When querying, the literary agent landscape can seem daunting. Worse, there have been a few prominent dust-ups in 2020 regarding agents' behavior that raise a really good question: How do I know if my agent is a good one? "Good" can mean a number of things in this question. Do their morals and values align …
(NaNoWriMo logo in header courtesy of National Novel Writing Month). NaNoWriMo approacheth, and if this is your first year tackling the challenge, it can seem pretty daunting. Fifty thousand words? In 30 days? But there are a few ways to make it easier on yourself and to improve your chances of success. There are a …
(Logo in header courtesy of National Novel Writing Month). So it's October, which means the writing community is in a pre-NaNoWriMo tizzy of planning, anticipation, and hype. If you're new to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), it's a month-long challenge to draft a 50,000-word novel over the 30 days of November. I've participated in NaNoWriMo …
In publishing, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of industry jargon and abbreviations. I've listed some of the most common ones here. Acquisitions: This is a phase in the manuscript purchasing process, when the acquiring editor pitches your book to others at their publishing house in order to convince them …
Continue reading Glossary of Publishing Terms and Abbreviations
Querying is a rough ride. In a single day, you could receive a full request, a couple of query rejections, and a partial rejection. In fact, it often feels like some cosmic coincidence causes a deluge of responses all in the same afternoon. https://media.giphy.com/media/I6nxG7f3h7qww/giphy.gif [GIF: Rollercoaster] While living in the query trenches, self-care becomes extra …
I'm a wee bit of a podcast addict. And my particular brand of 'cast is most often writing-focused. So without further ado and in no particular order, here are the podcasts I listen to most: Print Run Agents Laura Zats and Erik Hane discuss current events in publishing, writing tips, and a whole array of …
This is Part Two of my critique series. (Part one on Giving Negative Feedback is here). So you've done a beta swap with a new reader and gotten your critique feedback. But it's bad. It's really bad. Not only is it negative, it's hurtful or accusatory. It feels vicious or personal, like the reader is …
Oh, the great Writer's Block Debate. You may have heard the phrase "Writer's Block doesn't exist" and wanted to flip a table. Or maybe you truly believe there's no such thing. I fall in the middle. I do believe writers can experience mental blocks or an inability to move forward sometimes, but I think just …
It's the eternal battlefield in writing. Indie publishing versus traditional publishing. So which path is best for you and your book? And can you have the best of both worlds? First off, we'll compare the short-and-sweet primary pros/cons of each, then go into a bit more detail. Self-publishing Pros: Independence and full creative controlHigher royalty …
Continue reading Trad-pub vs Self-pub: Pros, Cons, and Why Not Both?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mNo7eDYZlI This week on the Writescast Network! Join us for the YouTube PREMIERE of this Novel Approaches podcast episode all about retellings, LIVE at 11am Central Time on Saturday, April 11th, 2020! Once upon a time, guest co-hosts Avery Ames and r.r. campbell explored retellings. Along the way, they learned there's more to retellings than …
Avery Ames 
