July/August 2013 Issue
July/August Issue
Writer's Digest Magazine
Preview the Issue
Buy It Here
Give a Gift SubscriptionSave 58%!
Website of the Week
There Are No Rules Blog by the Editors of Writer’s Digest
Get on the cutting edge of today’s publishing trends and how authors can succeed in a world of fast-paced technological change, guided by the editors of Writer’s Digest. You’ll get an inside look at the work, play, and passion of the publishing business and find practical tools for success.
“Your Story’s First Pages: How to Engage Readers” — Jan. 24, 2013 Webinar With Critique by Agent Kathleen Ortiz
It’s no secret that the first several pages of your manuscript are of the highest importance. The truth is that agents and editors size up your writing within a minute at the most. If you don’t have their attention on Page 1, they stop reading. It’s that simple. Because it’s imperative that your work starts strong and avoids overused techniques or cliches, we’ve enlisted literary agent Kathleen Ortiz of New Leaf Literary to help. Kathleen is teaching “Your Story’s First Pages: How to Engage the Reader” – a new webinar (with a critique of your first 500 words!) on Jan. 24, 2013. Read on to learn more. Read more
Happy Birthday to the Last Writer You’d Ever Expect to Plot a Murder
And now, for your Friday moment of writerly Zen, a curiosity found in the June 1922 issue of Writer’s Digest: “I have always adored detective stories; I have always thought they must … Read more
Famous First Lines Reveal How to Start a Novel
On this day in 1873, writer and politician Edward Bulwer-Lytton died. One thing he left behind: The first line from his novel Paul Clifford: “It was a dark and stormy night …” … Read more
Let an Agent Help You Revise Your Novel: Michelle Brower’s Jan. 17, 2013 Webinar
They say, “Good writing is rewriting.” It’s true that your first draft is just that: your first draft. After the words are down on paper, you must begin the important process of honing, revising, and rewriting your work to eliminate weak writing and make your prose come to life. Rewriting is a process of polishing your words and eliminating all needless elements that can slow a manuscript down. Most work gets rejected simply because the novel/memoir is not where it needs to be in terms of quality. The writer just needed more revision and guidance! It’s with this important fact in mind that we’ve enlisted talented literary agent Michelle Brower of super-agency Folio Literary to teach a new 90-minute webinar called “The Art of Revision: Perfecting Your Book For Submission” on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013. Every attendee of the webinar gets a personalized critique of their work. Read more
Don’t Let Worry Drag You Down
Writers are often worriers. We’re plagued with indecision about the choices we make for our stories. We doubt the quality of our writing. We wonder if we’ll ever break through into the … Read more
How to Start a Novel Right: 5 Great Tips
It’s said that in life, there are two types of people: those who look at the glass as half empty, and those who see it as half full. But for those of … Read more
How to Get Your Memoir Published: Agent Regina Brooks Teaches a Webinar on Jan. 10, 2013 (With a Query Critique!)
Writing a memoir or your life story? Get it published in 2013! Instructor Regina Brooks is a literary agent as well as the author of You Should Really Write A Book: How To Write, Sell And Market Your Memoir. On Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, she is teaching a brand-new webinar called “How to Write, Market & Sell Your Memoir.” It’s an intensive all about memoir writing and publishing, and comes with an individualized query critique (from Regina) for every attendee. Read more
Get Published and Land a Book Deal in 2013: Jane Friedman Shows How in a Jan. 3 Webinar
2013 is fast approaching — a new year full of endless possibilities for you and your writing. This is the year you get your book published! To give you the best start possible on your journey, we’ve enlisted e-media and publishing visionary Jane Friedman to teach a comprehensive new webinar called “How to Get Published: Land a Book Deal in 2013″ on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. It starts at 1 p.m., EST and lasts 90 minutes. The webinar will be an intensive overview of what you need to do to successfully pitch your book to agents and editors this year, as well as an examination of whether indie/self-publishing may be the right path for you. Read on to learn more. Read more
5 New Year’s Resolutions for Writers
A new year, a new writerly you. New Year’s Day is a time for reflecting on the past year while thinking about the goals, wishes, and hopes for the new year ahead. … Read more
Writing Desks: I’ll Show You Mine, You Show Us Yours (Plus, a Holiday Giveaway)
As writers, we tend to disappear. Our friends and family know it well—they’ve grown accustomed (or, with hope, at least mildly tolerant) to us slinking down the stairs at 1 a.m., quietly … Read more
Happy Holidays From WD
Happy holidays from all of us here at WD. Here’s to hoping your own holidays, no matter what they are or where they may take you, are safe, filled with writing and … Read more
Agent Dawn Frederick Teaches “How to Sell More Books and Network” — Dec. 20, 2012 Webinar With Query Critique
We all want to try and meet more readers and sell more books. That’s the primary goal of being on social media, is it not? To connect with people, to network. To help us with this broad and important undertaking we call networking, we’ve enlisted literary agent Dawn Frederick (Red Sofa Literary) to teach a brand new webinar on Dec. 20, 2012 called “How to Network and Sell More Books.” This instruction will be of great value to 1) self-published authors looking to get their work into bookstores and sell more books, and 2) writers who are submitting to agents & editors now who also hope to make themselves a more attractive author by having great self-marketing potential. Read more
