When creating a short story, poem, novel, or memoir, most authors don’t realize there’s something else they’ll need to write that’s almost as important: an author bio. The strategists know that submissions to literary agents and journals usually require an author biography. When your work is published, your author bio…

An important part of the self-publishing process is accurately filling out the forms on Kindle Direct Publishing, B&N Press, and any other e-book vendors where you’ll upload your book for publication. The title, categories, subtitle, and back blurb questions should be easy, but the “keyword” section might not seem as…

With busy days and ever-growing to-do lists putting the squeeze on your writing time, it can be easy to neglect your author website. But if you constantly put website maintenance on the back burner, your site will soon become outdated and nonfunctional. …

Serialized storytelling has become increasingly popular with readers, and some authors are eager to take advantage of this trend. One intriguing option is the platform called Substack. Originally created to support subscription newsletters behind a paywall, Substack also offers writers an opportunity to serialize their books and story writing: You…

There’s a lot of competition for your readers’ attention, from the latest binge-worthy series to social media to other novels and stories. Readers don’t want to wait until ten pages into your story before things get interesting, so it’s important to grab their attention from the very beginning. Here are…

As writers, we’re always eager to add more skills to our writing bag of tricks — and two of the trickiest-sounding literary devices are parataxis and hypotaxis. While they may seem like a pair of magic spells used by your favorite wizard or the main characters in an ancient Greek…

If you’re hoping to get your novel or memoir published by a traditional publishing house, you’ll need to start querying literary agents. Traditional publishing houses only consider manuscripts represented by literary agents. An agent who chooses to represent your book will shop it around to publishers and make sure you…

Writers who are serious about improving their craft will read books, follow writing blogs, attend conferences, take courses, and much more. There is also a simple yet powerful thing you can do every day to improve your writing: Write one sentence a day in a journal. Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf…

These days, with ever-changing algorithms limiting the reach of your posts, fake accounts spreading dubious facts, and the predominance of confrontational attitudes, should writers even be on social media? Marketing experts know that social media platforms offer an easy way to gain new fans and connect with readers, other writers…