Quick, what’s the fastest way to sabotage your efforts to get an agent for your book? Answer: query your novel before it’s ready. If you’re a novelist, you’re not ready […]
Should you query an incomplete novel? Read More »
Whoa, just look at that flowchart! That’s way too many steps! Why, yes. Yes, it very likely is. Few self-published authors can afford all of these editorial production steps. Few
The editing and revision flowchart for self-publishers Read More »
Are you guilty of trying to put lipstick on a pig? As my colleague Jami Gold confided via email, “I’ve seen far too many authors consider themselves ‘edited’ just because
How to develop your story revision skills Read More »
Writers have this thing about rejection. It seems edgy or romantic somehow to count rejection notices, to clutch them to your breast like the beads of a diabolical rosary with
How to cope when your manuscript query is rejected Read More »
If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.—Stephen King Did you hear the one about the songwriter
How to read like a novelist Read More »
The very first decision a series author has to make is what type of series to create. Are you telling a single story across many books, or are you writing
Series Writing 101: Resources for planning and writing a series Read More »
If you’ve never used Microsoft Word’s Track Changes feature before, the idea of getting your manuscript back from an editor filled with all sorts of lines and squiggles you have
Updated: Author’s survival guide to Track Changes Read More »
Do you know your business? It’s all very romantic to claim that as a novelist, you’re a creative spirit with no head for the mundanities of business and marketing. The
The problem with being a novelist who doesn’t read Read More »
Why does your editor keep changing grey to gray in your book? You like the way grey looks. It’s listed in Merriam-Webster as a “variant spelling of GRAY”—that makes it
Why you shouldn’t mix British and American English in your novel Read More »
If only it were practical to hire an editor to “give everything a quick once-over—and let me know if you spot any plot holes along the way.” The problem is
Can you combine types of editing to save money? Read More »
