, ideas and innovative approaches! Join the discussions and forum to help us make this site as powerful as it can be. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

Consulting Services include advice and coaching on the following:

Writing
Agenting
Publishing
Printing
Distribution
Publicity
Legal
And More!

Several new workshops are offered every month, so be sure to check out the schedule. Sign up information will be up soon!!

Also coming soon are our Interactive Forum and The LiTPOW PORTAL! I can't wait to share more on those and to see you there!! Email us for a consultation at marisa@literarypowerhouse.com.

More information and updates will be posted periodically so stay tuned!!

Happy Surfing!
~Marisa

The YA Sisterhood

Hello Inhabitants of Marisa-land!

My name is Brittany, and I’m one of Marisa’s clients. I write YA fiction (we’re on submission now, so cross your fingers). I’m a teacher (Theatre) and I’m getting my MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

I love Young Adult literature. I do. When I was a teenager, I was focused on college and SAT’s. I read classic after classic because I read for accomplishment, rather than pleasure. When I surpassed my teenage years, I found myself clambering for that coming of age experience that I skipped over in my haste to grow up. I found it in YA lit. Since I don’t do anything by halves, my love for YA lit turned into an obsession (that I passed on to as many of my family and friends as possible). Last February, my older sister and I decided to start a book blog together called the YA Sisterhood. We already gave all our friends book recommendations, so why not open it up to the world wide web? We started out doing reviews and fun extras, and we started building our blog following slowly but surely.

In July, we were getting roughly 5,000 hits a month. We decided to shake things up and try something different. We had an idea for a March Madness-Style tournament pitting YA’s most crush-worthy boys against each other. The result was the YA Crush Tourney. Our hits jumped from 5,000 a month to at LEAST 5,000 a day. We logged on twitter and saw some of our favorite authors, editors, and agents talking about the tournament we created. Now, thanks to that Tournament, our blog has nearly 1500 followers, and 500,000 hits (and our blog is only 10 months old). We decided to turn the Crush Tourney into an annual summer tournament. We also decided to do a different tournament in the winter that would change yearly. We let our followers vote between a Villain Tourney and a Heroine Tourney, and our followers (like us)—agreed that YA lit needs to take some time to celebrate strong, inspiring female characters.

The YA Sisterhood Tournament of Heroines began December 1st. We let our followers nominate their favorite Heroines over the course of a week (and after 30,000 nominations) we narrowed it down to the top 32 Heroines. We’ve invited other bloggers to advocate each of these Heroines and created a bracket seeded according to which characters received the most nominations. The first round has already been completed, and we’re one to Round Two: The Superior Sixteen. Over the coming weeks, Heroines like Katniss from Hunger Games, Clary from Mortal Instruments, and Rose from Vampire Academy will continue to face off, and your votes will decide who continues on to become the Ultimate YA Heroine! The Blogger advocates wrote defenses for their character explaining what makes her the ultimate Heroine. For each match, we post both character defenses and a poll, so that you can vote for your favorite! Matches go up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on our blog: http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com. You can check here to see the schedule and tournament bracket: http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com/p/summer-crushin-tournament.html


We hope you’ll join the frenzy and vote for your favorite heroines, spread the word on Twitter and Facebook, and show support for these authors that have created such memorable characters!

