» A Guest Author

Case Study: The Road Uphill to a Publishing Contract

By Sam Muller This is part of our ongoing series on how authors published their first book. You can read our other stories in this series, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. I will Paint the Sky, my first novel, had three lives. It had its first incarnation as Life Begins with Murder. Its second…

Issue Five Hundred Forty Three

A Title Is Born

By Lory Widmer Hess When a book I’d written chronicling my spiritual and healing journey was accepted by a publisher, I didn’t expect the process of publication itself to hold further spiritual challenges. Choosing a title, for example, proved to be unexpectedly fraught with emotion. From the other side of this trial, I now see…

Issue Five Hundred Forty Two

Case Study: How Discount Ceremony Was Published

By Timothy Day This is part of our ongoing series on how authors published their first book. You can read our other stories in this series, here, here, here, here, here and here. What a unique relief to be writing about my short story collection Discount Ceremony from this perspective. After many years of wondering if it…

Case Studies Issue Five Hundred Forty One

Tips for Plotting a Memoir

By Emily-Jane Hills Orford Are you writing a memoir? A story about your life or someone else’s life? Have you considered your theme? Or your plot? Remember, every life has a story to share and that story needs, no, in fact, it has both a theme and a plot. So, don’t randomly launch into the…

Issue Five Hundred Forty Special Feature

What’s a Sensitivity Reader, Why They Are Important, and How To Hire One

By Niesha Davis A sensitivity reader is a type of editor that looks at manuscripts and other works of art to ensure minorities and diverse identities are accurately represented. After the #metoo and Black Lives Matter movements ushered in a social reckoning, these specialized types of editors are becoming more and more prominent. Though authenticity…

Issue Five Hundred Thirty Nine

Mindfulness and Writing

Martha Witt Many years ago, during a residency at an artist colony, I was sitting at my desk struggling to write when my eye caught a phrase scrawled into the wood of my desk: “Writers write.” At the time, stalled trying to draft a story, I naturally moved to the existential question, “Am I really…

Issue Five Hundred Thirty Seven

Where to Find the Right Story Idea for You

By Emily-Jane Hills Orford The blank screen on your laptop is just as painful to look at as a piece of blank paper sitting on a typewriter. The lack of writing ideas has put you in a slump, as it has done for many other writers throughout writing history. What you need is an idea…

Issue Five Hundred Thirty Six

What to Do When the Ink Runs Dry

By JM Albandoz Have you ever forgotten food in the oven? That’s the perfect recipe to burn anything to a crisp. Cooking and writing are both about taking ingredients (or ideas) and coming up with something delightful – but burning works somewhat differently when writing: you have to think about your craft for too long…

Issue Five Hundred Thirty Five

How to Find and Utilize Hashtags as an Author on TikTok

By Alyshia Hull If you are an author looking to build your brand and connect with potential readers on TikTok, using hashtags can be a great way to boost your visibility and increase your reach. Hashtags categorize your content and make your videos more discoverable to potential readers. But with so many hashtags, how do…

Issue Five Hundred Thirty Four

Don’t Change Your Debut

By Grace Bialecki I was nearly finished with my first novel when I met up with an author acquaintance to ask for advice about getting a literary agent. It was a bitter New York winter night, and I felt icy and invigorated as I slid into the bar. Soon I would send out my manuscript…

Case Studies Issue Five Hundred Thirty Three

Locking it Down During Lockdown: Writing and Publishing During the Pandemic

— By A. K. Adler Lockdown was good for me. Suddenly, everyone seemed to be in a fervour of baking banana bread and online workout groups. I’ve always hated baking and exercise, so I took a writing course. Until that point, writing had been a hobby. I’d already written three novels, and self-published them because,…

Issue Five Hundred Thirty One

3 Mistakes That Eventually Led to a Small Press Contract

By Jean Burgess If you are one of those “full steam ahead” types, who are too impatient to learn from your mistakes, then stop reading now. However, if you are willing to learn how, as a novice fiction writer, I made a few major mistakes and still ended up landing a contract with a small…

Issue Five Hundred Thirty

How to Make Your Emotional Scenes Believable and Engaging

By Emily-Jane Hills Orford Are you writing a tear-jerker scene? Or a passionate love scene? How about something humorous? Emotions are a powerful tool to engage readers. You want them laughing, crying and getting involved with the characters. What are some of the techniques you can use to embellish the emotions? From asking the famous…

Issue Five Hundred Thirty Uncategorized

How to Use Reels & Shorts to Grow Your Author Platform

by Syris Valentine Whether you’re pursuing indie or traditional publishing, practically every author needs their own platform to help market their books. The world of author marketing can be overwhelming at times. Even when you’re only concerned with social media, there’s a lot to decide. Do you choose Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or any of…

Issue Five Hundred Twenty Nine Special Feature

Writing Tips that Help Me Sleep: Plus Thoughts From Other Authors

By Tom Vandel I started writing because I couldn’t sleep. I’d lie awake at night thinking of a story (mine was about getting lost in Montana) and my mind would conjure and ponder and wonder what if, what if, on and on, until I realized I had to write the damn thing in order to…

Issue Five Hundred Twenty Eight Special Feature

Articles by A Guest Author