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Writing a resume


  • JessicaMadden
    Sep 22 12:23 AM
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    When publishers ask for a resume, what do you need to put on it? I know you would probably have to put down what publishing experience you have but what if you don't have any publishing experience?

  • Valkyrie
    September 22 ↑
    Reply
    Then don't fake it. They'll figure that out pretty easily. Are you trying to get hired by a publisher? That would be fun.

    Or do you mean writing credits, as in stories you've written that have been published?

    • JessicaMadden
      September 23 ↑
      Reply
      Well, I can't seem to get an agent because they aren't accepting new submissions but publishers are. I don't know what to write on it but I know you do need to put writing credits down but I have none. Someone told me I could put storywrite down as a credit but I'm not so sure if they would accept that. And I also don't know what you need to put down on it. Do you write it same if you were to go for a job?

      • CactusJack
        September 23 ↑
        Reply
        This should help you -
        http://www.agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx
        or
        http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/peba.htm - if you want to go straight to a publisher.

        Also I wouldn't put SW down as anyone can join and write whatever they like, there isn't a literary skills test to join.

      • Valkyrie
        September 23 ↑
        Reply
        oooOOOOoooooo! I hadn't seen the agentquery page Jack put up. I like it. I've found a smaller page for queries that doesn't list as much info: http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubquery.htm

        and another page entirely devoted to the hook that goes in paragraph 1: http://querytracker.blogspot.com/2009/04/dreaded-pitch-what-to-include-in-that.html What I like about this site is that it gives examples of what many people do but they shouldn't.

        There was a contest recently on writing a query letter to a publisher (it's closed now), and I entered it using these sites for reference. It was great practice.

        Don't put SW down as a credit unless you want to be taken for an amateur. There's no professional rating here; it's for people of all levels and attention spans, and the agent won't have any idea which you are.

        I suggest trying to get some writing credits (poetry/short story) to flesh out your "resume". That's what I'm doing. I've gotten a few this summer, and I'm hoping to get a few more before I send out my novel query. I've read a few published authors who started at the bottom and climbed up, and recommend that method. That means hitting up the non-paying ezines and anthologies and the like, to start off with. Duotrope.com has a huge list of markets to send your submissions to. Ralan.com is one a lot of others use as well.

        You can send your novel out in the meantime, of course, but they usually take months to get back to you, and by the time you get that first rejection, you might have gotten two or three poems or short stories accepted.

        I've heard you can google the agent for an author you like and get a result, so you can send them a query letter. You can just find an author who writes like you, in the same genre maybe. If their agent accepted their story, they might accept yours more easily.

        • JessicaMadden
          September 24 ↑
          Reply
          Thanks I will give it a try. So the resume is actually a query letter?

          • Valkyrie
            September 24 ↑
            Reply
            Honestly, I've never heard it called a resume. I've not been at this for long, but every submission page I visited called it a cover letter( which includes previous writing credits).

            You might want to check the site and just verify you were looking where you thought you were looking.

            • JessicaMadden
              September 25 ↑
              Reply
              Well, I have a marketing book which lists on the newpapers, magazines, agents, publishes etc. and the publishes wants a resume and I don't even know how I'm supposed to write one.

  • KodyBoye
    September 25 ↑
    Reply
    Your resume is a list of your writing credits

    So, for my resume, I would first list my general publishing credits like this:

    [A] Prom Queen's Revenge
    Published in the Yellow Mama Webzine
    May 2007

    And so on, until I finished.

    For a complete publishing/work history, I would include editing work, which would include copyediting for three novels and a slush reader for the Dred Tales webzine from September 2007 to September 2008.

    One thing you DO NOT want to do is make it out like you have more credits than you do, so... just watch out for that. I don't mean to be a downer, Jessica, but you're highly unlikely to get an agent unless you have previous credits. Besides, think of it this way--an agent makes fifteen percent of anything you make, because they're selling your work.

    Hope that helps.

  • CactusJack
    September 25 ↑
    Reply
    faint
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