The Why of Rejection and Why You NEED a Critique Group

For the last several weeks I’ve been meeting deadlines, editing, and reading through the submission inbox at Literary Wanderlust. Several of the pitches I received were decent. A few pitches were good. One or two pitches were really good. Regardless of the pitch quality I still read through each submission, including the synopsis and chapters. … Read more

More on Plot

I was contacted on social media yesterday by someone else with plot issues. Their story was episodic with no regular plot structure and their story also had no inciting incident. This means that the story had no specific beginning, middle or end, and the possibility that it will sell is slim. First of all, I … Read more

The Plot

I was contacted recently by a friend of a friend. You know how that works. Somebody tells somebody else that they are writing a novel, and somebody says, “Oh, I know an editor. You should contact them to help you with…” Fill that in as you like. Now, I don’t at all mind helping writers … Read more

Writing Tips – How to Write a Promotional Plan

As a newly published author, you want your book to sell. In the current publishing economy your publisher is not able to dedicate extensive funds (if any) to your book promotion, and/or if you are independently published you won\’t have any help or guidance. You need your book to sell either way.  To increase sales it … Read more

POV Trends

If you read much fiction you may notice that stories are written predominantly with first person narrative and third person narrative. Occasionally authors use other narrative forms, however these are usually novels of literary fiction rather than in genre fiction. Genre fiction tends to be more formulaic in the sense that readers have certain expectations … Read more