The query letter is arguably the most important part of the manuscript submission process. It can either make an agent/editor quiver with excitement at the thought of opening your manuscript, or it can make your email a lovely little addition to their trash folder. So here are a few do-s and don’t-s for crafting a… Read more »
Social media is always in flux, and there is always another new kid on the block.The newest network of the moment is Litsy. It’s quickly gaining a lot of attention, and it’s specifically geared toward readers. Meet Litsy Litsy was created by Todd Lawton and Jeff LeBlanc, the co-founders of bookish tees and gear shop… Read more »
I’m not a ‘joiner’. The people who know me best would be surprised to hear I leapt at the chance to be part of the DIY MFA Street Team, a small group of folks who got to engage with Gabriela and others interested in learning more about the DIY MFA book. We were offered top… Read more »
Do you have a favorite season, one you embrace more than all the others? For me, living in Northeast U.S. and teaching for a profession, it’s summer. Besides the longer days and warmth of the sun, summer also means, “School’s Out!” It means freedom from external structure, and the opportunity to create new structures for… Read more »
You’ve finished writing your novel. Congratulations! Writing a book may be the first step, but it’s not an easy one. Celebrate the accomplishment, and get to work on the next steps. Collect feedback from CPs and beta readers. Revise and edit. Then, once you’ve gone over every word, polishing all of them to a bright… Read more »
There are five major things I needed to do before my book release I wish I’d done sooner. Here’s hoping with this list, you won’t be taken by surprise like me. These five things can be done anytime. There’s no such thing as doing them too early, and when your first book does come out… Read more »
In marketing, there is a saying that pretty much every person in the industry hears at some point: Half of advertising doesn’t work, we just don’t know what half. It’s a flip comment that’s usually good for a quick guffaw, but I hate this saying. It implies that there is no strategy to marketing outreach, and that… Read more »
I’ll be forever grateful to Susan Cain for making introversion cool. Her book QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, helped millions of chatty extroverts understand why our culture’s preference for people-saturated experiences exhausts some of us. She gave an excellent Ted Talk, too. I finally felt celebrated! We introverts… Read more »
I just returned from 32nd Washington Romance Writers’ Retreat. In the Company of Writers was the title of the event. In the company of family was more like it. I don’t know what it is about writers. Maybe at our core we just have the same dreams, the same goals, the same struggles. But… Read more »
My first book releases in less than two months. There are so many promo things I’m supposed to be doing, even though the editing was done ages ago. The list of stuff authors are supposed to do for book promotion keeps getting longer. We’re told we need more followers, more reviews. We need a website, a… Read more »
