Should You Pay to Have Your Query Letter Critiqued?
Sometimes a little investment goes a long way Oh, querying. That lovely process that is required for most writers to go from writing a book to traditionally published. That same process that, at best, consists of a love-hate relationship for…
How to Juggle All the Things While Building Your Author Platform
If you’re trying to make it as a freelancer, self-published author, or traditionally published author, there’s probably one thing you’ve heard about over and over again: building an author platform. The days of publishing a book with one of the…
6 Self-Editing Hacks to Make Your Manuscript Shine
There’s a lot you can do to edit your book without hiring a professional editor So you’ve finally written that book you’ve been working on for what seems like your entire life. You’ve followed your outline precisely or, if you’re…
I Tested Out Paid Beta Readers So You Don’t Have To
To beta read, or not to beta read, that is the question Oh, beta readers. If you’re a writer in the midst of writing and editing a novel, you’re probably quite familiar with the term. It’s the idea that you…
The Ins and Outs of Book Pitch Events
Is pitching your novel — online or in-person — a worthwhile endeavor? If you’ve written a novel, you’re probably familiar with something that all writers dread: the pitch. Summing up a novel you’ve spent countless hours revising, proofreading, and developing…
Why Not Writing is the Best Way to Ultimately Write
Sometimes taking a break from writing is the only way to actually end up writing. We all have those moments — seconds, minutes, hours, days, or weeks that slip by without a single word coming to mind. I’ve had stretches…
The Art of the Flashback
Flashbacks in your story can be useless, or they can be an incredible way to add characterization or further your plot. The choice is up to you. Do you know something that bothers me when I am reading a novel?…
How to Write a Logline for Your Novel
Condensing your story into one sentence is nervewracking, but not impossible I recently attended a writing conference where there were pitch appointments available for all attendees. This is one of the biggest perks of attending a writing conference in my…
4 Steps to Write a Novel Manuscript in 4 Months With No Plan
The key is to actually write So you’re writing a novel. Or thinking about writing a novel. Either way, you have dreams of becoming a published novelist one day and making the New York Times best-seller list (don’t we all?)…
How to Leave Breadcrumbs in Your Story
Foreshadowing is an artform you should learn to master if you want to be a successful writer When you read the title of this article, what do you envision? For many, it probably brings images of a “Hansel and Gretel” movie…