This post is co-written by Akshaya and Mara. Writing a novel takes a long time. You spend months, even years, wrestling with an idea you love. You slog through revision after revision after revision, because publishing is a difficult game that demands nothing less than your best. You work so hard, for so long, with… Continue reading The World Isn’t Wide Enough For My Book (Or Is It?)
Hello, everyone! I’m here today to talk about one of the most important and, in my opinion, least discussed parts of being a writer: your website. Back when I was a newbie writer, author websites were my everything. I’d spend hours reading back through the archives of every site I could find for authors I… Continue reading Why Your Author Website Matters
Earlier we posted questions to ask agents during The Call. And today it’s time for questions to ask client referrals. Whenever you talk to an agent who wants to offer representation, you should get a list of their clients you can contact. Preferably two (one who’s sold and one who hasn’t). You can either talk… Continue reading Questions to ask Other Clients of an Agent
So you’ve queried agents and one has emailed you asking for a phone call! This is amazing. Time to celebrate! Now, you’re probably thinking about and worrying about what to talk about on the call. For my calls the first part was amazing. The agents talking about how much they loved my manuscript and how… Continue reading Questions to ask Agents on The Call
We here at Writer’s Block Party loooooove talking about process. (If that wasn’t obvious by now, you probably haven’t been here that long!) Whenever one of us is stuck or just thinking about a certain aspect of writing, we always turn to each other for tips, advice, and strategies. For instance, right now I’m starting… Continue reading Craft Book Recommendations
Literature and Latte, the developers behind everyone’s favorite novel writing software Scrivener, got everyone in a tizzy last fall when they announced they would be releasing a new major version of Scrivener. As longtime Scrivener devotees, Akshaya and I were very excited to get a look at the promised new features and improved functionality. Unlike… Continue reading Is Scrivener 3 Worth It?
Note: This post is done in a roundtable style where members of Writer’s Block Party discuss a topic together. Moderator: Katy Rose Pool Editor: Mara Fitzgerald QUESTION ONE: What do we mean by “brainstorming?” AMANDA: As a plotter, for me, brainstorming means coming up with the components of nearly every facet of my story. Basically,… Continue reading Roundtable #10: How We Brainstorm
Hi all! At WBP we love Writing Conferences and Book Festivals! So we thought we’d give an overview of 2018 Conferences and Festivals to see if any are a good fit for you! I’m going to break it into Writing Conferences (Good for networking, working on craft, and agent pitching) and Book Festivals (Fan events,… Continue reading Upcoming 2018 Conferences & Festivals
Welcome to Writer’s Block Party, author spotlight edition! We are so excited to have Gloria Chao with us, talking about her upcoming debut, AMERICAN PANDA, out in the world on February 6. Thanks for joining us, Gloria! First, could you give us a quick pitch of AMERICAN PANDA? AMERICAN PANDA follows a seventeen-year-old MIT freshman… Continue reading Author Spotlight: Gloria Chao
Introduction As Benjamin Franklin once famously stated, “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And as a fantasy writer who crafts stories about perilous adventure and tragic characters, I much prefer reading about the former! As creative professionals, we have undergone intensive effort to hone our crafts, laborious research… Continue reading Hi Writers…Let’s talk about taxes
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