While at ThrillerFest I attended two panels about branding. How Do You Build a Thriller Brand? was headed up by Jaime Levine (Executive Editor, formerly with Grand Central Publishing) and included big names such as: agent Dan Conaway and authors Catherine Coulter, Joseph Finder, Lisa Gardner and John Sandford. (You can see them pictured in… Read more »
It might seem a bit like putting the cart before the horse to focus on branding when many writers at DIY MFA are pre-published. There is a logic here, though, I promise. I attended several talks and panels at ThrillerFest on this very topic and one theme kept coming up again and again. While most… Read more »
This past week, I attended ThrillerFest, the International Thriller Writers(ITW) annual conference. While I myself do not write thrillers, I knew I would learn a lot of techniques I could apply to my own writing–like how to plot a novel and build suspense–by attending a thriller conference. I expected plot would be the focus of… Read more »
At least, starting one is. The world of bloggery can at times seem like a nighttime jungle riddled with snakes, rotting trees, booby traps, and poison darts. And this time, Indiana Jones won’t be there to save you. Don’t be intimidated. This won’t hurt… much. If you’re a writer or an author or you eventually… Read more »
Over the last twenty years, the music industry has been shaken to its core. The old ways (nab a record deal, record in a fancy studio, depend on your label to distribute and market) vanished and the new ways (record it yourself, distribute it digitally, promote via social networks and one-to-one community building) took hold…. Read more »
There are many types of writing workshops out there, some more effective than others at giving you useful feedback on your writing. Whether you’re new to the workshop scene or have been participating in critique sessions for a long time, there’s one workshop method that’s been proven time and again to help writers improve their… Read more »
We have a rule in the workshop I teach: we’ll critique any work as long as the writer has not yet submitted it for publication. When it comes to discussion, we’ll discuss any piece of writing published or not. Why this distinction between critique and discussion? And what exactly is the difference between the two? … Read more »
This week at DIY MFA we are working on something new and exciting: we’re creating a DIY MFA writing community. The plan is to use the DIY MFA Facebook page to create a forum where writers (that’s you!) can give and receive feedback to each other. We’re still working out the details so stay tuned… Read more »
As writers, we arguably make up the most enthusiastic, Twitter-friendly community out there. It logically follows that we should make the best of this amazing resource. Continuing our week-long series on favorite resources, here’s a list of 10 Twitter feeds we love to follow. Twitter Feeds for Writers Elizabeth S. Craig @elizabethscraig An all-things-writers feed,… Read more »
If you have a blog, then you need an editorial calendar. Sure, it’s good to leave a little room for flexibility and spontaneity and you could even get away with winging it for a while. Sooner or later, though, if you want your blog to be an effective part of your author platform, you need… Read more »
