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There Are No Rules
There Are No Rules Blog by the Editors of Writer’s Digest
Get on the cutting edge of today’s publishing trends and how authors can succeed in a world of fast-paced technological change, guided by the editors of Writer’s Digest. You’ll get an inside look at the work, play, and passion of the publishing business and find practical tools for success.
Agent/Author John M. Cusick Teaches “Writing and Selling Sci-Fi & Fantasy for Kids and Teens” – Dec. 13, 2012 Webinar With Query Critique
On Dec. 13, 2012, we’re pleased to welcome back literary agent & kidlit author John Cusick to our webinar program. Because he is both a successful children’s novelist as well as a literary agent for Scott Treimel NY who reps kids books, John is a remarkably good instructor at explaining how to get young adult and middle grade published. On Dec. 13, he’s teaching “Writing and Selling Science Fiction & Fantasy For Kids/Teens.” If you’re writing in either of these hugely popular genres, let John explain what agents are looking for, and let him give your query letter a critique at the same time! Read more
How to Write a Reader-Friendly Essay
Powerful, surprising, and fascinating personal essays are also “reader-friendly essays” that keep the reader squarely in focus. So how do you go about writing one? In this excerpt from Crafting the Personal … Read more
Agent Holly Root Teaches “Writing the Breakout Teen Novel” — Dec. 6, 2012 Webinar With Query Critique
For those of you who don’t follow literary agent Holly Root on Twitter, you should know that there is a reason she has 13,000 followers. She’s very smart and sells a lot of books. A big passion of hers is young adult and middle grade books. Her first webinar went so well that we’ve invited her back for more. Holly is teaching “Writing the Breakout Teen Novel” at 1 p.m., EST, on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012. The webinar lasts 90 minutes. In addition to getting top-notch instruction, all attendees can also submit their query to Holly for a guaranteed critique. (And if she likes what she sees, she may just ask you for more. Literary agents Barbara Poelle, Lori Perkins and Kathleen Ortiz have all signed clients after critiquing writing as part of a WD webinar!) Read more
How to Make Your WordPress Website Stand Out in a Crowd: New 11-29-12 Webinar With Jane Friedman
WordPress is quickly becoming the go-to technology for any writer who wants to start a simple yet very effective website for themselves. (And remember, a website is the #1 tool a writer has to meet readers, market themselves, sell books, and become a more valuable author to agents & editors.) With that in mind, we’ve brought back popular webinar instructor Jane Friedman to teach “Wordpress Websites 101: Best Practices, Tools & Growth Strategies” — a 90-minute webinar on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. She will address things like how to have your site make money, how to show up higher in Google search results, and more! Read more
Being Grateful for Little Moments of Magic: Thanksgiving Inspiration for Writing
Whenever I pull out my camera, my 1-year-old will invariably stop whatever he was doing that prompted me to snap a photo. Is he already perceptive enough, on some level, to become … Read more
Freelance Your Way to a Better Platform
Long before you publish your book—and long after—you should be thinking about your writer platform. How do you build that core audience? How do you enhance your reputation as a great writer, … Read more
Writing challenge! Can you write an opening sentence to a story incorporating these 3 words? (Winners will be published in WD)
Looking for a little Friday procrastination in the form of a writing challenge? Close that Excel spreadsheet you’re working on, minimize your boss’ emails or postpone your daily chores (come on, nobody … Read more
Writing for the Young Adult Audience
There’s no question about it: The young adult (YA) audience is a hot market, one that is steadily growing in popularity and garnering attention from young readers as well as literary critics. … Read more
Wade Rouse: Top 10 Ways to Stay True to Yourself in Publishing
Since many TANR readers seem to have enjoyed Erik Larson’s list of the Top 10 Essentials to a Writer’s Life and Sherman Alexie’s Top 10 Pieces of Writing Advice I’ve Been Given … Read more
Literary Agent Kate McKean Teaches “Awesome First Pages: How to Start Your Story Right” — Webinar With Critique on Nov. 15, 2012
No longer can writers compose books that “really start to cook on page 40.” Books must start strong from the very first page. Your first paragraph, your first sentence, your first few pages — they all must have momentum and conflict and purpose. They cannot be fluff. Weak starts to stories is one of the most frequent reasons agents & editors reject submissions. Lucky for us, we have an expert on the subject. One of our most popular webinar instructors, literary agent Kate McKean, has returned to teach “Awesome First Pages: How to Start Your Story Right” on November 15, 2012. Read more
Promote Yourself and Your Books to Get Known & Build Your Platform
The Writer’s Digest Premium Collection for November 2012 is called “Make a Name For Yourself.” The idea behind the WD premium collections is simple. We bundle tons of stuff and discount it a lot. In fact, this collection is discounted 81%! So if you want to learn how to network yourself, make connections, meet readers, and sell books, this premium collection for you. Learn more about the 3 books and many webinars included with this deal… Read more
