» A Guest Author

3 Reasons Imitation is a Gateway to Originality

By Katey Schultz Imitation, at first mention, is often shunned in writing circles. Admittedly, it can be confused with plagiarism, although in my work as a teacher and author, I see the two as very, very different. Think about classical painters who spend years imitating Monet before beginning original works of their own. Consider some…

Issue Two Hundred Eighty Seven Special Feature

How to Use Facebook Live to Promote Your Writing

— Jen Kolic Did you know that a whopping 78% of Facebook users view live content? And there are ten times more comments on livestream videos than regular videos—that’s an amazing level of engagement! These were just some of the astounding facts shared by Phylecia Jones, budgetologist at Keeping Up With Mrs. Jones. Jones and…

Issue Two Hundred Eighty Six Special Feature

Four Guidelines for Writing (and Publishing) Without an Agent

You do not need an agent to write and sell books. Since 2006, I have written and found publishers for three nonfiction books and two novels. While the publishing path for each book has varied, my approach to writing remains steadfast (and may help you find publishing success, too). 1. First and foremost, if you…

Issue Two Hundred Eighty Five Special Feature

How to Improve Your Writing Practice with Composting

By John Dorroh Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones, a book that all writers need to own and use, convincingly suggests to develop the habit of using timed writing practice on a daily basis. These warm-up sessions can last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, whatever works. Along with timed writing…

Issue Two Hundred Eighty Four Special Feature

Finding Productive Space for Writing

By Tina Jenkins Bell Last summer as I worked on the edits for the last few sections of my novel, I needed an alternative to my home office–sans environmental distractions and personal interruptions, like “baby, would yous” from my husband–as I dashed toward ‘The End’. I knew I needed to find a spot suitable for…

Issue Two Hundred Seventy Nine Special Feature

4 Things Writers Need To Know About Author Readings

— Written by Lev Raphael I’ve done hundreds of invited talks and readings on three different continents and I love being out there with my writing—it’s a dream come true. But even though I’m an extrovert, I found doing readings more challenging than I expected when I started out touring twenty-five books ago. I’d had…

Issue Two Hundred Seventy Seven Special Feature

Boost Your Profile and Sales with a Podcast Tour

By Jen Kolic Are you looking for new ways to expand your reach and find new fans? Even if the answer is yes, chances are you don’t have the time, money, and energy to start building an audience from scratch on a brand new platform. If that’s the case, a podcast tour may be just…

Issue Two Hundred Seventy Six Special Feature

Where to Write

Written by Geary Smith Several years ago, while vacationing with the family in Key West, Florida, I can remember looking up at the home of Ernest Hemingway, especially, the small window that looked out over the Atlantic Ocean. I thought about Ernest Hemingway sitting in his chair and in his favorite place. As I took…

Issue Two Hundred Seventy Four Special Feature

How to Handle an Elevator Pitch

by Wendy S. Delmater Imagine you’re sharing an elevator with your dream editor, and have the length of the ride to interest them in your book. That’s the scenario behind the idea of an “elevator pitch.” You have to be able to interest the editor in a very brief period of time, to hook them…

Issue Two Hundred Seventy Two Special Feature

How a Kitchen Timer Made Me a Better Writer

By John Dorroh One day in December while administering fall exams to my high school science students, a friend dropped by the school to leave me a gift before she traveled home for the holidays. (That was a different time, when visitors were welcomed into the schools without a pat-down.) The gift was a book…

Issue Two Hundred Seventy One Special Feature

11 Literary Journals that Accept Prose Poetry

– By Stephanie Katz Prose poetry blurs the lines between genres by looking like prose, but sounding like poetry. While there is no set structure for the prose poem, many are written as single paragraph of prose finished by a few lines of poignant verse, and they often make good use of alliteration, assonance, repetition,…

Issue Two Hundred Seventy Special Feature

How to Write a Novel Synopsis

by Wendy S. Delmater There’s been a lot written on the subject of writing a synopsis, and I may suggest doing certain things a little differently, but the experts all agree on one thing: finish the book first. So. Are we done writing the book? Good. Now how do you boil down from 70K to…

Issue Two Hundred Sixty Nine Special Feature

4 Ways to Increase Your Chances of Getting Your Poetry Published

By John Dorroh I wrote my first full-length novel when I was 22 and received at least that many rejections before I put it to bed forever. Last summer, 40 years later, I pulled it out of the bottom of a moldy cardboard box, cleaned it off and read it. My hats off to the…

Issue Two Hundred Sixty Seven Special Feature

Grants Are Your Friend: Building Your Artist Portfolio

By Patrick Parr From the years 2002-2013, I’d published a dozen stories in various genres. The amount of money I’d earned from them turns out to be a whopping 370 dollars. That’s around 30 dollars a year. Now, perhaps you think that should be expected. After all, pay rates and the short story market, particularly…

Issue Two Hundred Sixty Six Special Feature

What Does Being Published for the First Time Mean?

By Ben Graff Holding a copy of your own book, for the first time, is something to savor. The sheen of the cover, the smell of the paper, being able to say I made this. It is both a beginning and an ending of sorts. How do we best evaluate this staging point in the…

Issue Two Hundred Sixty Five Special Feature

Articles by A Guest Author