Image: On an urban sidewalk, two men wearing casual clothing and hats sit side by side at folding tables on which typewriters are placed. Nearby they've placed a sign reading, "Poet for hire—pay whatever you want."

How and Where to Build Your Literary Community

Put your energy into people and places that are a good fit for you and your writing goals, and your literary community will thrive.
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The Case for Pursuing a Traditional Publishing Deal Without an Agent

Kicking off your publishing career with a small press is a great way to get to know the industry, build your author profile, and establish a reputation.
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3 Elements That Make Historical Romance Successful

If you approach a book with a writer’s eye, even the most pleasurable, light reading can teach you something that can enrich your own storytelling craft.
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Emotional Intimacy Between Characters Isn’t Just for Romance Novels

No matter what you’re writing, emotional intimacy between characters is important to creating authentic relationships on the page.
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Workshopper Beware: Navigating the Risky Waters of Writing Classes and Retreats

Sometimes, for some writers, workshops are magical. But attendees should be prepared for all of it—the magic, the toxic and the just-plain-weird.
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Tropes: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Just as a painter uses brushes and colors to blend and create, writers can experiment with tropes to make stories both familiar and refreshing.
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Author Platform Follows the Work

One author threw herself into platform building and engagement, only to lose sight of what really mattered—her writing.
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Scene, Summary, Postcard: 3 Types of Scenes in Commercial, Upmarket, and Literary Fiction

Understanding how to use them, and how to balance different types of scenes within a single narrative, is crucial for becoming a skilled storyteller.
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When—and Why—Reveals Don’t Work

It’s an author’s job to create questions that readers crave the answers to, but questions posed with unclear stakes or context can backfire.
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Set Up the Perfect Online Press Kit

Help journalists and bloggers to help you, by providing promotional materials about you and your books in flexible, user-friendly formats.
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Structure: The Safety Net for Your Memoir

The more faith you have in your story’s structure, the more you’ll become the safety net your reader is hoping for.
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3 Ways to Experiment with Memoir Structure to Improve Your Narrative Arc

Playing around with different storytelling forms during manuscript revision can lessen anxiety and reveal new possibilities.
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What Taylor Swift’s Vault Tracks Can Teach You About Not Killing Your Darlings

If a scene, storyline, character, or image doesn’t quite belong in your story, save it for later use—as Taylor Swift does with song ideas.
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Hybrid Publishers and Paid Publishing Services: Red Flags to Watch For

If you’re an author seeking a hybrid publisher or self-publishing assistance, it’s important to know what to look out for.
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Writing Rules That Beg to Be Broken

Aspiring writers are inundated with rules to follow—but writing is creative, so don’t look to prescriptions or those who preach them.
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Why You Need a Press Release in the Digital Age

Whether you write novels or nonfiction, a press release is still an essential tool for raising awareness and sharing your work’s core message.
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Demystifying Miscreant Memories and Crafting a More Authentic Narrative

Memoirists owe it to readers to tell them the truth. But what do you do when the truth isn’t black and white?
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Writing Hasn’t Won Me Fame or Fortune, But It’s Brought Me Friendship

Even with the best promotion, there’s no guarantee your book event will fill the seats. Here are some tips for making the best of it.
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The First Rule of Writing Is Writer’s Block Does Not Exist

Writer’s block is an excuse, based on fear, that gives us permission to quit as soon as writing gets hard.
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Designing Thriller and Mystery Twists That Work

Twists feel “twisty” because the author has carefully engineered the story to mislead readers via the protagonist’s journey and assumptions.
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Ghostwriting Trends: A Report from the Gathering of the Ghosts in New York City

Ghostwriters, whose literary contributions have often been made in secret, are creating more community and visibility for their work.
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5 Ways to Make a Writing Retreat “Pay Off”

If you’d love to go on a writing retreat but worry about whether the investment will “pay off,” here are five ways to reap rewards.
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Beyond BICHOK: How, When and Why Getting Your Butt Out of the Chair Can Make You a Better Writer

While you can’t publish a book without sitting down to write, there are many times when we can gain insight by looking away from our work.
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Confronting Sophomore Syndrome as a Published Author

On the release of her sophomore novel, one year after her debut, a writer reflects on what she’s learned about the business of authorship.
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What Is LGBTQ+ Fiction—And Does a Writer Have to Be Queer to Write It?

