Building Your Community With Youtube

Creating Youtube videos is one of the most effective ways for a writer to enhance his or her community. First, we’re going to look at what groups make up our writing community, what we give them, what we gain from them, and most importantly, what we should not expect to get from them. Then, we’ll… Read more »

Ask Becca: Six Facts about Rejection

We are SO excited to announce a new, bi-monthly feature on DIY MFA — Ask Becca. Every other Friday, our very own Becca Jordan will be answering your questions about writing, reading and community.  Got a question? Tweet @beccaquibbles with the hashtag #askbecca. Or just leave a comment below! You might see it answered right here on… Read more »

A Short Story from the Slush to the Cover

For all too many writers, the short story market is like a black box: stories go in, rejections come out.  I’ve been on the receiving end of those rejections, even when I’ve been notified I’ve made the ‘final round’.  So, I decided to find out just how one gets from the slush pile to the… Read more »

The Perks of Small Press Publishing

a.k.a. Genius is my debut middle grade novel, published by the small press Pauline Books and Media. Changing how you see yourself can be challenging. For nearly seven years I saw myself through one lens – as a mom. A full-time, stay-at-home-with-my-three-little-ones mom. I am also a published author. That’s still hard to say. And… Read more »

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 the Publishing Industry from Porter Anderson

Porter Anderson is a journalist, speaker, and consultant specializing in publishing and its digital disruption. “Writing on the Ether,” his original weekly column on the industry, appears every Thursdays at JaneFriedman.com. His “Ether for Authors” column appears every Tuesday at Publishing Perspectives, the international site supported by Frankfurt Book Fair. A third franchise, London on the… Read more »

What I Learned About Money and Writing from Jane Friedman

Jane Friedman is the web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, an award-winning national journal, where she leads online and digital content strategy. She also teaches digital publishing at the University of Virginia. Before joining VQR, Jane was the publisher of Writer’s Digest and an assistant professor of e-media at the University of Cincinnati. You… Read more »

What I Learned About Reading Like a Writer from Erin Harris

Erin Harris is a literary agent at Folio Literary Management who represents literary and book club fiction, YA, and narrative non-fiction. Her clients include Times Magazine contributor Carla Power, New Criterion editor David Yezzi, and debut novelists Daniel Levine and Jennifer Laam. Erin received her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Outside of… Read more »

What I Learned About Connecting With Readers From Dan Blank

Dan Blank helps writers find and engage readers. He teaches online courses, workshops and does private consulting with authors and publishers. He has written several Writer’s Guides, all available on his website, on blogging, social media and email marketing.  You can find him at WeGrowMedia.com and on Twitter at @DanBlank When writers come to me asking… Read more »

Book Expo 2013: Trends and Highlights

Every year at Book Expo America (BEA) one of my primary jobs at the show is trend-spotting, especially now that DIY MFA has begun featuring more guest content on our site. Book Expo is the main place where I connect with authors, publishers and industry professionals that we will feature over the coming year. But… Read more »