Writing about writing. Mostly.
Guest Blogging: learn to target the right blogs and write a good query by Anne R. Allen Most author marketing gurus will tell you that guest blogging is one of the best ways to promote your book. Beth Hayden wrote on Jane Friedman’s blog about the many ways guest blogging builds platform and sells books. […]
Procrastinating? Here’s how to break the pattern of putting off your writing. by Katie Davis When the year begins, all fresh and shiny, we tend to make promises to ourselves. When we first took over the Institute for Writers, I wanted to help our community of writers––our students––so I polled them. I asked, “What do […]
Predators are on the lookout for scammable new or discouraged writers. by Anne R. Allen As long as there are writers, there will be writing scams. Hungry predators will always be lying in wait, ready to pounce on any tender young scribe who strays from the safety of the mainstream herd. And now there are […]
Publishing predictions: Laurie McLean’s annual look into her crystal ball. By Laurie McLean, Founding Partner of Fuse Literary Agency The last year has seen a maturation of many of the trends that were sparked by the revolution in publishing that began a decade ago. Indie publishing. Social media marketing. The birth of Author-preneurs. Smart phones […]
Muse time: shut out the noise and let your subconscious get into “the zone.” Ruth and Anne Want to Wish You All a Very Happy Holiday Season! One of the most common themes we hear from new writers is fears that they’re not “real writers,” especially when friends and family ask when their “scribbling” is […]
Hollywood loves High Concept. by Anne R. Allen Here it is! My first “High Concept” novel. At least it’s a close to High Concept as I’m likely to write. I have to admit I’ve been a little terrified somebody might come out with a book with the same title or plot before my slow-writer self […]
What a writer wants for Christmas. Please, Santa? by Tara Sparling Dear Santa, This year I have been a very good writer. I did all my homework, cheered on my fellow authors, and accepted rejections with grace and good humour. Smashed through writer’s block and only lost faith in myself every other Tuesday. Rewrote Chapter […]
Win #NaNoWriMo? Time to celebrate! Especially if it’s your first novel. by Anne R. Allen. Did you win #NaNo? Is it a first novel? Congratulations!!! Only about 3% of people who start novels actually finish, so you’re a major winner right there. You’ve done something spectacular. So break out the bubbly and savor the moment! […]
This Thanksgiving, we’re offering some inspiring writing quotes from some of our favorite authors. (Plus some anonymous funnies.) by Ruth Harris Editing, revising and rewriting— “I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.” — Oscar Wilde […]
by Anne R. Allen Ruth Harris and I have both written about how there are no rigid rules for writing good fiction, only guidelines. Even guidelines don’t apply to everybody. Every genre has its own conventions. What is de rigeur for a romance can be deadly in a thriller. And what readers expect in a […]
New Book Marketing: how today’s author launches a book. By Melodie Campbell New Book!! Gak – I have a new book coming out January 29. The Goddaughter Does Vegas is number 6 in an award-winning series (Derringer and Arthur Ellis – yay!) Because of that, I do have some expectation of sales from previous readers of […]
by Anne R. Allen We live in a speed-obsessed civilization. Whatever it is we crave—cars, trains, electronics, food, dates—we want them ever-faster-and-furiouser. In fact, much of the developed world seems to be engaged some turbocharged drag race of the soul, hurtling our frenzied selves from cradle to grave, terrified of slowing for even a […]
Radical revision may be what that broken WIP needs. by Ruth Harris The lights are red. All signs are Stop Signs. That stack of pages you thought was going to be a book? You know, with characters, a setting, maybe even a plot? Somehow, it’s been lost in a desert of false starts, dead ends […]
Anne R Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris