Leaders are responsible for helping their teams meet and advance organizational goals while nurturing intuition and growing talent. Drawing on considerable experience assembling and nurturing cutting-edge teams at Corning Inc., author Linda Echeverria shows how leaders can serve as a team catalyst through which new ideas come to fruition. The results apply well beyond traditional creative domains--propelling innovation across entire organizations. You’ll gain an arsenal of instantly actionable tools and will learn how to unleash passion and drive, embrace productive conflict, and emphasize excellence and structure while promoting values that liberate creativity in the workplace. One of the most daunting challenges leaders face is discovering how to harness creativity--without stifling passionate, intelligent people. How do you unleash their energy and simultaneously channel it into something tangible? By showcasing how to juxtapose creative freedom with management rigor, Idea Agent gives readers the skills to lead dedicated professionals through one great innovation after another.

The Idea Agent is a practical idea management handbook, aimed at people who want to take an active role in creative processes across all areas. It combines the creatively wild with the rationally structured techniques for innovation to provide readers with a varied toolbox of proven idea management methodology. From discussing how to identify a problem or opportunity, to describing techniques for idea creation, it offers a step-by-step guide to building creative concepts for the marketplace. With built-in exercises and applications, this book is an ideal working companion for any innovator.

Written by a top literary agent who gives writers an insider's view of how to find and work with an agent throughout the process of getting published. Includes: -- How to know that you're ready for an agent -- 7 ways to find an agent -- Writing a cover letter that grabs attention -- What to do with an agent once you've got one -- What you can expect and what you'd better not hope for -- Making sure this is the right agent for you -- Congratulations, now you have an agent AND an editor -- How to avoid the 7 worst pitfalls for aspiring writers -- And much, much more. In today's highly competitive publishing industry, literary agents are more important than ever. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, reference or children's books, here is everything you need to know about using an agent to launch and sustain your literary career.a

Captivate the hearts and minds of young adult readers! Writing for young adult (YA) and middle grade (MG) audiences isn't just "kid's stuff" anymore--it's kidlit! The YA and MG book markets are healthier and more robust than ever, and that means the competition is fiercer, too. In Writing Irresistible Kidlit, literary agent Mary Kole shares her expertise on writing novels for young adult and middle grade readers and teaches you how to: • Recognize the differences between middle grade and young adult audiences and how it impacts your writing. • Tailor your manuscript's tone, length, and content to your readership. • Avoid common mistakes and cliches that are prevalent in YA and MG fiction, in respect to characters, story ideas, plot structure and more. • Develop themes and ideas in your novel that will strike emotional chords. Mary Kole's candid commentary and insightful observations, as well as a collection of book excerpts and personal insights from bestselling authors and editors who specialize in the children's book market, are invaluable tools for your kidlit career. If you want the skills, techniques, and know-how you need to craft memorable stories for teens and tweens, Writing Irresistible Kidlit can give them to you.

Provides practical and timely advice on writing different types of children's books, working with publishers, understanding the publishing process, the importance of illustrators, and building a career in the field of children's literature. Original. 12,000 first printing.

Discover the Journal From Initial Idea to Completed Story A wardrobe that leads to a fantasy world...a rendition of Hamlet told by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern...the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West.... Just where do successful writers get their ideas? Author Fred White demystifies the creative process of idea generation by breaking it down into six essential stages: idea recognition, idea incubation, outlining, research, drafting, and revision. In Where Do You Get Your Ideas? you will learn: • How to create, organize, and keep a writer's notebook. • Where to look for ideas--in daily observations, books, news articles, and magazines--and how to recognize a story when you see one. • Techniques for developing ideas into creative works of fiction and non-fiction: free-associating, listing, mapping, and collaging. • How to transform a good idea into a great story, novel, or memoir. With practical advice, techniques, and exercises, plus 75 seminal ideas to jump-start your creativity, Where Do You Get Your Ideas? will pull back the curtain on the magic of idea generation and reveal the wealth of writing inspiration right in front of you.