While there are no fixed conventions writers need to adhere to, there is nonetheless much to think about and be aware of.
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Avoid Random Acts of Content

One way to cultivate a loyal audience is by sharing compelling content, but it’s important to understand the needs of your target audience.
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To Get on Podcasts, Create a Media Kit

This excerpt from the new book How to Get on Podcasts by Michelle Glogovac focuses on the importance of creating a basic media kit.
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How to Write Realistically About Drug Use in Your Novel

A new book, The Grim Reader, helps authors understand how to write convincingly about drugs and their use.
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The Über Skill for Writers

By paying attention to how you are impacted by story, you can learn to trace those effects back to the techniques that elicited them.
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4 Things Every YA Writer Should Know About Teens

A good novel has everything teen brains are primed to crave—excitement, emotion, and escape.
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Your Substack Isn’t For Everyone

To ensure you’re giving value to your audience, make sure you know who your newsletter is for and what they get from it.
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Researching the Right Literary Agents for You

When seeking an agent, it helps to research what they've actually repped and sold versus what they claim they’re looking for.
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Add a Luke Skywalker Moment: Give Your Main Character a Bitter Choice

For a memorable story, give your main character a strong motive, a flaw, and a series of escalating decisions leading to an impossible choice.
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Journals and Dreams: The Unsung Heroes of Literature

Like a pot of broth simmering on the stove, the contents of our journals nourish us and provide the basis for countless delicious creations.
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What Sleeping With Jane Eyre Taught Me About Pacing

Going too fast is one of the biggest mistakes storytellers make. When you arrive at a moment readers have been waiting for, slow things down.
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Writing a Really Short Book Description Is Harder Than It Looks

A well-crafted book blurb gives us just enough to care, to empathize with the protagonist’s plight, and leaves us wanting just a bit more.
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One Well-Chosen Detail: Write Juicy Descriptions Without Overwhelming Your Reader

It takes practice to write immersive descriptions that draw readers in, without going overboard and risking boredom or loss of attention.
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Embrace Your True Subject: A Writer’s Case Study in Running from (and Returning to) Herself

An author considers how we often try to turn ourselves into other kinds of writers instead of following our internal compass.
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How High Stakes Keep Readers (and Viewers) Invested

Shonda Rhimes’s Netflix series is a master class in amping up stakes and keeping viewers invested in the characters’ outcomes.
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3 Common Fears of Hiring a Freelance Editor

Today’s post is excerpted from How to Enjoy Being Edited: A Practical Guide for Nonfiction Authors by editor Hannah de Keijzer.
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Creative Planning for Authors and Poets

Creative planning is the act of mapping out where you are, where you want to go, and how you are going to process today’s challenges.
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How to Read (and Retain) Research Material in Less than Half of Your Usual Time

Too many books and not enough time? One author learns that speed-reading print and audiobook versions simultaneously can enhance retention.
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How to Turn an Essay into a Book Deal

In marketing, “proof of concept” means testing an idea for sales potential before going all-in. Here’s how to apply that to your book.
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Earn Six Figures as a Writer With This One Weird Trick

Literary citizenship—freely sharing your knowledge with those in need—can reap substantial rewards for authors and editors.
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What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Parade

All hail the newly published author—or not. When your book’s released but there’s no parade or marching band, here are some other takeaways.
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How to Use Brain Waves to Enhance Your Writing Practice

Make the most of your writing practice by understanding which brain waves are active during the day and best support specific writing tasks.
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Why I Prefer to Read Fiction without Lessons or Messages

As with abstract painting, fiction can find worth in technique rather than specific meaning—emphasizing not the What, but the How.
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What It Means to Make Your Story Relatable

When author and readers have little in common, what makes writing relatable? A teacher examines Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird to find out.
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Amazon’s Orange Banner: The Anticlimax of Achievement

The euphoria of hitting the top spot on Amazon can quickly give way to the realization that it hasn’t fundamentally changed much at all.
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How Connected Settings Give Your Fiction Emotional Depth

To create unforgettable scenes, purposefully choose settings that trigger character emotions, intensify conflicts, or evoke specific moods.