I’ve gone on and on in the past about how important it is for new writers to meet and make connections with other writers. There are so many different ways to do this, with the online community, local critique groups, and even from within your own social circle. For me, however, I think the most […]
Writing a Synopsis for Your Novel
Now that you’ve read through your novel a few times and are pretty happy with how things look, it’s time to work on your query letter and synopsis. If you’re seeking a traditional publishing deal, this is a necessary step, but I’ll be frank with you: It isn’t very fun. What is a synopsis? So […]
Don’t be afraid to try something new
I wrote a book in one sitting last night. No, I’m not any kind of superhero and I’m certainly not a speed writer (or speed reader for that matter.) But I did it. But here’s the secret: The “book” in question was less than one thousand words long. In fact, at 950 word it’s still […]
Is Your Young Adult Fiction too “Young Adult-ie”?
(Note: This is a reprint of a post I wrote for my old blog a few years back. I thought it would be worth sharing, as most of it is still relevant, and it shows some of the stuff that went through my head when I was working on earlier drafts of my novel.) I […]
Your writing is your business. Treat it that way.
Here’s the thing. If you’re a writer and you hope to become a successful writer, then you need to view your writing as a business. I know, I’ve said that before, but this time I’m not talking about all the businessy things you need to do as a writer. This time I’m talking about how […]
Four Ways NOT Start Your Novel
It seems that every expert, agent, editor, publisher, and successful author agrees that you should never begin a novel with a prologue. I’ve personally had an agent tell me that she’ll reject a manuscript on the first word, if that word is prologue. So, yeah, there is a lot of hate out there for the […]
333 Query Letters. Every Day.
A while back, an agent I follow on Twitter said something that had me flipping my lid. She casually mentioned that she had received over 20,000 queries so far this year. That’s 20-THOUSAND. With a T. I was like, well, if she takes on, say, twenty new clients this year, I would have pretty good […]
5 Questions About Query Letters
I often talk about how rejection letters don’t usually bother me. In some sense I even view them as a minor success since each rejection reminds me that at least I have a story finished. There is a lot you can learn from short story rejections and if you view them as a tool to […]
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