Stay on Target and Get Published

By Guest Blogger Oksana Marafioti

I’m a curious person. A ‘what if?’ kind of a person. Writers tend to be. Otherwise we’d be doing something less interesting and more predictable. Curiosity got me into this memoir-writing business in the first place.
I once met an agent at a conference, who believed that my family history was something someone out there, in the vast ocean that is the publishing industry, might like to buy. At this point book deals were a myth to me. I only went to the conference out of curiosity. But I gave it a try, and after a few sample chapters of American Gypsy, the agent signed me.
Writing about your life is tough, because you relive it in the process, and who’s ever prepared for that? But curiosity kept me going. Could I really sell a book? Within a couple of months I had an outline and about fifty pages of material. That’s when I received an odd email from my agent, in which she told me that she was going out with what we had. From what I’d read in numerous blogs and books, memoirs were treated like fiction and had to be complete before the submission process. I reminded her of this several times, but she ignored me and did it anyway.
The first wave of rejections was a tsunami. Most editors liked the writing but claimed the memoir market was difficult. Others said the immigrant stories had saturated the industry. I moped, then pinned the rejections to the wall above my computer and continued writing. All the while voices of doubt circled above my head. Who was I kidding? Editors accepted stuff only from people they already knew. Another wave. Breathe. And then a call.
We had an offer from Farrar, Straus and Giroux, one of the most prestigious publishers out there.
FSG took me on before I finished the manuscript. I didn’t think this was possible, not until my new editor and I talked on the phone. I was so shocked that I remember asking her what made her decide to buy my book. As inexperienced as I was, I still recognized the risk she was taking with a new writer and an unfinished product. You have potential, she said, and I think I danced in the clouds for a few days after.
It took three years and nine drafts to finish American Gypsy, as well as courage, heartache, openness to advise and a good dose of curiosity to stop myself from quitting whenever the writing became too difficult, too personal.
Some people ask if there’s a secret to getting published. I don’t have the answer to that. But curiosity, I think, as insignificant a quality as it may seem at first, is vital. It’s the ‘what if?’ that makes every writer’s heart skip a beat at the birth of a great story. Without it we don’t sit down to write that first word. We don’t come back to finish the first novel. We don’t continue after our first rejections. We stop after that first publication. We forget our potential.
Curiosity is what makes a writer write.

Oksana Marafioti moved from the Soviet Union when she was fifteen years old. Trained as a classical pianist, she has also worked as a cinematographer. She is the author of AMERICAN GYPSY, a memoir of a Romani (Gypsy) childhood, due out July 3, 2012.

Follow Oksana on Twitter @oksanamarafioti

Literary Agent Marisa Corvisiero, Esq. is interviewed

By Janet Fogg

Today, Chiseled in Rock is delighted to speak with Marisa Iozzi Corvisiero. Last week Marisa shared some exciting news with us about new changes in her career, and we’re pleased to share that information.

But let’s back up for just a moment to properly introduce Marisa. An experienced attorney, Marisa founded The Corvisiero Law Practice, a boutique law firm in midtown New York City. While continuing to practice law, Marisa also became fascinated by the publishing business, and works with the L. Perkins Agency as an agent.

Marisa represents science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, adventure, and romance, as well as young adult and children's literature. In non-fiction, she enjoys business, spiritual, parenting, self-help, and mainstream science.

In June of 2011 Marisa partnered with Jo Ann Kairys, a colleague, author, editor, publisher, and friend to form Literary Powerhouse Consulting, LLC. Their mission is to provide a comprehensive package of literary advisory services to anyone needing guidance within the publishing industry. Marisa is very excited about the myriad services and opportunities they’re providing.

CIR: Marisa, please tell us about your dual professions and your start as an agent.

MC: I started wearing my agent hat after some of my author friends and colleagues asked me to represent them in their book deals through my law firm. We all know how difficult it is to find the right agent and to have editors take authors seriously if they are not represented or already self-published. In fact, many of the traditional publishers don’t accept un-agented work. So I started out by lending a hand. I lost a couple of paying clients when I started representing them as their agent (because agents are not paid until they sell the work). But it all worked out in the end. One thing led to another and eventually I joined Lori Perkins’ Agency, where I’ve learned lots of lessons. Today, I continue to practice law at the Corvisiero Law Practice, and I represent several very talented authors.

CIR: Will you also describe the services you’re providing with your new endeavor – Literary Powerhouse Consulting - and tell us why you decided to form LPH?

MC: LPH is my baby - an entity that my partner Jo Ann Kayris and I formed in order to provide Literary Consulting services. Jo Ann is an award winning author and founder of Story Quest Publishing. Her expertise and temperament complement mine quite nicely – we met at a writers critique group years ago and hit it off right away. Through the years we have been in touch and have helped each other in various capacities, from editing to legal services.

