What I Learned from the Terrible Mind of Chuck Wendig

Chuck is the author of the published novels: Blackbirds, Mockingbird, Under the Empyrean Sky, Blue Blazes, Double Dead, Bait Dog, Dinocalypse Now, Beyond Dinocalypse and Gods & Monsters: Unclean Spirits. He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is an alum of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter’s Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, showed at the… Read more »

What I Learned About Balancing Writing and Life From Elizabeth Craig

Elizabeth Craig’s latest book, “Death at a Drop-In” , released in August and “Quilt Trip” launches this December. Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series for Penguin/Berkley (as Riley Adams), the Southern Quilting mysteries for Penguin/NAL, and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink and independently. She blogs at Mystery Writing is Murder which was named… Read more »

If We Don’t Take Ourselves Seriously, Who Will?

Why are writers so reluctant to take themselves seriously? This question has been on my mind a lot lately and it looks like I’m not the only one. One article I read this week answers that question of when to put “WRITER” on your business card (something I still struggle with), plus some other questions… Read more »

Writing Across Genres: Q&A With Kat Martin

We are pleased to host New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin, focuses on romantic suspense in her novels. Her newest book AGAINST THE MARK–the ninth installment of the AGAINST series– releases today! Romance Reviews says of the AGAINST series, “Every book in this series is excellent with hot romance and murder.” You can find Martin’s… Read more »

Social Media for Writers: Interview with Dan Blank

Today it is such a pleasure to host a friend and mentor Dan Blank of WeGrowMedia.com. Some time ago I interviewed Dan about his take on social media and how he helps writers manage their social media without getting overwhelmed. This topic especially resonated with me because for a long time I had a love-hate… Read more »

3 Things To Know Before You Publish

When I first started learning the book industry, I thought all you had to do to publish was to write a phenomenal book. At the Writer’s Digest Conference East (WDCE), I first heard about a a new publishing survey conducted by Digital Book World earlier this year. There’s a report of the results if you… Read more »

Why You Should Consider an Agent, Even If You Self-Publish

These days, with Amazon and a host of other opportunities for self-publication, writers take more of a lead in getting their books in the hands of readers. If writers can upload their books and sell directly to readers then what happens to the “middle men” like literary agents? While some writers seem pleased to see… Read more »

Navigating the Guest Post Process

Last week we talked about why writers should write guest posts and five different strategies where guest posts can writers build their audience. Today we’ll go over how to navigate this process of pitching and writing guest posts including the before, during and after. The process might seem a little intimidating but once you’ve done… Read more »

Write It! Wednesday #3: Your Writing Superheroes

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my writing superheroes, those people who have shown me what it really means to be a writer. What I’ve realized is that in writing (as it is with most heroic feats) it’s not always the people you think of as heroes that end up saving the day. More… Read more »

Boost Your Creativity: Ideation Techniques for Writers

Welcome back to our two-part Q&A on creativity with Bryan Mattimore author of Idea Stormers: How to Lead and Inspire Creative Breakthroughs. After hearing Bryan share his general insights on his approach to creativity I got really interested in finding out how writers might apply the techniques. So, mentioned a few different scenarios that writers… Read more »