New YA & MG Pitch Contest Now Open

QueryTracker.net is hosting a contest with literary agent Chris Richman of Upstart Crowe. Submit a single sentence pitch, up to 25 words, for your YA or MG novel by going to the link below before 6:00 am EST on April 28th. You’ll need to be a free or premium...

The Curse of Knowledge

We all enjoy writing and illustrating for the sake of the art, but we have to accept that this is a business, too. Knowing your audience is key, as discussed in this post from Editorial Anonymous. The awareness that the adults in a child’s...
Know Your Selling Point

Know Your Selling Point

Three different blog posts this morning got me thinking about the parallels between marketing a book and marketing a manuscript. The Intern blogged about whether a writer should bother to do a website or a trailer for a manuscript before the book is picked up....

A Great Plot By Definition

Martha Alderson, AKA the Plot Whisperer, posted a great definition of plot on her blog this past week. Of itself that might not seem too exciting. But I loved how she did it, by gradually adding to the definition the same way many of us writers approach a story....