Few unpublished novelists or memoirists are able to convince a publisher to consider their work until it is complete. But it can be daunting to spend months or years bringing a book to completion with no assurance it will ever be published. Established authors can at times secure advances based on book proposals and a […]
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Tag Archives: Author
What are the Top 50 Blogs for Authors?
September 28, 2012 
30 Comments
The Artist’s Road turns two years old next month, and I’ve received some pretty fishy emails during this run, such as people wanting to pay me to run their blog posts. I always decline; my readers aren’t for sale. Yesterday I was told I was named a Top 50 Blog for Authors. I was immediately […]
Read moreWhat the Heck Should I Call Myself, Anyway?
June 5, 2012 40 Comments
Today I’m honored to have as a guest blogger Annie Neugebauer, who has authored short stories, novels, and award-winning poetry. She shares with her blog readers wisdom, thoughtfulness, and more than a bit of whimsy. Enjoy! ————————————————————————————————————— Aspiring. Writer. Author. Indie. Poet. Literary. Commercial. Vanity press. Award-winning. If you’re in the book industry, you probably […]
Read moreLiterary Agent = Book Contract?
May 23, 2011 29 Comments
Literary agents only get paid when a publisher writes a check. So that suggests if an agent signs with you, she must believe she can sell your manuscript. Believing isn’t always enough. In perusing Alexis Grant’s latest Writer’s Round-Up I came across a blog post from literary agent Rachelle Gardner titled “Difficult Conversations II: I […]
Read moreThree Authors Every Writer Should Read
April 18, 2011 34 Comments
I’m afraid I’m not going to give you the answer to that question. I’m asking it of you. This is a selfish attempt to crowdsource wisdom before I begin a low-residency MFA in Writing at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. I’m suspecting I’m not sufficiently “well read” to take on this challenge. My anxiety […]
Read moreThe Birth of a Novel
March 16, 2011 9 Comments
Today we’re featuring a guest post from Ann Simon, who like me is a writer in Northern Virginia. Below she shares with us her story of turning the quiet hours of an ex-pat experience into a novel, Jaguar Sees: The Lacquer Box. Every now and then, life bestows a free and beautiful gift. It arrives […]
Read moreWrite There: Style is Not a Mystery
February 23, 2011 27 Comments
Today we’re featuring a guest post from Milli Thornton, writing coach and author of “Fear of Writing: for writers & closet writers” (a copy of which is on my bookshelf ). There are oodles of books and courses out there designed to help writers with style and voice. But sometimes trying to learn these things […]
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