Ask Becca: The Give and Take of Critique: Part 1

“Nobody in my critique group understands my writing style. They don’t get the type of art I’m trying to create. Do I suck at writing, or should I listen to them? What should I do?” –Artist in a Sea of Mediocrity I’ve never been to a pageant, and I’ve never been a mother, but I’d… Read more »

The Amateur’s Guide a Professional Book Package Superpost

Do you judge a book by the cover? Readers and booksellers often do. Having the right book package is one of the most important aspects of the publishing process. Over the past few months, our DIY MFA photographer Melinda VanLone took us through a series of posts about crafting the perfect book package–one that is not… Read more »

April Weekend Writing Sprint Recap

Two weekends ago we hosted our second DIY MFA Weekend Writing Sprint, a weekend writing extravaganza! Around 200 writers joined this virtual writing retreat from around the globe. It was EPIC, though I’ll admit by the end of the weekend I felt a bit like the sea lions pictured on the right. What impressed me… Read more »

NYC Teen Author Festival 2014

If you’ve been a bookstore recently, there’s one thing you’re sure to have noticed. Young adult literature is on the rise. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green, made waves when it topped the New York Times Bestseller list for 40 weeks, and it’s not alone. The Divergent series by Veronica Roth occupied spots… Read more »

Why We Need Writing Buddies

The concept of writing buddies is kind of strange if you think about it. Last year, several of my writing friends and I checked in a hotel for President’s Day. We went to Jersey, where we knew we were guaranteed bad weather and unfriendly locals. While the rest of the country was sleeping in and… Read more »

Announcing the Second DIY MFA Weekend Writing Sprint!

Have a writing project you’ve been dying to start, but can’t find the time, energy or motivation? Knee-deep in revision? Drowning in drafting? One of the best ways to get your writing back on track, or give yourself that extra boost and meet the next big challenge is to set aside a chunk of time,… Read more »

Luck of the Writer

In These Happy Golden Years, the eighth Little House book, Ma Ingalls tells Laura that people make their own luck. This is illustrated in the story when Laura is kind to a girl in her class who, like Laura, wants to be a teacher. They both take the test, but only Laura passes. Because she and the girl… Read more »

The Amateur’s Guide to a Professional Book Package: Part Four

Thanks for sticking with me! We’ve already talked about creating a professional book package for fantasy and romance books, but we’re not done yet. Continuing on our genre cover journey, let’s dive right in: Science Fiction This genre includes several subsets for the purposes of cover design: “hard” and “soft” science, space opera, steampunk and dystopian. In… Read more »