Agent/Author John M. Cusick Teaches “Writing and Selling Sci-Fi & Fantasy for Kids and Teens” – Dec. 13, 2012 Webinar With Query Critique
On Dec. 13, 2012, we’re pleased to welcome back literary agent & kidlit author John Cusick to our webinar program. Because he is both a successful children’s novelist as well as a literary agent for Scott Treimel NY who reps kids books, John is a remarkably good instructor at explaining how to get young adult and middle grade published. On Dec. 13, he’s teaching “Writing and Selling Science Fiction & Fantasy For Kids/Teens.” If you’re writing in either of these hugely popular genres, let John explain what agents are looking for, and let him give your query letter a critique at the same time! Read more
How to Write a Reader-Friendly Essay
Powerful, surprising, and fascinating personal essays are also “reader-friendly essays” that keep the reader squarely in focus. So how do you go about writing one? In this excerpt from Crafting the Personal … Read more
Agent Holly Root Teaches “Writing the Breakout Teen Novel” — Dec. 6, 2012 Webinar With Query Critique
For those of you who don’t follow literary agent Holly Root on Twitter, you should know that there is a reason she has 13,000 followers. She’s very smart and sells a lot of books. A big passion of hers is young adult and middle grade books. Her first webinar went so well that we’ve invited her back for more. Holly is teaching “Writing the Breakout Teen Novel” at 1 p.m., EST, on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012. The webinar lasts 90 minutes. In addition to getting top-notch instruction, all attendees can also submit their query to Holly for a guaranteed critique. (And if she likes what she sees, she may just ask you for more. Literary agents Barbara Poelle, Lori Perkins and Kathleen Ortiz have all signed clients after critiquing writing as part of a WD webinar!) Read more
How to Make Your WordPress Website Stand Out in a Crowd: New 11-29-12 Webinar With Jane Friedman
WordPress is quickly becoming the go-to technology for any writer who wants to start a simple yet very effective website for themselves. (And remember, a website is the #1 tool a writer has to meet readers, market themselves, sell books, and become a more valuable author to agents & editors.) With that in mind, we’ve brought back popular webinar instructor Jane Friedman to teach “Wordpress Websites 101: Best Practices, Tools & Growth Strategies” — a 90-minute webinar on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. She will address things like how to have your site make money, how to show up higher in Google search results, and more! Read more
Being Grateful for Little Moments of Magic: Thanksgiving Inspiration for Writing
Whenever I pull out my camera, my 1-year-old will invariably stop whatever he was doing that prompted me to snap a photo. Is he already perceptive enough, on some level, to become … Read more
Freelance Your Way to a Better Platform
Long before you publish your book—and long after—you should be thinking about your writer platform. How do you build that core audience? How do you enhance your reputation as a great writer, … Read more
Writing challenge! Can you write an opening sentence to a story incorporating these 3 words? (Winners will be published in WD)
Looking for a little Friday procrastination in the form of a writing challenge? Close that Excel spreadsheet you’re working on, minimize your boss’ emails or postpone your daily chores (come on, nobody … Read more
Writing for the Young Adult Audience
There’s no question about it: The young adult (YA) audience is a hot market, one that is steadily growing in popularity and garnering attention from young readers as well as literary critics. … Read more
Wade Rouse: Top 10 Ways to Stay True to Yourself in Publishing
Since many TANR readers seem to have enjoyed Erik Larson’s list of the Top 10 Essentials to a Writer’s Life and Sherman Alexie’s Top 10 Pieces of Writing Advice I’ve Been Given … Read more
Literary Agent Kate McKean Teaches “Awesome First Pages: How to Start Your Story Right” — Webinar With Critique on Nov. 15, 2012
No longer can writers compose books that “really start to cook on page 40.” Books must start strong from the very first page. Your first paragraph, your first sentence, your first few pages — they all must have momentum and conflict and purpose. They cannot be fluff. Weak starts to stories is one of the most frequent reasons agents & editors reject submissions. Lucky for us, we have an expert on the subject. One of our most popular webinar instructors, literary agent Kate McKean, has returned to teach “Awesome First Pages: How to Start Your Story Right” on November 15, 2012. Read more
Promote Yourself and Your Books to Get Known & Build Your Platform
The Writer’s Digest Premium Collection for November 2012 is called “Make a Name For Yourself.” The idea behind the WD premium collections is simple. We bundle tons of stuff and discount it a lot. In fact, this collection is discounted 81%! So if you want to learn how to network yourself, make connections, meet readers, and sell books, this premium collection for you. Learn more about the 3 books and many webinars included with this deal… Read more
How To Get More Blog Readers: Webinar on November 13, 2012 (RESCHEDULED DATE!) with Personalized Blog Critique
If you’re trying to reach more readers and make connections, a blog will be one of your biggest tools. A blog is your chance to have a depot for content and let people know who you are and what you’ve written. Fortunately, we have blogging expert Porter Anderson to help us learn more about this subject. Blogging pro Porter Anderson is teaching an all-new how-to webinar on blogging called “What Authors, Bloggers and Freelancers Need to Know” on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 at 1 p.m. EST. Keep reading to learn all about the intensive webinar and the personalized critique. Read more
