by Erin Brown
“Picking an agent?” you ask. “Don’t I just pick the agent that picks me? Sheesh, if someone wants to represent me, sign me up, no questions asked, right?” Well, slow down there, partner. Sure, it’s fantastic to have someone interested in your work, but you want to be certain that your agent is a good fit for you and your book. Of course if you only have one bite—one agent interested—then you pretty much have one of two choices.
Read Moreby Joe Moore
A lot of writers, including myself, rely on beta readers to scrub our WIP (work in progress) to help find plotting holes and potential stumbles. With this article I will answer: What is a beta reader? Do you need one? How do you find and qualify them? How do they differ from a critique group? How should you react and make use of their feedback?
Read Moreby Matt Cates
The Snowball Effect: Going Viral via Indirect Exposure
This article is about getting creative and developing indirect exposure to your slaved-over writing! You worked hard at it; now how do you get folks to read it? Indirect exposure means creating links between your work and someone (or something) better known than yourself. In its basic form, it’s taking out an advertisement or posting a flyer--anything where a potential reader might be steered to one thing (an article/ website/ meeting/ event)--and then shamelessly blindsiding them with a brilliant sample of your stuff when their guard is down!
by Jennifer Paros
When I am writing or drawing, I consistently need to go back to black – back to internal darkness – in order to let the next new thing emerge. It is a choice between staying focused on the activity of my mind, trying to think my way through the creative process, or allowing my attention to turn inward, listening and watching, stationed in the darkness that might afford me new light.
Read Moreby Jennifer Paros
The other night, my husband, my youngest son, and I all sat down to play a game of SORRY. It took a little convincing, though, as my son - due to a recent losing streak – had banned most board games. Warily, he agreed to play.
If you’re familiar with SORRY you know that the object is for each player to get all his pieces safely Home.
by Jason Black
An epiphany is not a character arc
When plotting out or revising your novel, it’s important to understand the difference between an epiphany and a character arc. Both are useful and important, but they serve very different roles in the narrative. They are salt and sugar: both dry, white, granular materials, both similarly important in cooking, but not remotely interchangeable.
Read Moreby Bill Kenower
When Author was still in its infancy, I had the chance to interview the novelist Alice Hoffman. I mentioned that I had just listened to an interview with Meryl Streep in which the actress discussed her doubt that anyone would still want to cast her in a movie. Hoffman, who has had a long, prolific, profitable, and decorated career, said she felt much same say.
Read Moreby Cherie Tucker
Ours is a fluid language, and the flood of technological upgrades is speeding changes even faster. Rules that used to be unquestioned are now reduced to mere suggestions. In the world of capitalization, things have become quite challenging. Of course beginning sentences with capitals remains unchanged, as well as referring to yourself with a capital I. There are some new twists, however, in situations that might confuse you.
Read Moreby Joan Frank
Francine Prose once complained that too few literary characters have to use the toilet now and again. It irritated her in a craft-monitoring way. She wondered why writers don't more often choose to deal with real human rhythms, while evoking otherwise grittily-authentic worlds. Prose was suggesting that this sort of omission, while discreet, flattens the dimensionality of an art form that wants nothing to do with discretion.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
I’ve been receiving a rash of emails lately lamenting the abject horror of the whole submission—a.k.a. rejection—process. Bottom line: it sucks. Royally.
It’s similar to going on a first date after months (hell, years!!) of preparation: you’re dressed to the nines, sparkly and brilliant for the occasion, putting your best foot forward, excited, ready for the world to be yours and…your jerk of a date takes one brief look at you and says with a smirk, “Nah, you’re no good. Not my type.
Read Moreby Kit Bakke
My daughter belongs to the twenty-something tattoo generation. Several years ago she urged me to get a tattoo, too. “OK,” I replied, “but only after my second book is published.” I imagined a tattoo of a fountain pen, with little drops coming off the point, one for each book.
Then, after basking in the glory of the 2006 publication of my Miss Alcott’s E-Mail, I spent most of 2009-2010 collecting rejections for my middle-grade novel Dot to Dot. Finally fed up, I swallowed my pride and turned to the dark side: self-publishing.
Read Moreby Jason Black
There are certain elements any story needs to present in order for readers to believe in the story, in order for them to accept the made-up events of your novel as sufficiently real to be worth caring about. One of the most important elements relates to disbelief.
It's ironic, but to engage your readers' belief you need to create appropriate disbelief by the characters in the story.
Read Moreby Laura Munson
As usual, I have a tall stack of books on my bedside table. And as usual, I daily attempt a few paragraphs in pursuit of discovering a new favorite writer or subject, or a character of some astonishment, or a fresh angle into the human heart…and yet, all too often, I find myself sneaking to the top left shelf of my book case where the Jim Harrison lives and pulling down a dog-eared, underlined, bath-bloated, roughed-up old friend.
Read Moreby Cherie Tucker
Writers know that in dialogue, you start a new paragraph for each new speaker, and that a long-winded speaker who insists on talking in more than one paragraph doesn’t get an end quote until he’s finished.
“Really?” she asked.
“Yes, really. And that’s not all. After she said that, she turned and spat at him. I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears. And the things they said to each other in front of that that poor child. It was dreadful. I rose to leave, but they insisted I remain.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
As this year’s PNWA conference rolls around, and as other wonderful writers conferences continue throughout the year, I think this is the perfect time to offer a refresher course on pitching to agents and editors. Over the years, as an editor, I’ve heard hundreds of pitches. Excellent ones, good ones, bad ones, and “please, please stop speaking” ones. Now, you don’t want to find yourself in that last category, so listen up, pitchers, and learn to be an ace so you can nail down a victory and avoid the standard bush league plays (yes, I’m on a baseball bender, so sue me).
Read Moreby Jennifer Paros
My youngest son, who has been having a challenging time in school, told me he wants to “fit in.”
At first I flinched at the expression, having always seen fitting in as trying to pretzel oneself to match and blend with external expectations. But soon I felt compelled to take another look at the idea.
As someone who writes, I’ve thought fitting in was counterproductive to originality and authentic expression.
Read Moreby Laura Munson
I’m home now after two months on the road promoting my book, and every morning, I wake up with a start: Where am I?
I could be anywhere. I could be in a Hampton Inn in Dayton, Ohio. I could be in a Ritz Carlton in downtown Los Angeles. I could even be in my own bed. And it’s an interesting experiment lying there, daring the early morning birds, living into that not knowing.
Read Moreby Jason Black
What character is in every scene and on every page of your novel? Don’t be so quick to say “none.” I don’t care what kind of book you’re writing. Even a third-person omniscient book with dozens of characters has one who is in every scene and on every page.
It’s you.
Read Moreby Cherie Tucker
We used to use the apostrophe plus an s to pluralize things, such as the 1920’s. Now, however, with our continuously evolving language, in many instances the apostrophe is omitted, and we simply add the s. I’m sure you’ll still see it done both ways, because we did it the apostrophe way for years. You will find apostrophes in older printed material, and people who were trained to include them will still automatically add one. Here are are some guidelines to tell you when to leave it out or put it in.
Read Moreby Joan Frank
Something strange happened when I sent out a handful of respectful queries, some months ago, to writers I knew—and to some I didn't—hoping they'd consider blurbing a new novel of mine.
The novel will be my fifth work of literary fiction. I also review literary fiction every month for a major west coast newspaper. I've won grants and awards—I await verdicts, as a nominee, for many others. Do these elements count? Enhance anything?
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