Category Archives: getting published

April 02, 2014   Stacey   advice, bestsellers, characters, first draft, getting published, Stacey, writing  
4

Life (or writing) lessons from Stephen King

Who doesn’t like to take advice from a master? I’d say Stephen King falls into that category. Despite a terrible accident which almost caused him to retire from writing in 2002, King has produced a staggering number of books, including classics like Carrie, The Shining, Misery, and the list goes on. No one does it better, and there have been few that have managed to compete with his mastery of prose and plot. His category of fiction should just bear his namesake!

He’s offered much advice to many over the years, and his 2000 memoir/writing guide called On Writing is widely admired. This recent piece from openculture.com shines a light on King’s top 20 pieces of advice for writers, and it’s worth taking a fresh look at how to implement them in your writing process today.

His advice is so straightforward, and some of it is really simple. One wouldn’t necessarily think that turning off the tv would be a tip that Stephen King would consider in his top 20, but it speaks to the larger issue of a distracted culture and the need to pay attention to the task at hand. It reminds me of my parents always telling me to turn off the tv when I was doing homework as a kid. They had a point, even if I didn’t want to hear it at the time.

The suggestion to finish a draft within 3 months is also interesting. It’s like he’s in your ear screaming “Stop procrastinating!”.

And there are inspiring tips for writing here that are entirely applicable to life in general, so this list does not solely apply to writers and writing. A few to ponder: Don’t worry about making people happy (a ubiquitous but smart piece of advice that my client Amy Morin talks about in her piece “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do”), The magic is in you, Stick to your own style, and Take a break. Good thoughts for writing and life. Enjoy!

January 08, 2014   Stacey   advice, getting published, interview, Stacey, suggestions, support, writing  
1

Writing tips from 2013 to help you in 2014

I hope you all had good holidays. I personally did a lot of celebrating since my birthday falls right between Christmas and New Year’s. One highlight was seeing Kinky Boots on Broadway. I loved it! After so much fun, I feel ready (even if my piles don’t) to be back at work and motivated to work with my authors to sell lots of great books.

I like at this time of year to regroup, look at the big picture, and try to come up with a strategy for a successful year ahead. I find this approach to be effective, even if I can’t always keep all of my annual goals.

I love this list of best-of writing articles from 2013 compiled by Writer’s Digest because it covers so many bases in the writing process. And it’s especially useful since it’s broken down by categories like Writing Better Characters, How to Get Published, and Inspiration for Writers. One of my favorites is the 2001 interview with Tom Clancy and his quote: “I do not over-intellectualize the production process. I just keep it simple: Tell the damn story”. That’s definitely keeping it simple, and direct!

I wanted to share it with our blog readers who are hopefully feeling like I am – motivated, energized, and ready to work hard to be as successful as we can be. Starting out by reading these articles just might help get you on the right track for the year ahead.

Enjoy and please let us know which articles from their list you find to be the most helpful. Now, let’s all get to work!

November 21, 2013   Michael   advice, conferences, getting published, Michael  
1

What to expect when you’re expecting to be published

Having your book published is a dream come true, right? You’ve probably imagined what it will feel like since before you even finished a first draft of the book, and you just know that everything will change. You’ll be smarter, handsomer, more popular, and most certainly richer. Right? RIGHT?!

The truth of the matter is that for most authors, all that changes is that you’re now published. It doesn’t make your hair shinier, and it doesn’t address all of the other ills in your life. I actually speak about this quite a bit at conferences, because I think it’s important to have perspective and realistic expectations. But, you don’t just have to take my word for it! (Because really, I’m not an author—what do I know?) This fantastic post from author Alison Cherry is honest and real and, I think, greatly helpful for others suffering postpartum book launch depression. Go check it out now!

September 19, 2013   Stacey   advice, getting published, pitching agents, queries, Stacey, writing  
4

Successful queries to learn from, and a prize!

As you all know by now, I’m a huge fan of writersdigest.com. I think they offer such great resources to writers. And now I think I’ve found the most useful series yet, and not just because it’s edited by the very entertaining Chuck Sambuchino, with whom I broke bread at the recent Writers’ League of Texas conference.

Successful Queries, of which there are already 63 installments, offers readers an actual query letter followed by a critique from the agent who agreed to represent it. These are all books that have gone on to be published by major publishers so there is a ton of great information here to take away.  The letters themselves would be reason enough to spend some time checking it out, but the agent critiques are also extremely valuable to learn what agents are looking for and what stood out in a particular query.

What I’ve noted as a general rule is that the queries that work best are sometimes the simplest and most concise. Good writers with strong stories can pitch their books in just a few sentences, as flap copy does for published books. It doesn’t have to be long to be good.

Take a look and see if you agree with my assessment that this is a useful exercise, not to mention it’s free and you can do it from the comfort of your own home. And if you’re so inclined, tell us which query is your favorite and why, and I will pick at random a winner to receive a DGLM umbrella!

July 08, 2013   Stacey   advice, conferences, getting published, Stacey, writing  
1

Advice from Austin

I recently attended the Writers’ League of Texas conference and it was so fun to spend my brief 40 hours in Austin with great people (including my lovely client Kim Smith), smart ideas, delicious food, and wonderful ambiance in the city of Austin.

There were many highlights, but one in particular that stands out was Writer’s Digest Editor Chuck Sambuchino’s key note address at the luncheon on Saturday. It was so entertaining and so packed with good advice for authors that I wanted to share a recap of it here that was created by a conference attendee.

He basically went through his top 10 pieces of advice for writers, which include topics such as build your writer platform, always keep moving forward, write for money and write for love, don’t give an agent or editor a reason to reject you, and put down the remote control. All of them are timeless, and his speech was filled with funny anecdotes that tied all the points in to each other seamlessly. Unfortunately it’s impossible to capture the nuances of what he said and how he said it here (I’d recommend you try to find him at a conference near you), but you can always buy his writing books.

I hope you find this useful. I think like everything in life a lot of this is easier said than done but even the simple reminders posted up on your wall and referenced regularly will help keep you focused and on track. Good luck!

 

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