How To Get More Blog Readers: Webinar on November 13, 2012 (RESCHEDULED DATE!) with Personalized Blog Critique
If you’re trying to reach more readers and make connections, a blog will be one of your biggest tools. A blog is your chance to have a depot for content and let people know who you are and what you’ve written. Fortunately, we have blogging expert Porter Anderson to help us learn more about this subject. Blogging pro Porter Anderson is teaching an all-new how-to webinar on blogging called “What Authors, Bloggers and Freelancers Need to Know” on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 at 1 p.m. EST. Keep reading to learn all about the intensive webinar and the personalized critique. Read more
10-Minute Literary Halloween Costumes: Dress Like Your Favorite Character
Rather than dressing up as a pirate or a sexy nurse this Halloween, why not take a nerdier approach and go out as your favorite book character? Here are a few of … Read more
Write Your First Draft in 12 Weeks
It’s easy to start a novel but difficult to finish. You have to have enough momentum to carry you through the entire front-to-back process. Starting on Nov. 8, author G. Miki Hayden will be teaching “12 Weeks to a First Draft” – all about how to break down your novel writing process into three months of work and tackle it step by step. Each week, students will be assigned a portion of their story and will delve into subjects such as pace, plot, character, setting, style, exposition, dialogue, and tension. Read more
The Back Story on Marketing Fiction
By Rob Eagar A survey of 21,000 book shoppers by the Codex Group revealed that the #1 way to attract people to a fiction author’s website is to offer exclusive unpublished writings, … Read more
Flowchart: How Do I Publish a Book?
One of the questions we get asked the most at Writer’s Digest: How do I publish a book? Well, we decided to finally answer it in this flowchart from our November/December 2012 … Read more
Inspiration for Writers: How to Be More Creative
Ideas are everywhere. It’s what we do with them that matters. The latest issue of Writer’s Digest is dubbed The Big Idea Issue—and we’ve filled it with clever tips and simple strategies … Read more
4 Ways to Revise as You Write
Writers differ in their opinions of the revision process. Some balk at it–they see it as the “no fun” part of writing, and much prefer drafting and creation to fixing and rethinking. … Read more
Learn to Plot & Structure Your Story. New Webinar on Oct. 18, 2012 Shows Story Physics and Engineering.
What are the most important moments of your story? Do you have a low point? The climax mapped out? The inciting incident that gets the story moving? These are the questions being addressed by Story Engineering author Larry Brooks (a true master of plotting, in WD’s opinion) for his new webinar on Oct. 18, 2012. Larry is teaching “Story Physics: How to Hit the Most Important Moments In Your Story Out of the Park.” If you want to map out a good story, learn about plot & structure by taking this webinar. Read more
5 Digital Discoverability Tips
By Rob Eagar Recently, I spoke at the inaugural Discoverability and Marketing Conference hosted by Digital Book World (www.DigitalBookWorld.com) in New York City. The theme of my presentation was “Discoverability starts with … Read more
Top 5 Books for Halloween, And What They Can Teach You About Writing
Whenever Halloween comes around, I like to pick up a dusty tome of terror, wipe away the cobwebs, and crack the spine in the dim glow of a bedside lamp, safely tucked … Read more
‘Why I Write’ (One of the Best Things We’ve Read All Week)
Earlier today, I happened upon these striking words from Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk’s 2006 Nobel Prize acceptance speech: “The question we writers are asked most often, the favorite question, is, ‘Why do … Read more
Agent Gina Panettieri Teaches “How To Find The Right Agent To Sell Your Book” – New Webinar With Critique on Oct. 11, 2012
Who better to help you find the best agent than a great agent working in today’s marketplace? Here at WD, we publish the Guide to Literary Agents as a huge database of agents and what they want. But getting the book is just the first step. You need to investigate agents for possible submissions then research what they like and what they’re selling. The more you target your submissions, the better off you’ll be. And when you receive an offer of representation from an agent, how do you know if they’re the best fit for you in the long run? Luckily for us, we have an expert on the matter to teach a webinar. Agent Gina Panettieri (Talcott Notch) teaches “How To Find The Right Agent To Sell Your Book” on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. All attendees get a critique. Read more
Sherman Alexie’s Top 10 Pieces of Advice for Writers
National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie’s birthday is Sunday, and his new title Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories was released this week. To celebrate the short-story writer (War Dances), poet (The Business of … Read more
Write Fiction that Grabs Readers from Page One
In your novel, the inciting incident is the first sign of trouble for your protagonist: it’s the catalyst, the chemical reaction, that sets the plot into motion. But the inciting incident isn’t … Read more
