Hi Writers,
I wanted to let you all know that I'm leaving my position as editor of Writer's Digest effective October 10. I'll be checking in and trying to chat more before I leave.

The reason I'm leaving is that they've appointed a new editorial director (Jane Friedman, editorial director of Writer's Digest Books) and we have very different visions for the direction of the magazine, so it seemed like a good time for me to check out.

I don't have a plan B yet, but I'll be sure to let you all know if I do figure it out.

Hey, if nothing else there's always writing, right?  ;)

I've always said, I was a writer when I took this gig and I'll be a writer when I leave. It's turned out to be more than just a decent gig, though, it's been an amazing ride. Thanks to all of you for sharing the ride with me.

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
Writer's Digest is pleased to announce the debut of WD Live, a series of free live video interviews with top-name authors from ThrillerFest 2008.

Just to give you a taste of what's to come, here's an entertaining segment with authors Steve Berry, Brad Thor and James Rollins, discussing how they quietly began writing each others characters into their respective books.

We'll be rolling out more in the next few weeks, so stay tuned! And, as always, I'd love your feedback.

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
I hope you've enjoyed coming along the wild ride of ThrillerFest with me. I'm back in Cincinnati and wanted to thank all of the great people at ThrillerFest for putting on such a fabulous conference and for inviting Writer's Digest to co-sponsor their event.

Since I don't often get to post visuals, it's been really fun to hone my photojournalism skills, and I have a few more photos to share with you today.

I had the best time with Steve Berry, Brad Thor and James Rollins: Three bestselling novelists and also friends who write each others characters into their books. Also of note: Thor, whose book is currently leading the NYT bestseller lists with The Last Patriot, is under heavy security because he's had a fatwa declared against him due to his novel's questioning of the origins of Islam.

Here's a picture of me with David Baldacci, taken just after I interviewed him. He is just the nicest, most intelligent and eloquent person--well deserved of his phenomenal success. He also was honored with the Silver Bullet Award at ThrillerFest for his work with the advancement of literacy.

And finally, here's a picture of me at the award's banquet and two of the attendees who won seats at our table: Joan Johnston and Andrew Marino. You may recognize Joan as the author of 50 novels, with 10 million copies of her books in print!

There will be video streaming of many of the best sessions from Thrillerfest available on writersdigest.com starting August 1, so be sure to check back soon!

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
It's my final day at ThrillerFest and the thrills just keep coming. Today I did video interviews with Lee Child, Sandra Brown, David Baldacci among others. Those videos will be available on our website in a few weeks, I'll let you know when they're up.

Here's a picture of me with "ThrillerMaster" Sandra Brown--not only is she incredibly prolific, she is utterly gorgeous.

More to come!

Keep Writing,
Maria
pictured below: Sandra Brown and yours truly

Hi Writers,
I'm psyched about an upcoming conference we're co-sponsoring especially for thriller writers: Thriller Fest 2008. It's July 9-12 in New York.

Sandra Brown is the Thriller Master this year and will be delivering a keynote speech. I'm getting the chance to interview Brown, as well as Brad Thor, M.J. Rose, David Baldacci and more, and we'll be offering free videos of those interviews soon.

We'll also be making available a series of pay-per-view video downloads of many of the craft workshops and sessions. They'll be available on our website next month. I'll be sure to let you know when they're up.

I'm also reporting live from the show on this blog, so stay tuned. And if you're at Thrillerfest, please be sure to say hi.

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
I’m reporting live from New York City, where I’m accompanying our annual competitions winners Alegra Clarke and Mary Feuer.

So Alegra and Mary and me are making the rounds to meet literary agents. This is part of their prize for winning our annual competition for the past two years. I was so happy to meet these two great ladies, really I couldn’t imagine this happening to two nicer, more deserving, talented writers.

Even though she won the contest in 2006, Mary has been tied up as a screenwriter on location in Hawaii for the TV series “Dante’s Cove.” Mary’s working on a novel length work stemming from the great “House on Fire” she won our competition with two years ago.

Alegra, who won our competition in the memoir category for her “Salamander Prayer” has completed a novel since she found out she won our competition less than a year ago, and she’s already working with a L.A. based screenplay agent Joel Gotler on the screen rights.

We have two days of meetings with literary agents lined up. Yesterday we met with Annelise Robey of the Jane Rotrosen Agency and Mollie Glick of the Jean V. Naggar Agency.

Both Annelise and Mollie were so enthusiastic and positive about the prospect of finding new talent, the meetings were really delightful; I got quite a charge from it.

A lot came out of these meetings and I learned quite a lot about the current state of the market. I don’t have time for a full report but here’s a bit of what each had to say.

