Quotes are fine, and don't worry about it. The publishing house will have their own guidelines which they will give to the copyeditor. It's not your problem.

That's great! Keep up the good work!

One point - What you need at a writer's conference is a brief description of your novel, a business card, and a finished novel which is waiting at home to be sent when requested.

There are several brief descriptions -
Hook - Brief enough to explain on an escalator ride while your listener is going the other direction.

Query - A one-page letter that includes the hook, a description of the dramatic arc and your contact information.

Synopsis - A longer description of your novel including all the major character arcs and the conclusion.


Better yet go read Miss Snark.
http://misssnark.blogspot.com/search/label/conferences

It really is not a matter of royalties going up, not when compared to the costs of production. When that is factored in even 70% is lower than royalties in the 1950's.

The 70% sounds good until you look at the deal as a whole. Publishers aren't paying to print the books, aren't editing, aren't doing publicity, they aren't even selective enough to encourage readers to look specifically for their imprint - In fact I'm hard pressed to see what it is they are doing to earn their 30%.

Beg your local bookstores to look into it!

Happy holidays to you all - Even you, Humbug!

 

I think it is perfectly normal for you, the writer, to have problems with endings. Finding the ending is the most artificial part of writing. The writer knows -
The Happily Ever After married couple end up divorced,
The Science Nerd who gets the girl develops MS and dies by 50 after 10 years in a nursing home,
The Triumphant Warrior has cumulative neurologic deficits from being knocked out resulting in paranoia, anger management issues and family murder / suicide around age 45.
- But the reader never knows these things because you chose where to end the story.

You might try writing time lines and character arcs for each character. Often finding 'the right ending' is really just picking a spot in the story where the lives of various characters resonate with each other.

Always remember that all langauge barriers immediately dissolve when the speaker raises their voice and talks more slowly.  Every tourist knows this. 

Unless you are talking to another traveler from your own country, while in public, and talking about how stupid the natives of the area are. In that case not one of the thirty people glaring at you speaks your language no matter how loud and obnoxious you are.