September 2010

Reading Between the Lines

September 30, 2010

Form rejection letters give you very few words to work with, so it’s natural to try to read between the lines and squeeze out a little more meaning; a little more of an explanation. Don’t bother. Really. You’re just putting yourself through unnecessary stress. I don’t mean to be harsh here, but I see a [...]

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Professional Address

September 27, 2010

I know I’ve compared the query letter to the job application before. I find it a useful comparison to make because, in essence, when you’re asking a publisher or agent to take on your manuscript you are asking for a job. I’ve discussed professional greetings and professional tone on this blog, but I’d like to [...]

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TOOTHLESS “…has plenty of bite.”

September 23, 2010

From Publishers Weekly: “Despite the title, this gritty supernatural historical has plenty of bite. Compelling and well told…this is an unusual mapping of familiar fantasy territory. [...] Toothless himself is an introspective, complex protagonist, and his quest to recover what he can of his past is by turns moving, intriguing, and highly entertaining.” Needless to [...]

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Speaking Loudly

September 20, 2010

When I discovered Laurie Halse Anderson’s SPEAK, I was working at Scholastic. The book club editors spoke about what a powerful book it was, and I had to read it for myself. It was short, and an easy read, and I ended up devouring it over my lunch break one day. I spent the rest [...]

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Inside Voice and the Internet

September 16, 2010

First of all, let me say this: I believe that, in public, we should always paint our colleagues in the best possible light. If we don’t, it reflects poorly on them by spotlighting their flaws; it also reflects poorly on us — by branding us as the sort of people who openly criticize others, and [...]

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Guest Post: “Be Gentle… It’s My First Time” by Philippa Ballantine

September 13, 2010

Be Gentle, It’s My First Time…. What to Expect From Your First Professional Edit by guest blogger Philippa Ballantine You’ve made it! You have your first professional contract under your belt. Full with your success, you are excited about your first professional edit. Well, that was how I felt back in 2004 when I got [...]

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Character Motivation

September 9, 2010

How important is it for a writer to communicate a character’s motivation? Character motivation is critical to writing, but it should not be expressed directly to the reader. It’s the perfect case for the old phrase, “Don’t tell it, show it.” It helps me to think of motivation as an acting word more than a [...]

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SeptOctWriMos: Stretching the Writing Muscles

September 2, 2010

Each November, writers all over the world participate in NaNoWriMo, National Novel-Writing Month. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words on a novel in thirty days. A huge community forms around this shared goal every year, with aspiring authors supporting each other, providing motivation and reference resources and writing tips. But there’s a [...]

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