Our decision to pair up and offer these services evolved from numerous requests we received independently for literary consulting, guidance and coaching within different facets of publishing. After some discussions we decided to make it official and actually offer these much needed services to help authors navigate the deep waters of the publishing industry. As we started putting out heads together, we decided that our expertise and contacts would really be invaluable for anyone from authors to book sellers, so we expanded our services into a comprehensive package that will provide "one stop shopping" for anyone in the industry. We knew right away that we were onto something pretty cool – creating a service that is much needed in the industry. We feel that there is so much information out there, and that there are so many rules and procedures to follow, that it is easy to be discouraged by the whole thing. Nor is information that is out there offered all in one place. So that is exactly what we decided to do.

This idea however, became even bigger when we decided to do something interactive and special on our site. As we developed our Webpages with the genius of Erin Gilman, we decided to create a social media platform that would be exclusive to industry folks. The goal was to have a closed universe in publishing where people could meet, socialize, promote, learn, and share with others with similar interests without the worries of outsiders, advertisers, and hackers. We loved this idea and ran with it, and as we did, each time we had a brainstorming session each of us brought a plethora of amazing ideas to the table. As a result, what started of as a wonderful consulting services website has now evolved into what we have dubbed a “Portal.” We call it a Portal because it is going to be so huge and so unique, that entering it will be like traversing a Portal into the literary publishing dimension where anything is possible.

The Literary Powerhouse Portal will include "PowerTools" to help authors get published and get lots of sales, help agents work their wonder, help publishers with contacts and promoting sales.

The Power Tools are services or capabilities made possible with special software designed with our goals in mind. These PowerTools are intertwined with the social media site and discussion forum, allowing users to join and set up groups, attend seminars and workshops online, create a new blog or link their existing blog, manage projects, video chat, IM, share files, report book publishing deals, find and submit to agents and publishers, track submissions, find and apply to contests, submit projects to book reviewers, find the right PR firm, and so much more. We have huge ideas for this site above and beyond anything that is out there now. It's going to be amazing! We are shooting to launch it early next year and are about to put a countdown clock on the site so folks know when they can start signing up.

CIR: How will LPH interface with the other professional services you provide? (And do you ever sleep?!)

MC: The good thing about what I do is that all of my endeavors complement each other - I'm able to offer a full package. Most authors, at some point or another, will likely need some or all of our services - from the time they finish their manuscript to when they figure out how to find and sign the right agent, to making deals with publishers and promoting their books. If anyone needs help with any of these things we coach them through it. If they need an agent, they can submit to me and I will consider their work. If they need help with a contract that I didn't negotiate as an agent, or other legal services, I help them through the law firm. We are very careful to keep things compartmentalized for the sake of avoiding conflicts or crossing those ethical boundaries. …And do I sleep? Not as much as I'd like to.

CIR: You believe authors should be published in both print and e-pub format. With e-pub sales strengthening, are your contract negotiations with publishers changing in regard to, for example, the amount of an advance? Or any other contract terms?

MC: E-books are the wave of the future, but I don’t think that print is going extinct anytime soon. So we strongly believe that every book should be out there in every media form. When negotiating with publishers, if they want to acquire the right to put a book out in all of these mediums, then my job is to make sure that the author is compensated accordingly, and that the publisher will in fact use these rights. If they can’t give the proper assurances, even though nothing is ever one hundred percent certain, then we try to retain the rights and offer them to someone else.

CIR: What do you enjoy most about representing authors to the publishing industry? Least?

MC: I love reading and pitching books to publishers. I only represent books and projects that I really believe in, and so my enthusiasm gives me an extra umph when telling others about it. I get very excited. What I like the least is that publishers have a certain quota of books that they will acquire, and so often they have a specific list of things that they are looking for and may pass up a great project just because they need to keep looking for the perfect fit. It can be discouraging, especially when you are the one breaking the news.

CIR: Do you hope to increase your client base?

