Q: I live in a small town where there are no agents. Do I have to have an agent in my town or can I get an agent from another town or even another state? Do I really have to meet them in person or can it be strictly a phone and e-mail relationship?—Claira Ketter

A: There’s no rule that says you need to live in the same town, city or even country as your agent. In fact, many authors live several states away from their agents. With technology so advanced (computers and e-mail, fax machines, cell phones that can do everything except wash your car), it’s easy to communicate with an agent from anywhere.

Now, while it’s not necessary, I do think it’s important that before signing with an agent, you should meet her in person if possible. After all, this is the person who’s going to be advising you, representing your work and (hopefully) selling it to a publisher. You need someone who feels as strongly about the success of your book as you do—someone who’s willing to fight for it.

The writer/agent relationship is kind of like a marriage. I’d sure want to meet the person I’m marrying. 

Brian A. Klems is the online managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwpubs.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line. Come back each Tuesday as I try to give you more insight into the writing life.

Q: I get confused when trying to decide when to use the pronouns “I” and “me.” Sometimes it’s obvious, but other times I just can’t decide. What’s the rule?—Anonymous

A: Pronouns can be a little tricky from time to time, particularly “I” and “me,” but all you need to do is follow these guidelines to keep your writing grammatically correct.

If the pronoun is the subject of a clause, always use the nominative case, or “I.” I went to the park. After watching a scary movie, I hid under my bed for three days.

Whenever the pronoun is the object of the verb or the object of a preposition, you must use the objective case, or “me.” The principal called me to her office. She wanted to talk to me. The same rule applies even if a prepositional phrase contains two or more objects. Doug makes fun of my sister and me for hiding under the bed when we’re scared.

Also, if you find that the pronoun is the subject of an infinitive (to be, to hold, to pummel, etc.), use the objective case. My mom needed me to cut the grass.

These rules not only hold true for “I” and “me,” but also for all other pronouns. He bought a dog. The dress looked stunning on her. It’s a battle between them and us. Just follow the guides above when you’re having a case of pronoun-itis.

Brian A. Klems is the online managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwpubs.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line. Come back each Tuesday as I try to give you more insight into the writing life.

Q: What steps can writers take to ensure timely payment? —Anonymous

A: This kind of thing happens all the time: writer does job, submits invoice, waits for check, check never shows up, writer buys carton of eggs, Googles editor's home address and, well, you can guess what happens next.

There are several things that can slow down or even stop your payment from ever being processed. Sometimes it can be a slip-up on the editor's side. Other times the writer misses a step in the process or has misinformed expectations of when the payment will be delivered. So to make sure you receive your payment in a timely fashion, it's important that you understand the contract and keep things clean on your end.

First, be sure that you submit a correct and thoroughly filled out invoice—including name, date, mailing information, social security number/business tax ID, title of project/article and the amount charged. When sending the invoice (typically via e-mail), copy yourself (put your e-mail address in the CC spot). This way you have a record of when it was sent and whom it was sent to.

Also, it's important for you to remember that editors don't fully control the purse strings for publishing companies, and accounting cuts all the checks. All accounting departments work a little differently—some pay 30 days from the day the invoice is submitted, some pay 60 days from the publication date of your piece. Before contacting anyone, examine your contract so you are clear on when you should get paid. Once you've established that date, add two weeks before contacting the editor to look for the payment. (The two-week buffer is in case the editor took a couple days to pass it along to accounting and for mailing-time.)

If you follow all these steps, you'll save yourself time, energy and headaches down the road. Plus you'll save that poor carton of eggs.

Brian A. Klems is the online managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwpubs.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line. Come back each Tuesday as I try to give you more insight into the writing life.

Q: I know that grammatically we shouldn’t use contractions at all unless it’s‑in speech, but I see that many nonfiction bestselling authors use them. What are the current guidelines for their use?—Henry

A: Contractions aren’t wrong—they’re just less formal than the expanded forms. Using them depends on your audience. They’re far more acceptable today than they were when your grandpa was just a dad, and there’s nothing wrong with contractions in the right context. And sometimes there can be a good deal wrong without them. As you can probably see, Writer’s Digest uses them quite frequently. Our style is to employ conjunctions when they flow naturally and make the sentence smoother.

If you’re writing a college term paper or a professional study, however, you should probably avoid them. As for novels, short stories and other forms of writing where your own style is required, it’s up to you whether you can, cannot or can’t use them.

Brian A. Klems is the online managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwpubs.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line. Come back each Tuesday as I try to give you more insight into the writing life.