You’ve finally typed “The End” on your short story, essay, or book — hooray! But don’t rush into sending submissions just yet. You should thoroughly edit your work before making submissions to literary journals or literary agents. Many writers find the self-editing phase daunting, but if you break your edits down into two main phases, it will be easier to clean up your manuscript and make it look professional. Here’s an editing checklist that will guide you through the process.
A Comprehensive Editing Checklist For Writers
Phase One: Editing for Content
Content edits are addressed by asking yourself bigger scale, developmental questions which will affect the…
Your author website is the information hub of your online presence, so it’s important that it functions seamlessly for the largest possible audience. With more and more people viewing websites on mobile devices, you don’t want to lose the interest of potential readers, book buyers, editors, agents, or fans simply because your author website only works on a desktop computer. The tech experts know how to create beautiful author websites featuring responsive website design. Here’s what you need to know to ensure your website performs optimally on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Responsive Website Design For Author Websites
Once you’ve finished writing, proofreading, editing, and formatting your book, the next step toward getting it published is to try to get a literary agent for representation. While each literary agent’s submission guidelines are different, you’ll still need to prepare a query letter, synopsis, and the first fifteen pages of your novel — and only the first fifteen pages — to effectively query agents. So it’s vital that your first pages make a great first impression, hook your readers, and leave them wanting more! Here’s how to get a literary agent with the first fifteen pages of your novel.
How The First 15 Pages Of Your Novel Will Help You Get A Literary Agent
Some…
Even the best story will fall flat without spot-on character development. Good characterization is vital to a short story or novel. But bringing a character to life may sometimes seem complicated — what writing techniques should you use? Both direct and indirect characterization will make your characters seem more real. Here’s how to use characterization to help breathe life into your characters and move your plot forward.
5 Writing Tips For Using Direct Characterization
Direct characterization is a very straightforward method of developing your character. You tell readers what they need to know about the character by describing specific attributes, routines, and desires. This method of characterization…
When most writers think of rejection letters, their thoughts run from “Nooooo!” to “I’ll never write another word!” to “Well, maybe I’ll try again.” Rarely does a writer get rejected and think, “Yippee!” But that’s exactly what you should be thinking as you read that thanks but no thanks e-mail. Submission strategists know you need to read between the lines to see the positives when your work is rejected. In fact, here’s why you should make a point of getting rejected this month — and why you should be happy when you are!
Writer: Get Rejected By Editors And Agents
Having your work rejected by a literary…
Crowdfunding seems to be the latest way for people to finance their projects. As a writer interested in self-publishing a book, you might be wondering if crowdfunding is the answer to your budget concerns. Crowdfunding may seem like a good way to get fans and readers to support and directly fund your book while it’s being created, rather than simply purchasing a copy after publication. But does it always work? And should you crowdfund to self-publish a book?
Crowdfunding: Should You Crowdfund To Self-Publish Your Book?
Crowdfunding involves raising money for your book project by collecting donations from your family, friends, readers, fan base, and even strangers. Usually…
If you’re ready for an author website but don’t know anything about building websites, you might look for the easiest options. Premade designs available from website builders like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace are often promoted as easy, one-stop solutions, and they are very popular. But the tech experts know these premade cookie-cutter themes and templates could have a negative impact on your writing career. Here’s why premade designs aren’t the right choice for your author website.
Why Premade Designs Aren’t The Right Choice For Your Author Website
Limited designs and no individuality
Fifty percent of all websites currently online have been built on WordPress — so if you choose a popular…
Sometimes, the hardest thing for writers is to put the pen down and declare their work finished. You’ve written the first draft, edited and proofread it (then edited and proofread some more!) — but you can’t seem to take the next step and submit your work to literary agents and editors. Too often, in their quest to create the perfect story, essay, poem, or book, writers overwork and overthink every detail. Or, paralyzed by indecision, they never submit their writing out of fear that it’s just not “good enough.” When is it time to let go? …
Once you send your writing submission to a literary journal — what happens next? Who is burning the midnight oil reading all the submissions a literary journal receives? Most magazines have one to three main editors, but they aren’t the only people sifting through those short stories, poems, or essays. Many literary journal editorial teams enlist volunteers who offer to serve as first-line readers of the slush pile. While the editors will make the final decisions, the reader offers input on which pieces should make it to the next round of review. …
Congratulations! After much consideration and research, you’ve finally decided to self-publish your first book. For many writers, the self-publishing process can seem intimidating, complicated — and requiring lots of technical savvy. There’s certainly a lot to coordinate and deal with when self-publishing, but don’t panic! The experts have some great tips to help you ace the process of self-publishing your first book.
Tips For Self-Publishing Your First Book
First: Polish Your Prose
The first step toward publication is to get your book in tip-top shape for your readers. …
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Author’s Submission Service Est. 1994. We help authors reach their publishing goals with targeted submissions to literary agents and editors.