MC: Yes, I’m looking for new talent. I periodically suspend submissions so that I can catch up, so anyone who would like to submit to me should first look at my submission guidelines listed on my blog. I update this all the time, so I suggest people look at the blog and not the website.

The good news is that in the past year or so I’ve been working with some wonderful people whom I now call my team. Brittany Booker and Jordy Albert have now become my Jr. Agents and they are helping me do submissions and review queries as they learn hands on. We also have a couple of good interns that have huge potential. So everything is growing and we are making good progress towards offering efficient and wonderful services.

CIR: Do you have any pet peeves when it comes to submissions?

MC: I think that sometimes I’m more tolerant than other agents when it comes to queries. Of course, I don’t like it when someone misspells my name or sends me a query that is part of a mass e-mail, but I don’t think that it justifies turning an author away because of it. Do I take it into consideration if the rest of the query is weak? You bet. My real pet peeves though, are sloppy and difficult to read formats. I don’t like queries that start by telling me what the character was thinking or doing. To me, that should be in the middle of the letter. A good query should start by telling me that they have a romance (or other genre) 80K word (proper word count for age group and genre) finished manuscript that they think I will like it because…. I think that research is paramount. The author should know the genre of his or her work, the target readers (at least gender and age), and by knowing this, they can learn how long the work should be. I will be writing a blog post on this soon to put the info out there all in one place. In the mean time authors should keep in mind that the younger the reader the shorter the work should be. And the more sophisticated the reader (sci-fi/fantasy) the more allowance they have to get creative with a longer manuscript. But don’t go crazy. If your novel is longer than 115K especially for a debut, you should consider some edits. I know that there are novels out there that were the author’s first, and are much longer than that… etc, etc. I know. I’ve read Twilight and Harry Potter too. But they are among the few, and just because they made it, it doesn’t mean that it was easy. I think that they are wonderful series, but in a way they were lucky. Having said that… I’m not telling everyone to conform. I’m just saying that there are certain ‘rules,’ if you will, in the industry. If you really believe in your work and it doesn’t follow the norm, trust your self (to a realistic level) and go for it with gusto. Just be prepared to know that it will harder than hard, but if you keep at it you just might get lucky too.

CIR: Any predictions about what might be the next big thing in publishing? What trend(s) do you see fading?

MC: Superpowers are still big, but we are not looking to them as part of the future. I’m looking for fresh material and ideas. I want to be wowed by the next big thing. I had predicted mermaids to jump into the waters, but the ideas were contrived and have not done so well.

If you’re wondering about vampires and think that the market is saturated, think again. We are just obsessed with vampires and can’t seem to get enough. The trend that I do see is a new age of vampires that are not so sweet and glamorous (I’m obviously not including True Blood). Traditional vampires are back.

CIR: What one piece of advice would you offer to authors seeking representation?

MC: Do your research and always put your best foot forward. Learn about the industry, but don’t forget that in the end your writing speaks for itself. So hone in on your craft, keep learning and perfecting your work. And most importantly, never give up. This is a tough industry to break into. Agents are incredibly busy and will unfortunately review your work looking for reasons not to represent you, because unfortunately, that’s how most editors review work. So don’t give them any. Always submit finished work, the best work that you can possibly produce, and then be professional and attentive. It’s okay to innocently stalk your agent’s Facebook page and blog to see what they are up to, but don’t bombard them with follow up emails. Know the agent’s policy on responses and when it is okay to follow up or assume that they are not interested if you have not heard back.

The Literary Powerhouse Portal will be a wonderful source to use when researching Agents and their guidelines, response time, and the deal that they make. When you do hear back always respond quickly and be ready to provide a synopsis and your manuscript. If you meet an agent or make a connection somewhere, follow up graciously and always strike while the iron is hot. Don’t let them forget you.

CIR: What are you most excited about, with the launch of LPH?

MC: There are so many things to be exited about. Calling LitPow mine and having the control over our services and our presence is wonderful. I’m good at seeing the whole picture and how it fits into a scene. And because of it, sometimes it is difficult for me to leave the vision to others.

