Choose Your Own Adventure at indieLAB, a New Interactive Event for Writers
If you're an author, aspiring novelist, freelance writer or small publisher who wants to expand your readership, improve your business prospects and earn more from your writing, join us this September at indieLAB, an all-new event from Writer's Digest.
What Starting a Business and Launching a Book Have in Common: It’s All About the Investment
When launching a book, your job is to find readers, engage with readers, write good books, and sell the heck out of said book(s). Here are a few rules from the business world that will make the investment of time and energy worth your while.
The Lowdown on Libel: Understanding What Libel Means for Writers
When contemplating whether to pen something potentially controversial, your best defense is knowing when your work is protected and when it crosses the line. While libel laws vary from state to state, there are general principles you can rely upon.
Risky Business: Taking Big Risks in Your Writing Career—and How They Can Pay Off
Here, we talk with writers who have taken big writing career risks and how those risks paid off—along with what they learned along the way.
The Pros and Cons of Getting Published
Do you ever worry that getting published—that worrying about the business of writing—might sully the purity of your artistic expression and dampen your passion for the craft? Many writers struggle with the concessions required of the publication process, but you needn't fear them; it's all part of the experience.
13 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Sign That Book Contract or Take That Freelance Writing Job
In a competitive industry, it’s easy to feel like publishers hold all the power. But the truth is they need good content—and writers have a right to not be fleeced. Here are some situations when the best option just might be to walk away from that book contract or that freelance...
Tune In: 23 Best Podcasts for Writers
This year, to accompany our annual list of 101 Best Websites for Writers, we decided to put together a list of what we think are the best podcasts for writers. Here are our favorites—let us know if you have any additional suggestions!
The Art of Collaboration: 10 Tips for Writing Success
How do individual writers, with unique styles and voices, come together to produce a cohesive novel with seamless prose? Here are 10 things you need to know when attempting to write collaboratively.
A Surprising Plan for Drafting Your Book Proposal
Industry veterans Jody Rein and Michael Larsen share an excerpt from their new book, How to Write a Book Proposal 5th Edition, about the preferred order for drafting a book proposal.
Ghostwriting: A Business Blueprint You Need to Succeed
There’s a big difference between landing one or two gigs and making a career of ghostwriting—or any kind of writing, for that matter. Use this plan for long-term, full-time success.
How to Create an Inspiring Work Space (for under $20)
With a few simple, inexpensive tricks, you can turn any area—no matter how small, and even if you write in a coffee shop or other public place—into a crucible for creativity.
Why Facebook Is My Dream Publicist
Like a dream book publicist, Facebook has helped me in many ways. Here's how it can help you as a writer.
9 Tips and Strategies for Promoting Your Book Locally
There are so many ways to get the word out about your book starting with your own community. Here are a number of strategies for you to use to promote your book.
What It’s Like to Land a Book Deal
From the moment you touch fingers to keyboard or pen to paper, you dream of this moment. Here's what it's like when it finally happens.
How to Write the Perfect Query Letter
A literary agent shares a real-life novel pitch that ultimately led to a book deal—and shows you how to query your own work with success.
Should You Grant an Exclusive Read of Your Novel to an Agent?
If a literary agent asks for a six-week exclusive window to look at your manuscript, should you grant it? Here's what you should consider.
Free E-book Promotions—Are They Right for You?
If you’re a self-published author, you know it’s an arduous task to get your books noticed, and as the self-publishing industry continues to expand, there is a growing difficulty for authors to stand out. Kindle claims to have close to 4 million e-books in its store, and I’ve heard recent estimates...
A Writer’s Guide to Defamation and Invasion of Privacy
Chances are, you’re not the only character in your book. Here’s what every memoir writer needs to know about invasion of privacy, defamation and the law.
5 Important Tips on How to Pitch a Literary Agent In Person
Writing conferences offer valuable chances to meet face-to-face with agents—but in the heat of the moment, nerves can get the best of even the most confident writers. Here are 5 steps to coming out on top.
How to See Your Work Through an Agent or Publisher’s Eyes
Query letter writing is no doubt one of the hardest forms of writing to master. Here's what agents and publishers need to see from you when you pitch your work.
How to Sell Your Manuscript Without an Agent
First-time author Diane Kelly offers 4 strategies to connect with editors and sell your manuscript—without an agent.
Do You Need a Publisher Anymore? Hachette and J.A. Konrath Duke It Out
In his obituary to the year-long Domino Project, Seth Godin wrote that publishing companies and other traditional players that do not adapt to new modes of doing business will go extinct. Others have suggested the same.
Meanwhile, some authors like J.A. Konrath and David Gaughran have eschewed traditional relationships with publishers to...
Writer’s Workout Exclusive
Download a free motivational poster to keep you moving as your build your writing career. Read an Excerpt! Learn how to cultivate clarity, inventory ideas, write richly, and serve up words. About the Book Find out more ways to cross train your writing career in The Writer’s Workout by Christina Katz....
Writer’s Workout Excerpt
Excerpt from The Writer’s Workout by Christina Katz CULTIVATE CLARITY When you write something needlessly prolix and convoluted, there’s a reason for it, and that reason is usually a lack of clarity and purpose going on. —Robert Masello The reader shouldn’t have to do all the work. Recently I picked up...