Deciding to attend a writer’s conference for the first time is like deciding to visit a foreign country. You Google, do your research, and learn a new language (words like “pitch,” “logline,” “platform” and “query”). By the time you get to the conference you’re competent that your knowledge of genres and age groups is enough… Read more »
To celebrate the upcoming Writer Igniter Con, my team and I put together a giveaway. We gave away tons of really cool prizes, like free admission to the Con, query and 10-page critiques, even enrollment in the DIY MFA flagship course! Are you ready to find out who these lucky writers are? *drumroll* Registration to… Read more »
At ThrillerFest, a social media expert introduced me to a new concept for Twitter platform growth: what I’ve started calling the follow-back tactic. In short, you search for and follow people in your target audience, and you follow them. They follow you back to reciprocate, and everyone’s platforms grow. So simple! I couldn’t believe I’d… Read more »
Hey hey, Word Nerds! On Friday night, I clicked “send” on the email to my publisher containing the DIY MFA manuscript. Cue happy dance in 3… 2… 1… There is still a lot of editing and other work to do before it’s ready for launch, but I’m very excited about this milestone and wanted to share it… Read more »
OMG Writer Igniter Con is just one week away! One of my favorite things about this online conference is that you can get real-time feedback from agents so you can learn to pitch your book. Of course, with the conference just around the corner, my team and I have been getting some questions what a pitch actually is, why writers… Read more »
If you’re anything like me, when you’re in the throes of the creative process you end up throwing everything at the page and the kitchen sink, just trying not to stifle your muse or leave anything important out of the story you’re trying to tell. When you finally finish it’s tempting to just close the… Read more »
Happy Fall, Word Nerds! Summer is over, and I’m not mourning. I’m a little too busy anticipating the first Chai Tea Latte of the season, sweaters, and cozy writing days. But boy, was this a busy and wonderful few months! Summer is high conference season, and as we prepared for our own writing conference this… Read more »
In my experience, most three hour drives feel like nothing more than numb legs, backaches, and forcing myself to stop checking the clock. But leave it to my first Writer’s Digest Conference to speed that drive right up. I knew ahead of time that I was going to force my driving buddy into helping me… Read more »
The very traits that can make someone a wonderful writer – humility, sensitivity and introspection – can also conspire to make that same person an absolutely terrified (and ineffective) marketer. That’s a problem because, as you likely already know, the ability to market oneself and one’s books is a must for the modern writer. If this is… Read more »
There’s a lot of fives in today’s article! That’s okay. I like the number five. My mom was born on 5/15/55, and I’m one of five kids. And none of that really has anything to do with this article except to say—five’s a good number. And here’s five reasons you’ll love my workshop on the… Read more »