Annelise Robey says literary fiction is selling, especially if it’s accessible, not overly intellectual and has crossover appeal.

Mollie Glick had each writer give her “elevator pitch.” She told Mary if you have a choice between writing the book as a series of linked short stories and a novel, definitely go with the novel as short story collections, even linked short stories, are incredibly difficult to sell.

We have four more meetings lined up today so I have to run, but I’ll report back tomorrow, with visual aids!

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
I've included a handy link in the left navigation to our 2008 101 Best Websites for Writers.

We've been running this list annually for 10 years now, and we're quite proud to be able to spotlight these great resources. As you can imagine, weeding through the thousands of nominations we receive each year is a difficult, time-consuming process. Our online managing editor, Brian A. Klems took on this monumental task once again this year, and he put together yet another phenomenal list.

Of course, when we publish this list each year, we inevitably get questions about how we choose because it's become quite competitive. So to help out, here are 3 things you should know if you want to get your website in the running for our 2009 list:

1. The website must be nominated (you can nominate your own website or another favorite website by submitting to writersdigest@fwpubs.com.) We collect nominations throughout the year, and publish the list in our June issue (June deadlines hit in early January).

2. Although some of the websites we choose do have paid elements, it's essential that there's a substantial amount of free content of value to writers.

3. We judge our advertisers websites no differently than we would any other nominated website; the criteria are the same.

If you have any questions or comments about our 101 Best Websites for Writers, please post them here. Brian and I will be happy to answer.

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
I was heartbroken when one of my favorite writers of all time, Kurt Vonnegut, died last year. He was a real friend to writers and he granted several interviews to Writer's Digest over the years.

In my archival wanderings, it was especially rewarding to come across this WD interview with Vonnegut (from the November 1985 issue of Writer's Digest; by Michael Schumacher).

It was difficult to choose just one short excerpt because Vonnegut was/is infinitely quotable, but here's one I think especially pertinent to writers. Enjoy.

WD: How do you see yourself?
VONNEGUT: I’ve customarily responded to life as I’ve seen something that made me very much want to write about it—not that it made me very much want to get into the writing profession.

WD: You’ve said that you have to have an ax to grind—
VONNEGUT: Well, you’ve got to have something to write about. I’ve taught writing at Iowa, Harvard, and City College in New York. One big problem is that people don’t have anything on their minds. They’re not concerned—which isn’t to say they need an ax to grind. Usually, a person with an ax to grind is kind of a crank of some kind, or a partisan of some kind. So I reject the ax to grind. But you must be passionate about some aspect of life, because it’s a high-energy performance to create something the size of a book. It takes energy and concentration—not an ax to grind. You should have something on your mind. You should have opinions on things. You should care about things.

So keep caring about things.
And Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
It would be an understatement to say that I learn something new every day that I comb through the WD archives, and today was no exception.

Today’s exhibit: an excerpt from a 1938 essay by Upton Sinclair. A prolific nonfiction author of his day, and—to go along with our running theme for the past few posts—a social crusader.

Did you know Upton Sinclair self-published nearly all of his work? Apparently he had to because of the confrontational subject matter of his writings—exposing injustices and other inhumane activity.

Anyway, here is an inspiring excerpt from his essay entitled: "Changes I have Seen," which expounds on Sinclair's writer as social crusader belief.


Now, again, America is taking heart, and dreaming of some kind of society in which there can be security and freedom for all the people—something which not even the rich can enjoy today. There are millions now who do not believe in money-accumulation as the end and goal of human life. Good reason, you say, because they have no chance to succeed at it. But bitterness about one’s personal fate is the first step to thinking and trying to understand a world in which one-third of the population is condemned to misery, no matter how hard they work and scheme and struggle.

In short people are reading and thinking and talking about economics today. New writers are appearing, and fighting for the right of independence, and to say what they think about the system of exploitation, which has thrown some ten to twelve millions permanently out of work, and is making it necessary for us to heap up a deficit of four billions of dollars a year to keep the ratio of unemployment from doubling itself. Thoughtful books and honest books, fighting books for the cause of social justice are pouring from the presses, both here and in England, and in all the countries where freedom to think and to speak survives. I believe that America and the other democratic lands are soon to see a new birth of freedom, and I believe that the literary critics of that happier time will look back upon this age and call it the time of golden opportunity in the history of literature.
   
Among those who read these words are young writers who will thrill to the idea that their books may be read and their names be listed in that roll of honor. Get something vital to say, and learn to say it with power and appeal. You may help to make the future of humanity happy and noble.


How's that for inspiration...
Keep Writing,
Maria