The Writer’s Dig
by Brian A. Klems
Online Editor Brian A. Klems covers everything about writing on his blog. From grammar to writing tips to publishing advice to best practices in finding an agent to fueling your creative fire, he’s got you covered by pulling in great tips (not just from himself but from from other published and award-winning authors, too). Check out his advice—your writing career will thank you. Read Brian’s Blog
Guide to Literary Agents Blog
There Are No Rules
Poetic Asides
“How I Got My Agent” is a recurring feature on the Guide to Literary Agents Blog, with this installment featuring Susanne Lord, author of DISCOVERY OF DESIRE. These columns are great ways for you to learn how to find a literary agent. Some tales are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good...
Today, as part of our Behind the Scenes of a Writing Competition series, Romance judge Sharon Naylor discusses standout submissions, clichés, and how entering your story could spark a writing career. Meet the Judge I am the author of over 35 books, hundreds of articles and two novels (so far.) My next is in...
Jess specializes in YA and adult, with a keen interest in contemporary, thriller, romance, and women's fiction.
Welcome to the 23rd (free!) “Dear Lucky Agent” Contest on the GLA blog. This is a FREE recurring online contest with agent judges and super-cool prizes. Here’s the deal: With every contest, the details are essentially the same, but the niche itself changes—meaning each contest is focused around a specific category or two. If you’re writing any...
Agents, publishers, and editors are always looking for “fresh writing.” They want something new. Something they’ve never seen before. Four years ago, I was just a reader attending college classes for my business degree. I hadn’t written anything other than school papers, but decided I was going to write a book and get it...
What makes a bestseller, well, sell the best? While of course there is no magic formula, turns out there are some commonalities among chart-topping tomes. Whether it’s stats for the average number of words per sentence or a comparison of most-loved protagonists, the fun facts are all spelled out here in this delightfully nifty infographic. This infographic is...
Jeff Zentner, author of THE SERPENT KING (March 8, 2016, Crown Books for Young Readers), shares the 7 lessons that have had an impact on his writing career.
Today is a pretty big day on Poetic Asides and for the Wednesday Poetry Prompts series: It marks a year’s worth (365 days!) of prompts. Wow! Sooooo… For today’s prompt, write a “year in the life” poem. It could be a poem about something that takes a year to happen, a summary of a...
A little over a year ago, my first novel was published. After countless revisions, querying it to an inch of its life, finding an agent, leaving an agent, finding a publisher, content edits, line edits, etc., etc., my little-story-that-could became a full-fledged, published novel. For months after its release, the question which seemed to...
I think the general consensus among those writers who teach the craft is that you must read—and read widely—about the craft of writing, particularly those authors who write in your genre. But I think there’s a lot you can learn about writing from other mediums, too. Specifically television. Every other week, I’ll bring you...
Please join me in welcoming poet Amy MacLennan to the Poetic Asides blog! Amy MacLennan’s first full-length collection The Body, A Tree was published earlier this year by MoonPath Press. Her work has been published in Cimarron Review, Cloudbank, Connotation Press, Folio, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Linebreak, Painted Bride Quarterly, Pirene’s Fountain, Poet’s Market, Rattle,...
Today, as part of our Behind the Scenes of a Writing Competition series, Thriller judge Jodie Renner discusses how to avoid common mistakes and take your submission to the top. Meet the Judge: Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three craft-of-writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide...
Sometimes it’s difficult to pinpoint which agents are open to submissions at any given time. So with that in mind, I’m creating some new vertical lists of agents seeking queries right now, as of late summer 2016. This list is for Adult Fantasy Novels. All the agents listed below personally confirmed to me as...
Currently Seeking: She specializes in all categories of literary and upmarket fiction. She’s especially drawn to historical novels and psychological thrillers. In addition, she loves working with debut authors who have a gift for storytelling and are able immerse her deep within a well-built world in the space of a few sentences. Braided narratives,...
1. It’s okay to blend writing styles. “If I still had the space, charcoal, and available walls, I could compose a great work about forgetting: a general theory of oblivion.” (104).
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2016 issue of Writer’s Digest. Jonathan Maberry has no reason to fear being typecast by genre. The New York Times bestselling author and five-time Bram Stoker Award–winner has published books, short stories and articles in nearly every category imaginable, including science fiction, horror, fantasy, thriller, mystery, young...
If you’re on the cusp of trying to get a literary agent, or you’re trying to decide if you need one at all, or you’re right in the thick of your queries, or you have an agent but aren’t making forward progress together, enter our latest “Get an Agent” issue, the October 2016 Writer’s Digest. We...
This is a recurring column I’m calling “7 Things I’ve Learned So Far,” where writers (this installment written by Amy Gustine, author of YOU SHOULD PITY US INSTEAD) at any stage of their career can talk about writing advice and instruction as well as how they possibly got their book agent — by sharing seven things they’ve learned along their...
For today’s prompt, write a “let the good times roll” poem. I’ll allow each poet to put the emPHAsis where they wish in that phrase. Focus on the “good times” or play around with the concept of “rolling.” However you roll, I’m cool with it. ***** Re-create Your Poetry! Revision doesn’t have to be...
Not long after college, I had the good fortune to have lunch with Howard Fast (Spartacus, Citizen Tom Paine). A mutual friend had arranged the lunch, knowing that I wanted to be a writer. The great master listened politely as I told him I was writing a play about the Stasi infiltration of a group of...
I’m hoping to announce the winners of the byr a thoddaid challenge next week, but in the meantime, let’s get started on the next challenge: writing the haiku sonnet! Find the rules for writing haiku sonnets here. It’s basically four haiku and a couplet comprised of 7-syllable lines. So start writing them and sharing...
Sometimes it’s difficult to pinpoint which agents are open to submissions at any given time. So with that in mind, I’m creating some new vertical lists of agents seeking queries right now, as of summer 2016. This list is for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. All the agents listed below personally confirmed to me...
Today, as part of our Behind the Scenes of a Writing Competition series, Crime judge Jeffrey Marks provides tips and techniques for a standout submission. Meet the Judge: Jeffrey Marks is a long-time mystery fan and freelancer. After numerous mystery author profiles, he chose to chronicle the short but full life of mystery writer...
She is seeking: She is solely looking for women's fiction -- both commercial and upmarket. She seeks stories that are character driven, that make you think and feel. Sarah wants to take her experience and drive and match that with “stories that use a fresh voice to explore different aspects of the female experience:...
Domestic noir is a growing genre. Given successes such as Paula Hawkin’s GIRL ON A TRAIN and Gillian Flynn’s GONE GIRL, it appears that regular domestic situations are a fertile breeding ground for suspense thrillers. Everyday dramas play out around the kitchen tables and the bedrooms of family homes. In fact, generally speaking, the more...