I do have to say though, that I’m most exited about the Portal and everything that we will offer with that membership. The PowerTools are wonderful and powerful - and yes that pun is intended… that is actually how we came up with the name Literary Powerhouse. I personally can’t wait to use them and to also see how everyone else takes advantage of the benefits they will bring to them. These tools will provide information, resources, organization, networking and more. They offer some services and information that can be gathered from various resources, now packaged and enhanced in one organized place …at the user’s fingertips. And to make it even better we uniquely connected those resources to our services. Our presence and the participation of our expert connections, colleagues, clients, and friends will make it a valuable experience every time the member logs in.

Lastly, I’m exited and happy to say that this Portal will help authors and industry people at all levels. I think that it has the potential to change how many people do their research, their submissions and their publicity. All in all, this will be the only site they will ever need!

CIR: Now to digress, and in accordance with our CIR M.O., I would like to ask an off-track question. What did you dream of doing when you were twelve years old?

MC: LOL I like this one...I wanted to be an Astronaut or Singer… you know, because the two have so many elements in common. So naturally, I became a lawyer.

CIR: You can visit Marisa at www.thoughtsfromaliteraryagent@blogspot.com for submission guidelines and updates, or www.literarypowerhouse.com (may still be under construction) for detailed information about their services. You can follow her on Twitter @mcorvisiero and the website for her law firm is www.corvisierolaw.com.

Thank you, Marisa! And best of luck in your new endeavors!

Janet Fogg

(CIR first interviewed Marisa in February 2011 and she has kindly answered additional questions for today's post.)

How to Manage Time without the Benefit of a Time Machine

By Marisa A. Corvisiero

It's Saturday morning and I'm torn by all of the things I need to do and read, and the things that I should do with my family. If I didn't want to do any of any of it my choice would be simple. The problem is that I want to do it all. However, it is difficult put up a tree, and edit a manuscript, and draft a contract at the same time. I can do it in my head, but that's not fair to anyone. I guess it comes down to time management. How do I manage my time without the benefit of relativistic time dilation. I suppose that it comes down to the same old thing...the essence of time management.

As an agent, consultant, lawyer, mom and wife (not necessarily in that order, though my husband may disagree) I'm constantly juggling a number of things in my office, at home, and in my head. As you can imagine in my professional life, I often get asked many of the same questions, but the one that comes up more often than others is how do you do it all? Now, although I may smile and reply with a dismissive humorous line, the truth is that it concerns me. I'm concerned that I may appear distracted, and overworked, or, God forbid, inefficient. Because lets face it, when you're juggling sooner or later a ball or two will be making contact with the ground or your head.

As those of you out there that are in similar positions, with day jobs, writing goals and a family, etc., you know that the answer is twofold. First, it take a lot of organizing and sticking to the schedule. In other words, discipline. Second, it is plain and simple hard work. I'm not a fan of the expression, "nothing in life comes easy"... because, well, some things do. But success more often than not requires dedication, determination, persistence, sometimes a little bit of luck, and always good organization and time management.

Funny...I started writing this post as a facebook post. It was going to be three lines as I contemplated what to do next. Aside from being invited to a fabulous Corvisiero family party this eve among other plans, my boys need hair cuts before we take their Christmas picture, which I need to use for our holiday card, which should have gone out last week (in a perfect world). And we've yet to get a tree, and the boys want to make gingerbread houses, and my uncle is visiting from overseas this week, and my dad's birthday is coming up, and there are the errands to be run, and the cleaning, and the laundry... well you get the picture. I didn't even mention Christmas presents. And don't let me get into the manuscripts to read, and the queries to review, and clients' work to review/edit, and clients' work to submit, and consulting and legal projects, and the management, and the new Literary Powerhouse Consulting website (going public this week) and all the data and ideas for the PORTAL (going public probably in February) etc. etc. So that's a hand full of over shared information right there, but there is a point in me mentioning it. Many of you are in the same boat. Most of us have families, homes, friends, jobs etc. So the only way to survive is to manage our time the right way. Are you thinking that I should probably be doing some of this instead of writing this post? Yes, me too, but in a way I think that I'm writing it to help me process. I'm a writer too, and this is how my brain works. Hopefully my words of crazy will help someone else too. :)

