» A Guest Author

Advice for a Writer Yet to Finish Their First Manuscript

Being at the start of your journey as a writer can feel very daunting. An Authors Publish reader wrote to me recently and asked what advice I would give to someone with a first book in draft. She was unsure whether to focus on finishing her novel or if concentrating on placing shorter pieces made…

Issue Three Hundred Nineteen Special Feature

How to Use Personality Theory to Write Real Characters

Katie Lawrence In Bring Your Fiction To Life, Karen S. Wiesner writes about a way to craft your story in a logical and comprehensive way. Writing, from her perspective, is divided into the categories of setting, plot, and, arguably the most important, character. Creating characters something every fiction writer that ever was and ever will…

Issue Three Hundred Twenty Eight Special Feature

9 Free Writing Contests

Natalia Bulat The following 9 fee free writing contests are divided into two categories, fiction and non-fiction. All contests offer cash prizes. Fiction 1. Drue Heinz Literature Prize. They consider unpublished manuscripts of short stories, two or more novellas (length of a novella is up to 130 pages) or a combination of a novella (novellas)…

Issue Three Hundred Thirteen Special Feature

How to Network with Other Authors

Kia Carrington-Russell It can be daunting to meet and network with fellow writers and authors. Especially, when you are new to the community. With these few tips, you will realize it’s not as scary as it initially seems, and you’ll be in a supportive group and network in no time. The easiest and most immediate…

Issue Three Hundred Twelve Special Feature

How to use LinkedIn to Build Your Profile as a Creative Writer

— Ben Graff Writing is identity. Whether we write novels, short stories, poetry or something else entirely, every piece of work is precious. Yet it is all too easy to become so absorbed by our work that we miss opportunities to tell the most important story of all. Namely, that of who we are as…

Issue Three Hundred Eleven Special Feature

Zoetrope: An Excellent Source of Feedback for Your Writing

by Silver Damsen One of the axioms of being a writer is that one has to write. I agree; writing is the most important aspect of being a writer. If one doesn’t write, one isn’t a writer. The second most important is to publish. Unfortunately, the distance between writing and publishing can seem daunting. The…

Issue Three Hundred Ten Special Feature

How To Write (And Edit) Nonfiction That People Want To Read

Katie Lawrence Many a writer has sat down, written a fairly decent piece, and was left without a clue of what to do next. This occurs particularly often in the realm and genre of narrative nonfiction. Naturally, we have our applications set up to check for grammar mistakes, and we ensure that our message has…

Issue Three Hundred Eight Special Feature

Amazon and Authors: A Symbiotic or Parasitic Relationship?

By Antaeus When it comes to books, Amazon is king. It is the place where authors go to publish their books, and where readers go to browse and buy. Without Amazon, authors would be hard-pressed to publish their work. Without authors, Amazon would not be what it is today. I’ve been self-publishing on Amazon for…

Issue Three Hundred Seven Special Feature

Sociable Media: Face-to-Face vs Facebook

By Bill Arnott Something happened when I hit middle age. A knock at the door, someone holding a clipboard, explaining I was required to start using social media, Facebook being a necessity along with nighttime peeing and early suppers. Not that a clipboard-toting person actually came to call, but I did have a friend strong-arm…

Issue Three Hundred Six Special Feature

Non-Monetary Ways to Track Success

By Nicky Bond Everyone will tell you that J.K. Rowling stacked up the rejections, or that E.L. James wasn’t traditionally published at first. Megabucks could happen for you too, is their implication. Yet no amount of Cinderella stories can avoid the harsh truth. You won’t be rolling in cash after self-publishing one book. Financial success…

Issue Three Hundred Five Special Feature

The Top Ten Complaints from Book Reviewers

By TN Wesley What ticks off your readers? What would make someone never want to read your work again? Knowing this information can help you avoid doing anything to antagonize your readers. To find out what rubs readers the wrong way, I combed through several Amazon.com book reviews and came up with a compilation of…

Issue Three Hundred Four Special Feature

The Benefits of Nontraditional Venues for Author Readings

Even though we had a terrific public library close to where I grew up in Manhattan, I’ve been haunting bookstores since I had enough allowance to buy my own paperbacks. When I loved a book, I needed to have it there on my bookshelves 24/7. And in my many years of travel at home or…

Issue Three Hundred Three Special Feature

What’s Flashy About Flash & 6 Places to Submit Your Work

Katey Schultz I’ve been teaching flash fiction and flash nonfiction for over a decade, and whether I’m teaching high schoolers via an arts council grant, published authors via my online class, or MFA candidates at a residency, I always start with the same thing: Flash is flashy, but “flashy” might not mean what you think….

Issue Three Hundred Two Special Feature

Finding Your Squad: Online Book Promotion as Community

By Alicia Sophia In March 2018, I signed with RhetAskew Publishing. It is a traditional small press publisher, with an independent feel to it. Part of their contract is that authors must do their own marketing and networking. My first novel 1,4,3 was released in December 2018. It is a work of LGBT Literary Fiction….

Issue Two Hundred Ninety Eight Special Feature

The Pros and Cons of Publishing with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

By Logan Stoves Recently, I just published my first book with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and I couldn’t be prouder of myself. After my experiences, I believe KDP is one of the easiest ways to publish your book if you’re looking to self-publish. However, I would recommend you do your research on Amazon while…

Issue Two Hundred Ninety Nine Special Feature

Articles by A Guest Author