Thank you for your submission but we’re sorry it’s not suitable for us… On my journey to becoming a published author, receiving letters with that opening line became a weekly event. Sometimes I’d sit down and cry while other times I’d just get angry. These are great characters I’d tell myself. Are all these…
Tag: authorship
Five Tips for Improving Your Synopsis
One thing lots of writers struggle with is writing a synopsis. It’s a necessary evil because most of the time it’s all publishers will let you submit. They base their first decision on how well you’ve done conveying your sometimes 70,000 plus word story into two or three pages. I’ve been teaching a class…
Monday Motivation-They Were Once Like Me
One day during my struggling writer years, I walked out to the mailbox and had not one, but three rejection letters sitting there. After opening them, and having a good cry, I thought about one thing. No writer begins their career (well, there might be a few lucky ones), with a yes on their…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-We Made it to 500!
I was going to say it’s so hot today that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk but that would be a cliche and I’m a writer and should be able to come up with something better. However, my mind’s a blank right now. Thank you to this week’s guest blogger. Many of…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-Finally Caught Up With Back Titles
The first Ramblings of the summer. I’m happy to say that I’ve finally caught up with all my back titles. I re-released the last of the batch yesterday. The next title I get rights back to is in October which gives me some breathing space and a chance to work on my mystery. Here’s a…
Readers First, Writers Second
It’s the first day of summer and I’ve already read the first book on this year’s books of summer. Many of you know I set aside twelve books each summer to read while the days are long and hot. I’ll reveal this year’s dozen very soon but the focus of this post is all…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-Multi-Tasking
An earlier than normal Friday Ramblings. The work week isn’t over just yet but I’m going to take a few hours off to watch a World Cup soccer game. After that, it’s back to work. Thank you to this week’s guest blogger. I finally got another back title revamped and published. When I say back…
How Not to Write a Book Review with Reet Singh
One think I encourage my students to do is become a book reviewer. It not only helps you figure out what makes a story work (or not work), but it also lets you see who’s publishing what and where your story might fit into the current market. Today’s guest blogger has some great tips…
Monday Motivation-Reject the Negative
“It is impossible to discourage the real writers – they don’t give a damn what you say, they’re going to write.” ― Sinclair Lewis An editor once sent me a rejection letter advising me to do anything besides write. I guess the fact that I’m still writing, and according to Sinclair…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-Hello June
June 1st, half the year is almost done. What have you done to achieve your goals? Are you one step closer to realizing your dream? It’s one of the reasons I’ve decided on the summer writing retreat or should I say challenge? Three months to get a book started or finally finished. I’ll be telling…