Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Ruth Harris Today we have our first regular monthly post from Ruth Harris. Ruth is in NYC, so she very well may be without power today, so if we don’t hear from her, we can blame Irene. All of you East-Coasters, hang in there: you’re in our thoughts. I think the most common […]
by Anne R. Allen We’ve all fantasized about book tours, haven’t we? That glamorous trip we’ll take when our novel makes it big? Our publisher will send us off in a whirlwind of glamorous travel: booksignings, readings, and personal appearances with our adoring fans all over the country—maybe the world! But this week, BookTour.com […]
I have another Awesome Announcement this week: I now have a blog partner! She’s NYT bestselling author and former editor at Bantam, Dell and Kensington, RUTH HARRIS. I’ve had a lot of fabulous guest bloggers here in the last year, but Ruth is the only one whose post made it into my top ten most popular […]
by Anne R. Allen This is the stuff a writer’s dreams are made of. I got an email from an acquisitions editor last night that said: “I started reading Food of Love tonight… And I love it…the characters are so real and the situations so fascinating… Bravo. Wow, even. I’ll get a contract in the mail to you […]
by Anne R. Allen The summer writers’ conference season is upon us, and wordsmiths everywhere are packing up laptops, manuscripts, and literary dreams to head for those idyllic retreats where they can polish their craft, learn the latest publishing trends, and hang with successful authors, agents and publishers—for a hefty fee. At some of […]
by Anne R. Allen Some professional writers claim writer’s block doesn’t exist. They’ll tell you they never have any trouble banging out their daily pages—and laugh at people who do. William Faulkner said, “I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning.” Terry Pratchett—not earning himself any fans […]
by Anne R. Allen One of my favorite moments in film happens in Star Trek IV, when the Enterprise crew find themselves back the 20th century. Kirk refers to “the complete works of Jacqueline Susann, the novels of Harold Robbins,” and Spock replies, “Ah… The giants!” Funny bit. But the thing is—they were giants. Not great writers, but […]
by Anne R. Allen We’re in the midst of seismic changes in the publishing world, with new quakes altering the landscape on a daily basis. The pulp paperback is in its death throes, as mass market houses like Dorchester slink into ignominious bankruptcy. Kindle and the Amazon $2.99 e-book/70% royalty paradigm have changed an […]
by Anne R. Allen It’s been quite a week. Let’s hope we’re done with disasters for a while. To my neighbors who got evacuated at 7 AM on Friday—and to the tens of thousands affected by the horrors in Japan—my heart goes out to you. I started this blog exactly two years ago today: […]
by Anne R. Allen Several readers have emailed me recently with questions I often ask myself: 1) How can I tell if a new writing project is going to be marketable? 2) How do I stop bouncing from idea to idea, frittering away my precious writing time? 3) If I don’t know what to […]
by Anne R. Allen “Careful or You’ll End up in My Novel”…that’s the message on a T-shirt I see at writers’ conferences a lot. It’s been a popular item in the Signals Catalogue for years. It’s interesting that most writers I’ve met who wear them say the shirt was a gift from a friend […]
by Anne R. Allen Charles Dickens has a lot to answer for. With the publication of his Christmas Carol in 1843, he single-handedly made Christmas our biggest cultural holiday. Before the debut of his (self-published) little novella, celebration of the holiday had all but died out in Anglo-Saxon Christendom. The pen is powerful indeed. A Christmas Carol revived […]
By Anne R. Allen When you start a writing project, whether you’re diving into the intensity of NaNoWriMo, or just carving out a few hours to peck away at the keyboard on weekends, it helps to get emotional support from friends and family. But be prepared for the opposite. Some people in your life […]
Anne R Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris