How I Write a Manuscript Critique | An Editor’s Rant About Debut Novels

I’m writing this post to explain how I, as a developmental editor, go about reading a book and writing a manuscript critique so prospective clients will know what they’re getting, but I also have some thoughts that might be of interest to writers in general, including my take on what’s required of a debut novel … Continue reading How I Write a Manuscript Critique | An Editor’s Rant About Debut Novels →

2022 Market Trends in Book Publishing | My Unqualified Speculation

Last year I laid out my predictions for what book market trends would look like in 2021—including what readers would be reading and what publishers would be buying. It turned out to be the most popular post I’ve ever written, so it behooves me to make my admittedly unqualified speculation an annual tradition and offer … Continue reading 2022 Market Trends in Book Publishing | My Unqualified Speculation →

Please Stop Tweeting Offers to Retweet PitMad Pitches

Every PitMad event, I feel compelled to tweet this sentiment like I have some sort of top-down command over others: If you’re someone who tweets offers to retweet PitMad pitches, please stop. I don’t expect anyone to care what I have to say, and I’m not mad at anyone who does it, but I want … Continue reading Please Stop Tweeting Offers to Retweet PitMad Pitches →

PitMad Tips and Strategies | Twitter Pitch Events

With the last PitMad of 2020 coming up on December 3rd, I thought I’d share my latest tips, tricks, strategies, magic spells, and general thoughts on how to get results for this and other Twitter pitch events--and things you can take away from PitMad even if you don’t get that coveted agent like. [Want to … Continue reading PitMad Tips and Strategies | Twitter Pitch Events →

Inciting Incident vs. Call to Adventure | A Clarification

I WANT to talk about the difference between the inciting incident and the call to adventure in a novel. Recently there’s been a lot of discussion on ye olde Twitter about whether or not you should start your story in the midst of action and how long you should hold off before introducing the inciting … Continue reading Inciting Incident vs. Call to Adventure | A Clarification →

Want a Free Query Letter Critique? Read This.

A couple weeks ago, I put out a tweet offering to do a round of free query letter critiques, with the option to tip if you're happy with the feedback and you have the means to do so. I still have a small queue of queries in my inbox, but from now on I'll be … Continue reading Want a Free Query Letter Critique? Read This. →

On #PitMad and Querying

I’M UP late on the eve of #PitMad, the biggest pitch event on Twitter, a quarterly affair that always ends in writers landing agents who go on to land those writers book deals. Untold thousands of aspiring authors participate, vying for the “likes” of perhaps a couple hundred agents. As writers, the odds are automatically … Continue reading On #PitMad and Querying →