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7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing

Series: 7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing (Part 7): Stop Sending Manuscripts—The Case for the Nonfiction Book Proposal

Welcome to the final installment of my series, 7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing. We end with one of the most common and costly mistakes nonfiction writers make: sending an agent a full manuscript instead of a nonfiction book proposal. Why Sending a Manuscript Sabotages Your Chances This happens constantly. A writer, proud […]

Series: 7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing (Part 6): How to Make Your Pitch Relevant

Welcome back to my series, 7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing. As we near the end of this series, let’s talk about something deceptively simple yet profoundly important: the signals you send through the small details of your pitch. Too often, writers assume agents are evaluating only the story itself. In truth, we’re […]

Series: 7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing (Part 5): How to Sharpen Your Query Letter—From Overwritten to Irresistible

Welcome back to my series, 7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing. So far, we’ve tackled four pitfalls I see time and again in query letters and proposals: Today, we turn to pitfall number five: the overwritten query letter. If you’ve ever worried about how to sharpen your query letter, whether because your pitch […]

Series: 7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You (Part 4): Why Comparative Titles (“Comps”) Make or Break Your Pitch

We’ve already explored three of the most essential ingredients for a strong submission: how too much emotional weight can overwhelm a pitch, why personalization is the difference between forgettable and irresistible, and how researching agents ensures you’re landing in the right inbox in the first place. Now comes the next element, one that can either […]

Series: Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing (Part 3): How to Research Agents—and Write an Unforgettable Query Letter

In this ongoing series, we’re diving into the nuanced strategies and emotional intelligence required to pitch your book successfully, insights you can’t glean from ChatGPT. In Part I we tackled why grief-heavy pitches can fall flat, and in Part II we explored how to personalize a universal theme to make it irresistible. Now, in Part […]

Series:7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing (Part 2)-How to Make Your Query Stand Out—Elevate Universal Themes

Welcome back to my series 7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing. In our first post, we covered the pitfall of grief-heavy pitches. Today, let’s tackle another common mistake I see in query letters and book proposals: relying too heavily on universal themes, without putting your personal spin on them. If you want to […]

Series: 7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing (Part 1): How to Pitch an Agent—Why Transformation (Not Trauma) Wins

Welcome to the first installment of my new series, 7 Things ChatGPT Can’t Tell You About Publishing. If you’ve ever wondered how to pitch an agent, you know it’s not just about polished sentences—it’s about knowing what agents actually want. AI tools are wonderful for grammar checks or trimming excess words, but what they can’t […]