Dear Lauren, I am an aspiring writer who hopes to publish traditionally. After getting my MFA, I worked on my memoir as much as I could and began the journey of trying to secure an agent. I queried literary agents—big and small—and wanted to hit 100 rejections before revisiting my memoir and rethinking my approach…. Read more »
Browsing Twitter last week, I saw a tweet from a colleague of mine that read, “I’m curious, for writers who have published books, what was the editing process like? Especially curious about your first book. From whom and at what stage did you receive edits? To what degree? Does this question even make sense? Why… Read more »
It’s just one of those things you hear, like “the best way to get over someone is to meet someone new” or “expect the best but prepare for the worst.” Either way, the one piece of advice all my writer friends gave me as my debut novel went to print was, “Start working on a… Read more »
Like most writers, I fantasize about being published. When I was writing my thesis for my MFA, I imagined getting a phone call. No, the phone call. I envisioned myself surrounded by family and friends—my phone would ring and it would be someone telling me my book was going to be on shelves. They would… Read more »
Whenever I think of investments and, by extension, returns on investments, words like appreciation, capital, and risk usually come to mind. For most of my life, investments seemed a foreign concept. As someone who lives paycheck-to-paycheck, is perpetually broke, and can never seem to have more than a $13.00 balance in their checking account after… Read more »
When I taught Comp I, I was always surprised by how many students deemed my class unnecessary. They would scoff and say, “I never write except when I have a paper.” But they do – we all do. We write tweets and Instagram captions and Facebook updates that are way too long. We write emails… Read more »
The Truth about ROI Aside from whether to pursue the traditional publishing route or self-publish, the most frequently asked question I receive from those looking to publish is how much money my book made. The price of publishing comes in different forms – what was your cut, how many copies have you sold, has the… Read more »
[Editor’s Note: This is published author Lauren Sharkey’s first column at DIY MFA. She will be focusing on the business side of writing. We are so excited to add our new columnist! You can also check out Lauren’s recent DIY MFA Radio episode here.] In an episode of Sex and the City, Carrie says she… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Lauren Sharkey. Lauren is a writer, teacher, and transracial adoptee. After her birth in South Korea, she was adopted by Irish Catholic parents and raised on Long Island. Inconvenient Daughter is her debut novel, and is loosely based on her experience as a Korean adoptee, and it’s the… Read more »