...So (deep breath) how do I apply the time management skills I speak of? First, I prioritize. And of course a list will started. (I'm famous for my lists.) I will list the things that are the most important. What needs to get done today and what can wait until tomorrow. Then I add in the things that I'd like to do today. Then in way of a schedule, I give them priority numbers so that they are then ordered in chronology and make a tentative and realistic schedule with plenty of wiggle room to avoid stress. Note that I said realistic. Over scheduling is a sure way to NOT having a successfully scheduled day, and it guarantees stressful situations. And stress does not a happy day make.

Once the schedule is made, I try to stick with it as much as possible. This will ensure that we have a productive day and get most of it done. Yes, I said most of it. Why? Because as the expression goes, "schedules are made to be broken". What I'm saying is that it is okay to change the schedule. You don't need to stress yourself to keep with the schedule. After all, this is your schedule. So if the need comes, or if you feel like it, throw it into the fireplace and enjoy that cocoa or glass of your fav drink while you watch it burn. And enjoy it!

Which is actually a good segue into the secret of juggling, which is to remember to have fun. Yes, you need to organize, and you need to have a schedule and stick with it. But you don't have to create stress for yourself. As long as you are disciplined most of the time. The occasional slip to take care of yourself and yours is the most important thing you can do to keep your sanity. Take time to enjoy yourself, to recharge so that you can keep going. Because keep going you must!

Happy juggling!
Marisa

Literary Agent v Literary Consultant: What each will do for you

By: Marisa A. Corvisiero, Esq.

If you are an author who would like to get published and get the best possible placement and deal, you should consider getting a literary agent... if you haven't already. Much like the agents that we've heard about in movies like Jerry Maguire or shows like Entourage, an agent is a person who agrees to act as someone’s representative in getting them work, making deals, etc. A literary Agent is an agent that represents a writer for the purpose of selling their written work to publishers. More often than not an agent will start to work with a writer on a per project basis.

How do you know if you need one? Simple, if you want to sell your work to traditional publishers, you should know that they don't even consider work that isn't represented. So if that's your goal, that's your answer right there. But even those who are content selling to smaller publishing houses, need a good agent to help them in and along.

Note that 'smaller' does not mean that they are small. They are just not the top tier of New York houses. Having an agent will open doors for you and get your work looked at faster. An agent will not only have the contacts and know who to send your work to, but they are also likely to know who likes and is looking for the type of work that you have written. A good agent will have good insight about the industry's ins and outs, and a pulse on trends. An agent will be able to tell you that your manuscript is ready, well written, and interesting enough to be pitched. Although most agents don't have the time to edit work, many do have enough knowledge and insight to give you guidance on points that need to be polished before it can be sent to publishers. After all, they have read it, or should have, and they will undoubtedly have an opinion and will point out a couple of things in your no longer perfect work, even if they loved it. Or maybe that's just me, and my many opinions, but I doubt it :-) If the agent likes it, or you, enough to take it on, even if it isn't ready, then the agent can get you in touch with, or recommend, a consultant or editor to help you where help is needed.

When time comes to accept an offer, your agent will be best suited to explain the terms of your contract to you, to negotiate them for your, and to help you decide between publishers if you are talented and lucky enough, and your agent is good enough, to get you multiple offers. The more knowledge and experience the agent has at this, the smoother the process and the better the outcome. If your agent has some legal knowledge or contract experience, even better! I have to say that my years as a corporate lawyer in New York City have truly come in handy several times when drafting or reviewing contracts. The problem with lack of legal knowledge or experience with contracts is that the reviewer will tend to focus on the industry or money clauses, such as duration of the contract, royalties, advances, sub rights, submission of manuscript, editing, out of print reversion, authors use of work, etc., and may not even know that there is an issue with a guarantee, or non compete, copyright, venue, etc.

