May/June2013 Issue
May/June Issue
Writer's Digest Magazine
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Completed Multiple Manuscripts
Finishing your work isn’t the problem. You can write all day long when a story moves you. What you need is help taking the next step – getting your work published and into the hands of readers. You’ll learn how to do that and more here.
Make More Time for Your Writing
It’s a common lament: I could finish my novel, if only I had more hours in the day! In fact, the universal chorus of complaint from writers of all stripes seems to be … Read more
Writing Gender-Specific Dialogue
Writing dialogue to suit the gender of your characters is important in any genre, but it becomes even more essential in romance writing. In a romance novel, characters of opposite sexes are … Read more
5 New Year’s Resolutions for Writers
A new year, a new writerly you. New Year’s Day is a time for reflecting on the past year while thinking about the goals, wishes, and hopes for the new year ahead. … Read more
How to Build Your Author Platform
A major buzzword floating around the publishing world these days is “platform.” There’s a lot of question about what it means and whether or not authors really need to have one. Writer’s … Read more
5 Steps to Book Publishing
Set your goals.When it comes to indie publishing, the best place to start is at the very end. Before you dive in to the process, consider what main goals you have for … Read more
Writer’s Digest Mark of Quality
With the Writer’s Digest Mark of Quality review — included in nearly every Abbott Press publishing package — your manuscript will be evaluated by a professional Writer’s Digest editor. Titles deemed to … Read more
Improve Your Craft and Get Published
Since the 1920s, Writer’s Digest has been providing quality resources to writers like you. Today, Writer’s Digest continues to supply top-notch advice to help you refine your writing skills, but we don’t … Read more
How to Sell Your Manuscript Without an Agent
First-time author Diane Kelly offers 4 strategies to connect with editors and sell your manuscript—without an agent. Read more
How to End a Novel With a Punch
Your closer is the most important incident in the novel, which is why you must know it inside and out so you know how to end a novel that agents want to rep. Read more
How to Avoid 10 Common Conference Mistakes That Most Writers Make
10 top conference organizers reveal the 10 common pitfalls they most often see writers tumbling into—and how to avoid them. Read more
Do You Need a Publisher Anymore? Hachette and J.A. Konrath Duke It Out
In his obituary to the year-long Domino Project, Seth Godin wrote that publishing companies and other traditional players that do not adapt to new modes of doing business will go extinct. Others have suggested the same.
Meanwhile, some authors like J.A. Konrath and David Gaughran have eschewed traditional relationships with publishers to create and distribute their work on their own. In the aftermath to the Book Country self-publishing tool launch from Penguin, some outspoken critics took the announcement as an opportunity to question publishers’ relevance.
50 Simple Ways to Build Your Platform in 5 Minutes a Day
If you’re the kind of writer who prefers being read and selling your work as opposed to being an unknown starving writer (who doesn’t?), here are 50 quick, simple ways to launch your platform into action and climb your way to success. Read more
Conflict & Suspense Exclusive
Download a free PDF of Bell’s in-depth conflict analysis of his novel No Legal Grounds. Find out more about Elements of Fiction Writing: Conflict & Suspense by James Scott Bell.
Conflict & Suspense Excerpt
Brainstorming for Conflict from Elements of Fiction Writing: Conflict & Suspense by James Scott Bell How do you begin to write a story with conflict? 1. You come up with ideas that … Read more
Conflict & Suspense
Elements of Fiction Writing: Conflict & Suspense by James Scott Bell Writer’s Digest Books, 2011 ISBN-13: 978-1-59963-273-5 ISBN-10: 1-59963-273-X $16.99 paperback, 256 pages Buy the Book! Read an Excerpt! Learn surefire techniques … Read more
Writer’s Workout Exclusive
Download a free motivational poster to keep you moving as your build your writing career. Read an Excerpt! Learn how to cultivate clarity, inventory ideas, write richly, and serve up words. About … Read more
Writer’s Workout Excerpt
Excerpt from The Writer’s Workout by Christina Katz CULTIVATE CLARITY When you write something needlessly prolix and convoluted, there’s a reason for it, and that reason is usually a lack of clarity … Read more
Writer’s Workout
The Writer’s Workout: 366 Tips, Tasks, & Techniques from Your Writing Career Coach by Christina Katz Writer’s Digest Books, 2011 ISBN-13: 978-1-59963-179-0 ISBN-10: 1-59963-179-2 $19.99 paperback, 384 pages Buy the Book! Read … Read more
Word Savvy Excerpt
Attacking the Wrong-Word Problem From Word Savvy by Nancy Ragno Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you’re ready or not, to put the plan … Read more
Word Savvy
Word Savvy: Use the Right Word Every Time, All the Time by Nancy Ragno Writer’s Digest Books, 2011 ISBN-13: 978-1-59963-303-9 ISBN-10: 1-59963-303-5 $14.00 paperback, 224 pages Buy the Book! Read an Excerpt! … Read more
Write a How-to Article in 6 Easy Steps
A how-to is written as a sequence—first you do this, and then you do this. The essential question the writer asks herself when writing a how-to is, “What happens next?” If you are about to embark on a how-to, start at what you consider the beginning, and just keep answering that question over and over again. Before you know it, you will have sketched out a draft of a how-to article. Read more
Ask the Pro: Editorial Manager Deborah Werksman
Editorial Manager Deborah Werksman is seeking romance novels, series and trilogies in the paranormal, time travel, romantic suspense, historical, contemporary and erotic genres for Sourcebooks Casablanca. She is also interested in innovative women’s fiction, as well as international and historical fiction. For submission guidelines, visit … Read more
Get Paid to be a Word Nerd
Writers who leverage their skills as copy editors can earn bigger paychecks, diversify their portfolios and spend more time doing what they love. Learn how you could be one of them.
by Rebecca Smith Hurd
A Legal Checklist for Writers
If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, you should take special care that you’re not risking an invasion of privacy or defamation charge.
by Amy Cook
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How to Organize Your Story Ideas
The best ideas can start out running wild—but you’ll need to train them onto the page if you want to write that novel you have inside of you. Here’s how.
by N.M. Kelby
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