Tomorrow publishers, booksellers, writers and industry professionals gather in New York City for one of the most most magical–not to mention, massive–events of the book industry year. Book-lovers rush in droves toward that glorious concrete behemoth overlooking the Hudson River (AKA the Javits Center), united by a passion for the written word and the hope… Read more »
Not so long ago, agents and even some publishers insisted that authors (including aspiring authors) needed a social media presence. But that is slowly changing as it dawns on everyone in the publishing industry that an online presence is the means to an end rather than the end itself. Social networking comes down to GIVE: four… Read more »
Lately, writing conferences have been buzzing with this idea of the author entrepreneur. Writer’s Digest Conference East earlier this month was no exception. One theme came up again and again and it was this idea of writers as entrepreneurs. Self-publishing is no longer a synonym for vanity publishing. Authors have more options than ever before… Read more »
One week ago, I head the pleasure of attending the Writer’s Digest Conference East (WDCE) in NYC. This is one of my favorite writing conferences of the year and it’s a great event writers in all stages of their careers. Novice writers can enjoy the inspirational keynote speakers and great lectures on writing craft and… Read more »
The last two posts have covered building your writing community through in-person events or via classes and workshops. Today we’ll look at options for building your community online. The hardest part of writing an article about online writing communities is that there are so many of them it’s almost impossible to make sense of all… Read more »
Writing can be lonely work. As writers we spend most of our time working alone so a community of like-minded creative people can bring a ray of social light to an otherwise solitary existence. But how do you go about finding that magical group of writers to call your own? How do you find a… Read more »
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 »
Writing guest posts for blogs and websites can be a great way to build connections both with fellow writers or potential readers. Guest posts can help you get a “foot in the door” with members of your target audience who you wouldn’t normally reach through your own blog or social media channels. These posts and… Read more »
“Writing is a fairly lonely business,” Marc Lawrence wrote, “Unless you invite people in to watch you do it, which is often distracting and then you have to ask them to leave.” This is true: we face the blank page alone. But writing doesn’t have to be a lonely business. Indeed, at DIY MFA, we… Read more »
Every writer wants something. Maybe it’s an extra hour in the day so you can be more productive. Maybe it’s an extra-special fountain pen or notebook. Maybe it’s having the cat stop chewing on the corners of your manuscript. We don’t ask for much, but when it comes right down to it, the thing all… Read more »
