5 Things You Need to Know About Publishing

Here are a few things you need to know if you want to publish a book with a traditional publisher. While the process for publishing nonfiction and fiction is a bit different, some principles remain the same across genres. 1. Yes, you need an agent If you want to...

How I Met My Literary Agent

If you’ve ever tried to get a novel published without a literary agent, you know how daunting it is to get any editor or publisher to pay attention to your work. I’ve written before about why your literary agent is  hands-down the most important partner in...
5 Habits of Successful Writers

5 Habits of Successful Writers

Successful writers are voracious readers. Read widely and well. Read in the genre in which you are writing, but also break away from it. Read essays, crime fiction, flash fiction, poetry. Read investigative journalism. Read diaries from the nineteenth century. Read a...

Why the term “Amazon bestseller” is bogus

You’ve seen those websites and Twitter profiles in which someone boasts of being an Amazon bestseller. You’ve probably seen a lot of them. That’s because the term “Amazon Bestseller” doesn’t mean a thing. People who throw their...

Where can I get reviews for my self-published book?

It’s a question I hear frequently: where can I get reviews for my self-published book? One way, of course, is to offer free ebooks through social media in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, free ebooks are a dime a thousand. Here’s a way to...
How can I improve my writing and make it more fluid?

How can I improve my writing and make it more fluid?

Question from a writer: How can I improve my writing and make it more fluid? The first step to improve your writing is to read widely in both fiction and nonfiction. Choose at least one novelist and one essayist whose writing style you admire. Copy down a few...
Novel Writing Worksheets

Novel Writing Worksheets

Novel writing worksheets to help you plan, plot, and keep track of your progress Are you writing a novel? Stuck in the planning stage? Have you written a few chapters and discovered you don’t know what to do next? Whether you want to begin a novel or you have a...
What is the best way to start writing a story?

What is the best way to start writing a story?

Question from a writer: What is the best way to start writing a story? Here are six tried-and-true ways to start a story: You can begin “in medias res,” or in the middle of the action. You can begin with a character in a strange or tense situation. You can begin with...