Contrary to popular belief however, most literary agents do not stay involved with the process past that. Only some agents continue to provide services after the book is sold. This is because when the book is sold it is now in the publisher's hands, and the author pretty much just does what the publisher and its editors tell the author to do, from edits to promotions; and agents only get involved if there is a problem with the terms of the deal that was struck, or if someone is behaving badly. Once in a while a client will come to me and say, when are we setting up the book tour? or they'll give me the info for the launch party and say, "how do we do a press release for this?" Unfortunately, publishers aren't helping authors with these things as much as they used to. So people are left with three choices, they have to take what they can get from the publisher and do the rest themselves, hire a publicist, or hire a book coach to teach them and help them to do it themselves. Ideally, I would suggest that you do all three.

There are gaps in the process. We can say - write a book, have it edited, find an agent, the agent will sell it, and then the publisher will sell to the public, and all you have to do is show up at signings. This couldn't be further from the truth. Sure, for some this simple plan works. But most people need help, direction, guidance, and advice. Even if you write a something and know that you need an editor, how do you find the right one? One that will actually help you and not take a Thousand dollars for reading your book and tell you that you need to work on showing and not telling. And once your ms is complete, how do you choose the right agent? How do you prepare the query? the proposal? or that dreaded synopsis?...

There is a lot of information out there to help with each of these, but it takes time to learn and to sift through the muddle until the necessary answers are found. This can be time consuming, frustrating and often expensive. This is where Literary Consultants come in. Many agents now a days, including myself, are thankfully starting to provide consulting services. Editors with publishing experience and agents are the best-suited folks to offer these services, because of their vast knowledge about everything that it takes to make a manuscript good, how to present it and pitch it, how to package it, and how to sell it. They have the contacts to get you the help and expertise you need for your particular project and are often able to match someone to complement your temperament.

A literary consultant can be an author's best and most useful guide through the entire process. Depending on the scope and level of expertise literary consultants can offer authors guidance, advice, and sometimes hold their hand to get help on anything from the creation and development of an idea, to writing, editing, pitching and promoting a book. Some of these consultants offer their own time and advice, and others have a team of specialized people to help you through each phase. So if you need help finishing your book and getting it ready for submitting it to an agent or publisher, you can reach out a literary consultant to get your work in the best shape it can be, then they can help you prepare your query letter, synopsis, outline, proposal etc. and they can help you chose the right agent for you and your work.

Once your work is agented, a consultant with the right experience and knowledge can help you start promoting your book by getting you ready and helping you develop a platform or following. A good consultant can facilitate the information and instruments for you to get your social media tools, book tour, blog tour, book launch, book reviews, contests, conferences, etc. set up before your book has even hit the shelves. Why do you need to do all of this work? If you want to have sales, you need to promote, and your agent and publisher will only help so much. Especially if you are not James Paterson (I think I saw him on TV and ads about 30 times during the few hours I actually watched TV during the Thanksgiving break). Most publishers, even the biggest ones, push their bestselling authors first. So it's up to you! And you want to generate as much buzz as possible so that the bulk of sales take place in a one to three week window. This is how you get on the bestseller lists!

I have a strong suspicion that if you're reading this, and you're an author that wants to get published, it would probably make you very happy to become a best seller. So go get the help you need, if you need it! But remember to be careful before hiring someone to provide these services. See if you can get recommendations from someone that has used them. Talk to them extensively and make sure that you know what you’re getting for your money. Remember that an agent should not be charging you reading fees. But if an agent is offering consulting services that are specifically tailored to your needs, then it is ok to retain them to help you, as long as their representation of your work as an agent is not contingent on you paying for consulting services. In other words, don't pay them to represent you as an agent. Pay only for the help that you want and need.

So keep in mind that help is becoming increasingly available out there. Be smart and take advantage of the expertise that are available to you. The publishing industry does not have to be a frightening beast. Don't let the unique guidelines intimidate you. Get out there and network, and find the right team to help you.

Happy hunting!
~Marisa