Most authors want to publish their book. And to share their story with the world they have to publicize it. But publicity is murky. Sometimes difficult to navigate. You might find yourself asking,...
The single biggest challenge in almost any form of writing is attention:
How do you sustain the attention of your reader?
There's an old line:
"When there's no more tension in a story, the story is...
“Melissa, I need you to rewrite this article. The hook is a cliché.”
My editor at Flea Market Style magazine served me one of the most valuable writing...
Ernest Hemingway was a wretched soul.
But he remains one of America's greatest fiction writers.
I recently read a profile of Hemingway, which was published in the New Yorker in 1950.
The profile is...
“Do I need to build a platform?”
The short answer: yes. Publishers and agents want you to have a platform so that you can sell your book. But what exactly is a platform?
Platform is a...
If I’m scrubbing a toilet at 2:30 on a Wednesday afternoon, I’m likely procrastinating.
I’m an expert procrastinator, especially when it comes to writing.
I...
“What do you look for in a manuscript?”
It’s a question every literary agent hears hundreds of times throughout their careers. And it’s the golden question writers...
A long, ugly sentence lays on your page like I lay on the couch after one too many slices of Chicago-style, stuffed pizza.
I feel like taking a nap.
And so will your reader if you don't shorten your...
I’m good at a lot of things. And I’m bad at a lot of things.
Certain things you don’t want me doing. Ask my husband.
Take loading the dishwasher, for example:
I guess...
"Why do I need to build a platform?”
From literary agents who want to know about your platform activity in the query letter, to publishers who want to see your book marketing plan, building...
Writing is always a grind for me.
On a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being "a breeze" and 5 being "pure torture"), I'm always at about a 4.
Not long ago, I decided to write a review of a marketing book...
About ten years I go, I landed a book agent for my second book.
She had read Death by Suburb and said she liked it so much, she'd be happy to help me pitch my second book.
She winnowed my...
