Today we have a guest post from Chad R. Allen based on his experience as editorial director for Baker Books. He’s offering some sage advice on creating a compelling book proposal.
This young, attractive lady knew what she was doing. …
Nonfiction
How Do You know Your Submission is Ready?
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
One of the most difficult things for a writer is to close the file on a book or a proposal and declare it ready. Almost as hard as prying it out of their clenched fingers at a …
What Readers Want in a Book
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
About a month ago, one of our regular commenters, Andrew Budek-Schmeisser, pondered why readers buy a particular author’s books (beyond name recognition).
Here were some examples Andrew gave, along with his opinions of the books:
* …
Moral Responsibility and Writers
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Last week in the comments to my blog post on social media as the new locale for public shaming, Carrie Padgett mentioned that a lively online discussion was taking place elsewhere about whether authors have …
So What Do I Do Now?
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
How often do writers encounter a wrinkle of one sort or another and wonder, “So what do I do now?”
When I was writing my very first middle grade book on an obscure figure from history I …
Art vs. Accuracy
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
On today, Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, I want to invite you to consider with me a sort of heady question: How much should an author (of either fiction or nonfiction) bend true events for the …
The Manuscript Plus. . .
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Don’t you love those scenes in the movies where the writer wipes away a tear and types “The End,” ties a big stack of manuscript pages with a piece of twine and sends it off to the …
What’s Your Favorite Read from 2014?
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
I don’t know about you, but I’ve lost track of how many Best Books of 2014 lists were published in December. Now, here’s your chance to tell us what your favorite book was in 2014. It …
Creativity & Cleaning Toilets
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
I’m feeling inspired and ready to creatively tackle a complex project I’ve needed to tackle for a long time. My muse, you ask? Why I spent the weekend cleaning out storage units, reorganizing the pantry and cleaning …
Not This One
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
One of the most difficult words for a writer to hear from an agent or from editors who’ve looked at his or her manuscript is, “Not this one”.
I can almost see the words running through the …