It's no secret that a writer's query letter is extremely important in their quest to get a literary agent and get published. Agents evaluate dozens of queries a day, and make requests for more material from the few letters that impress them. They're crucial, and that's why people never get enough articles or advice...
Blending two differing genres into a new storytelling twist, or what I like to call a “cocktail genre,” has been a popular style for a while now. You have Max Brooks’ documentary/horror epic World War Z (as usual, the book is better than the film); multiple works by Seth Grahame-Smith such as Pride and...
The second annual Writer's Digest West Conference is approaching quickly! We at WD are planning a grand event in Los Angeles from Sept. 27-29, 2013, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. The conference is actually 3 events in one. We have a traditional awesome writers conference, a screenwriting conference, and a self-publishing conference going...
If you’ve followed this series, you’ll notice that: a) I think most writers have a project that would make for a fun and possibly profitable self-published book, and b) Creating a successful self-published book will require a fair amount of design and technical skills, either your own or someone else’s. I encourage you to...
The following is a guest post by Thomas Smith. Happy Friday. Over the years I’ve looked at what my dogs have taught me about writing, what Batman can teach us about writing, and today I’m going to extend the tradition. Today we’re going to look to the stars for our guidance. No, not astronomy....
In the previous post in this series, I discussed how we each have a great project buried in our computers, notebooks, or desk drawers that would make for a fun self-publishing project as opposed to a traditionally published book. Some things just weren’t meant for Random House. And while the small press world is...
All published authors can tell you that their first draft looks nothing like the finished book they sign at bookstores. How do they edit their material to take their work to a professional level? What are agents/editors looking for today in terms of a polished manuscript? Is grammar all that important, or should the...
The following is a guest post from Jotham Burrello, publisher of Elephant Rock Books. * I arrived at Ragdale House on a sunny June morning in my rusty Saab. I’d packed my laptop, printer, notes, manuscript, suitcase, peanut butter crackers and a bottle of Glenlivet. I had abandoned my MFA thesis and was at...
Ah, summer. Whether you’re planning to spend the sticky days of June poolside or within the refuge of your air-conditioned living room, the lazy days of summer are perfect for indulging in a new book or revisiting an old favorite. From laugh-out-loud memoirs to guilty-pleasure genre fiction, the editors at Writer’s Digest share their...
Many writers today are trying their hand nowadays at writing young adult. It's a popular genre with readers, and that means it's a very popular genre with aspiring writers. Submissions are plentiful in YA, and teens have a lot of options each year in terms of what to read. So what can you do...
June 14, 2013 is coming up fast -- and that date marks the official deadline to enter WD's 82nd Annual Writing Competition. Your motivation to enter is simple: The grand-prize winner not only gets a nice $3,000 first prize, they also get a trip to New York City to meet with agents and editors....
The big dream since childhood—shared by so many fellow writers of all ages—was to walk into a bookstore (perhaps a bookstore that I owned—bonus dream!) and find a novel with my name on the cover gracing a column of shelves with eager hands reaching upward to pluck a copy and buy it before racing...
In order for someone to keep reading your manuscript, it has to start strong. Gone are the days when a book could "get good on page 44." Now it's imperative for writers to hook agents & editors with their chapter 1, page 1 -- and even paragraph 1. But this is a tricky endeavor....
Recently, I’ve been sharing writing assignments on the Writer’s Digest twitter account (@WritersDigest) using the hashtag #writerassignments. Since it’s been fairly popular so far, I thought it might be good form to collect this month’s 30 writer assignments at the beginning of the month. Now you can do one assignment each day, burn through...
To anyone not currently wandering the halls of Book Expo America in New York, loaded down with so many books you wish you’d brought a wheelbarrow (my favorite part of the event): How about a writing challenge? Basically, in every issue of Writer’s Digest we give our readers a chance to get published in...
One of the things I love most about working with writers is that so many of them are unflinchingly generous with their time, words and wisdom. So when I was recently approached by freelancer Monica Bhide and asked if I’d be interested in something purely motivational for our community of writers and readers, I...
It's no secret that the query letter is a difficult monster to tame. Plenty of people say that writing a concise, compelling query is not much easier than writing the manuscript itself. Because a query is your all-important first contact with publishing professionals, and because literary agents read the most queries, we've secured agent...
Getting a literary agent is no easy feat. It requires crafting a query and pitch to get their attention -- without making any "querial killer" mistakes that will get your submission rejected. Cutting through the slush is hard work. That's why we're lucky to have agent Katharine Sands (Sarah Jane Freymann Literary) to teach...
Consider James Lee Burke. Sure, his novels are everywhere these days. Bookstores. Airports. Bestseller lists. But here’s how they got there. As Lindsey O’Connor detailed in our profile of the author, Burke published his first story when he was 19. It did not earn him instant fame. He worked the oil fields. He drove trucks....
Every novel is driven by character. We fall in love with heroines, cheer for heroes, and loathe our villains. Characters draw us in, and through them we experience our favorite stories. Without a compelling cast, even the most engrossing tale can fall flat. What makes some protagonists iconic, while others go up in smoke?...
Perhaps because I’m in the process of revising a novel manuscript myself, the advice in the May/June 2013 Writer’s Digest Guide to Pain-Free Revision really resonated with me as I pieced it all together behind the scenes. In fact, I’d go so far to say that some of the insights from the talented contributors...
Recently I was asked to talk to a group of ‘beginning writers’. Mind you, these people were adults; it’s not like they were in the first grade just learning how to spell c-a-t. I talked to them about the same things I discuss with experienced writers: how to be free and pour it out....
Based on interviews with authors over the years, conferences, editing dozens of issues of Writer’s Digest, and my own occasional literary forays and flails, here are some points of consensus and observations: 15 of them, things anyone who lives by the pen (or seeks to) might consider. It is, like most things in the...
We know that agents, publishers, and readers are looking for a killer premise, something that draws them to your story. But a quieter truth, one that can get your novel or screenplay sold, is that these same three constituencies care desperately about how your story will end. A great ending can elevate a story's...
Getting a literary agent is a massive step to seeing your writing dreams come to life. An agent can get you a book deal from a major publisher. An agent can help sell your book overseas and to Hollywood. An agent can help guide your career. All that said, finding and signing with an...
