Hey there word nerds! Welcome to the 2017 Epic BookExpo Recap episode. If you don’t already what BookExpo is, it’s the big industry trade show that takes place in the United States every year. This year, things at BookExpo were a little bit new and different so I wanted to give you a rundown of… Read more »
If you’ve read DIY MFA or have been following this website for a while, you know how important community is for writers. You need to find readers for your stories, but it’s also incredibly valuable to find other writers who write the same kinds of books as you. If you’re a kid lit writer (or… Read more »
There comes a point in every story when, despite the protagonist’s best efforts, everything goes wrong. The midpoint taught her to take an improved approach to achieving her story goal. But that won’t protect her from experiencing the worst possible setback in her pursuit. Now her goal seems unattainable, her task insurmountable – and the… Read more »
In recent weeks the future of the personal essay has been a hot topic – you may have come across Jia Tolentino’s article in the New Yorker, Lorraine Berry’s take on the situation over at LitHub or Susan Shapiro’s response to Tolentino’s piece. As a writer, teacher and lover of creative non-fiction, particularly its genre-bending… Read more »
At the end of April I found myself in a place I never would have thought possible. I had not been forced or coerced in any way, I was there of my own free will. This past weekend I was at a retreat for public speaking. Back in January, Gabriela sent out an email telling… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I’m delighted to have literary agent Mark Gottlieb on the show. Mark is an agent at Trident Media Group, where he has worked with the agency’s chairman. He is now working on building his own client list because he wants to help manage and grow authors’ careers using the amazing… Read more »
Before I started blogging years ago, I didn’t read a lot of blogs or spend much time on news sites. As a college sophomore who desperately wanted to change her major from Engineering to English, fiction was my jam and not much else mattered. Fast forward to 2017, and web writing has become a… Read more »
Everyone should officially attend at least one writers’ conference. The amount of validation you get from claiming your spot as a “real” writer, whether you feel like you are or not, is totally worth the price of the ticket. If you’re attending your first writers’ conference, Gabriela has some great, very practical tips for getting… Read more »
Writing hashtags and Twittter chats are hot right now. There are plenty of pages explaining them and what to look for, but who are these chats for? What can be gained from them? Here are five kinds of writers and the benefits they can gain from participating in a Twitter chat. 1) The Social Butterfly… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I am so excited to have Jay Swanson on the show. Jay is the creator of the world’s first real-time fantasy blog, Into the Nanten, and has written a handful of other fantasy and science-fiction novels along the way. He’s also a daily vlogger and has been posting a photo… Read more »
