Hi Writing and Publishing Community!

I hope your 2024 was positive and productive. I wanted to share a summary of my 2024 accomplishments and of some of the resources I created for emerging and seasoned authors. I’m also sharing my plans for 2025.

2024 Highlights

January 2024: Presented at Power Publishing Day at NOVA Southeast University in Florida on Polishing Your Submission Packet for Querying.

February 2024: Writing Day Workshop (virtual) – Accepted pitches and participated in a panel on why agents might pass on a manuscript.

March 2024: Gave query submission feedback.

April 2024: Writing Day Workshop (in-person) – Accepted pitches and participated in a panel on why agents might pass on a manuscript.

May 2024: My Young Adult novel, WORTH IT debuted!

June 2024: Attended a writing retreat in Chicago sponsored by The Purcell Agency and presented on why reading is important for writers.

July 2024: I was promoted from associate literary agent to literary agent!

August 2024: Completed final negotiations for my first book sale!

September 2024: Presented alongside my daughter to the Lacaya Women’s Club about autism and my book GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS: UNDERSTANDING AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER. My daughter talked about special needs law which is one of her specialities as an attorney.

October 2024: UnCensored Ink: A Banned Book Inspired Anthology I edited with Ian Tan debuted. Fifty percent of the proceeds are being donated to the American Library Association to aid in their fight against book bans.

November 2024: Provided critiques to participants of Eastern PA SCBWI’s 8 & Under Series.

December 2024: Presented to David Gwyn’s group Storyteller Society on the importance of pitching to agents live and offered a free How-To Guide.

Free Resources I created in 2024 for Authors Available NOW!

1. My Top Lucky 13 Writing Podcasts for 2024 (will be updated for 2025!)
2. My Top 8 YouTube Writing Resources for 2024 (will be updated for 2025!)
3. So You Want to Write a Book That Gets Published: A Step By Step Guide
4. The Anatomy of a Scene
5. Ten Things to Consider Avoiding in Your First Pages
6. Maximize Your Reach: How Authors Can Get on Podcasts and Succeed
7. How to Get an Agent’s Attention: A Free Mini Course
8. A Self-Editing Guide for Authors – Part 1 – Developmental Editing
9. A Self-Editing Guide for Authors – Part 2 – Line Edits
10. A Self-Editing Guide for Authors – Part 3 – Copy Edits

What I Aspire to Accomplish in 2025

• Participate in more pitch events (3 scheduled so far)
• Complete the fourth part of my Self-Editing Guide for Authors on Resources.
• Finalize my second author/editor contract.
• Secure two-four more author/editor contracts.
• Sign at least three more authors. (Thriller, Sapphic Romance, Wildcard—hoping with LGBTQ+ characters and/or neurodivergent.
• Continue to promote my own work.
• Start MY second novel! Outlined already!
• Continue to send my current authors on sub until they ALL get a yes!

In Closing

When I look back on 2024, I feel good! I hope my services have in some way helped the writing community that has been so good to me! I look forward to 2025!

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and the first chapter is New Year’s Day.

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce