Writer's Digest newsletters

Here are the latest Writer's Digest newsletters, with details of upcoming courses and more:

How I Stopped Sabotaging My Goals Given that I published my first book at age 55, some might call me a late-blooming author. I am. But not because I suddenly discovered writing and decided to write a book. I am a late bloomer because I finally stopped sabotaging myself and did the work needed to realize life-long ambitions. (It's Never Too Late: On Becoming a Writer at 50.) Writing books is all I ever wanted to do. Yet, for many years, I wore my writing dream like a costume—acting the part but never really committing to the work. Throughout my childhood, teens and 20s, I might have looked like someone working for her dream: sending earnest poems to teen magazines and entering contests, majoring in the right subjects, founding student publications, and working in New York City publishing jobs. Sometimes a glimmer of the dream would start to come true: winning the Rotary Creative Writing Contest in junior high, getting into selective writing workshops, getting my first byline in a national magazine. But instead of these little wins driving me towards my dream, they often caused me to back away and to talk about the dream more than to go after it. Read the full article... How to Get Your Writing Discovered by a Literary Agent or Film Scout So many writers dream of seeing their stories in print or on the big screen. Join literary agents and film scouts on a webinar to find out where to begin: Click here for more information Plot Twist Story Prompts: The Old Acquaintance Memorable stories often have a great opening. They also usually have killer endings. But there aren't many great stories that get from point "once upon a time" to point "the end" without a good unexpected twist or three (or many more).  So I'm starting a new series of prompts that are focused specifically on plot twists. We'll shoot for a new one every Thursday morning. These prompts can be a starting place for a story, sure, but I think they might be even more fun if you throw them into an already existing story. If you need a place to start, use one of these 25 ways to start a story. Then, throw in a twist. Read More... This Week in Writing 5/18—Bertrand Russell born 1872 5/20—Stephen Jay Gould died 2002 5/21—Alexander Pope born 1688 5/21—Robert Creeley born 1926 5/22—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle born 1859 (How to write a mystery novel) 5/22—Victor Hugo died 1885 5/22—Peter Matthiessen born 1927 5/22—Langston Hughes died 1967 5/22—Philip Roth died 2018 5/23—Jane Kenyon born 1947 5/24—Bob Dylan born 1941 5/24—Michael Chabon born 1963 Robert Lee Brewer Robert Lee Brewer is a senior editor for Writer's Digest and former editor of the Writer's Market book series. He is also the author of Smash Poetry Journal and Solving the World's Problems. Find him on Twitter at @RobertLeeBrewer  Privacy Policy Writer's Digest an Active Interest Media company 5720 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, CO 80301 Writer's Digest online writing workshops cover every aspect of writing, from how to get started all the way to getting your project published -- all from the comfort of your home! Click here to view the full course calendar >> Courses Starting This Week:  Advanced Novel Writing Instructor: Terri Valentine Push yourself beyond your comfort zone and take your writing to new heights with this novel writing workshop, designed specifically for novelists who are looking for detailed feedback on their work. When you take this online workshop, you won't have weekly reading assignments or lectures. Instead, you'll get to focus solely on completing your novel. Creativity and Expression Instructor: G. Miki Hayden When you take this online workshop, you’ll explore creative writing topics and learn how descriptive writing can breathe life into your characters, setting, and plot. Learn creative writing techniques to launch your writing and transform your ideas into your next story. Getting Started in Writing Instructor: Estelle Erasmus Have you always wanted to be a writer? Don't let doubt or fear get the best of you—take a chance and learn how to start writing a book, novel, short story, memoir, or essay. When you take this online writing workshop, you'll discover your voice, learn the basics of grammar, and examine the different types of writing. Travel Writing Instructor: Jack Adler Traveling the world and writing about it at the same time sounds like a dream career. With the right set of skills, you can turn an article into a reader's escape—no travel required. When you take this six-week workshop, you'll discover how to become a travel writer by exploring the different types of articles you can write and developing your writing style. Writing Online Content Instructor: Naveed Saleh With the continued proliferation of online and virtual media, more readers than ever before are turning to the internet for news and opinions. This course will teach you how to effectively write online articles of all types including news, feature articles, opinion articles, alternative story forms (listicles, charticles, Q&As, and more), and blog postings. Writing the Mystery Novel Instructor: G. Miki Hayden Do you love reading a good mystery? Have you always wanted to write one? During the Essentials of Mystery Writing workshop, you'll have the choice of creating a brand new mystery story from scratch or working with a story you already have in progress. Spend six weeks on your craft while receiving feedback from a published mystery author! This Week's Boot Camp:  Publishing Your Children's Book: How to Write and Pitch Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Picture Book Manuscripts with Maria Vicente & Eric Smith of P.S. Literary This Week! May 19-22, 2020 Children's books—young adult, middle grade, and picture books—have taken over the publishing industry (in a good way). In this WDU Boot Camp, the agents of P.S. Literary Agency will show you how to make your submission stand out. You’ll have the chance to submit your query letter plus your picture book manuscript or a sample from your middle grade/young adult manuscript’s first chapter for critique. This Week's Webinar: Today's Key Book Publishing Paths: What's New, What's Old, and What's Right for You Instructor: Jane Friedman This Week! May 21, 1:00 PM EDT Over the last decade, the publishing industry has undergone tremendous evolution. Jane will discuss everything you need to know about how book publishing operates today, in plain English, to help you understand the pros and cons of every major publishing path available. Upcoming Webinar: Writing An Attention-Grabbing First Chapter Instructor: Sarah LaPolla May 28, 1:00 PM EDT - Critique Included! Join Sarah LaPolla and gain insights and tips on creating a first chapter that agents will want to keep reading. She will also discuss what to avoid, how to balance a novel's tone with the narrator's voice, and how a great first chapter should set up the rest of the novel. View Full Course Calendar Hate being tied to a schedule? Our Self-Paced Courses are Now Only $19.99! EXPERT INSTRUCTORS | CONVENIENT ACCESS INVALUABLE FEEDBACK | Privacy Policy Writer's Digest an Active Interest Media company 5720 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, CO 80301 To unsubscribe from all AIM emails, click HERE Active Interest Media, 5720 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, CO 80301, USA Not rendering correctly? View this email as a web page here. A Special Offer from our Trusted Partner Starting right now: The BookBaby Editing Sweepstakes. Book Printing   |   eBooks   |   Editing   |   Book Design   |   Sell Your Book   |   Pricing Editing—it’s what every book needs. It’s what your book deserves. And over the next ten business days, you’ll have ten chances to win professional copy or line editing for free. All ten winners will have their manuscripts edited by professionals with experience working on New York Times bestsellers across all popular genres. You only have to enter once to be eligible for all ten prizes. Don’t miss your chance to win free book editing and enter today. Sweepstakes ends 5/22/20. Take your shot This sweepstakes runs from 5/11/20 to 5/22/20. Prize includes copy or line editing up to $1,000. 30,000-word manuscript maximum. All ten winners will be messaged directly each business day. This offer is non-transferrable.Only one entry per person accepted; multiple entries will be disqualified. SPECIAL OFFERS  |  FREE GUIDES  |  BLOG  |  CATALOG  |  HELP  |  1-877-961-6878 © BookBaby 7905 N. Crescent Blvd., Pennsauken, NJ 08110 info@bookbaby.com   |   Become an affiliate                                                                 | Privacy Policy Writer's Digest an Active Interest Media company 5720 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, CO 80301

Congratulations! Your query made it out of the slush pile and an agent requested your manuscript. Now, make sure they'll want to keep reading your novel by having an attention-grabbing first chapter. Between queries, clients, and meetings, an agent only has so much time to devote to reading new material. If an agent isn't engaged from the very beginning, there's a slim chance they'll keep turning the pages. Sarah LaPolla is a former literary agent and currently an independent editor of MG, YA, and Adult fiction. She shares insights and tips on creating a first chapter that agents will want to keep reading. She also discusses what to avoid, how to balance a novel's tone with the narrator's voice, and how a great first chapter should set up the rest of the novel. About the Critique: All registrants are invited to submit the first five pages of your novel for critique. Please wait until after the live webinar date to submit your critique material. This allows you to make changes to your first five pages based on the presentation and will ensure you receive the most helpful critique possible. All submitted pages are guaranteed a written critique by Sarah LaPolla. What agents look for in a first chapter How to grab - and keep - their attention beyond the first line How to avoid cliché, mundane, or overused beginnings And much more! Writers who are getting ready to query agents Writers who have received a request from their query, but a rejection from their manuscript Writers who are willing and able to revise Writers who are still deciding where their story begins Writers who are struggling with pacing, back-story, and character development May 28, 1:00 PM EDT LEARN MORE Instructor: Sarah LaPolla Sarah LaPolla has over a decade of experience in the publishing industry. Starting in the foreign rights department at Curtis Brown, Ltd., and later as an agent at Bradford Literary Agency, Sarah has primarily represented Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction in a variety of genres, many of which received starred reviews and critical acclaim. Sarah received her undergraduate degree in Creating Writing and English from Ithaca College and went on to get an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. | Privacy Policy Writer's Digest an Active Interest Media company 5720 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, CO 80301 To unsubscribe from all AIM emails, click HERE Active Interest Media, 5720 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, CO 80301, USA A Special Offer from our Trusted Partner Sponsored by Winning Writers North Street Book Prize for Self-Published Books Winning Writers will award a grand prize of $5,000 in the sixth annual North Street competition for self-published books, co-sponsored by BookBaby and Carolyn Howard-Johnson (author of The Frugal Book Promoter). Choose from six categories: Mainstream/Literary Fiction Genre Fiction Creative Nonfiction & Memoir Poetry Children’s Picture Book Graphic Novel & Memoir $12,500 will be awarded in all, and the top seven winners will receive additional benefits to help market their books. Any year of publication is eligible. Entry fee: $65 per book. Deadline: June 30. Submit online via Submittable or by mail. Winning Writers is one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest). Click to learn more about our guidelines, past winners, and judges’ remarks. Learn more A testimonial from W.R. Rodriguez, 2018 North Street poetry winner for "From the Banks of Brook Avenue" "As a recent winner, I am highly impressed about how supportive they have been: offering a detailed review of my work, a free ad, a marketing consult, and a credit for BookBaby—all of this in addition to a significant cash prize. All of this for an indie, self-published book of poetry: a category not served by many other venues. In my opinion, WW not only offers contest info, it also serves as a model of how a contest can serve the individual writer and the writing community." Prefer to enter by mail? You may mail your entry and $65 fee to Winning Writers, Attn: North Street Book Prize, 351 Pleasant Street PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060-3961, USA. Your payment should be a check or money order drawn on a US bank, payable to Winning Writers. US Postal Service money orders and US currency are also accepted.                                                              Privacy Policy Writer's Digest an Active Interest Media company 5720 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, CO 80301 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! ENTER YOUR BEST in the Writer's Digest 89th Annual Writing Competition for a chance to win $5,000 in cash, a feature interview in our special 100th Anniversary issue, and a paid trip to the ever-popular 2021 Writer’s Digest Annual Conference in New York City. If you’re ready to take the next step in your writing career, choose your favorite categories and enter your best work. inspirational/spiritual memoirs/personal essays print or online article genre short story (think romance, thriller, mystery, sci-fi, etc.) mainstream/literary short story rhyming poetry non-rhyming poetry script (think stage play or television/movie script) children’s/young adult fiction Enter Now! LEARN MORE  Privacy Policy Writer's Digest an Active Interest Media company 5720 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, CO 80301 In this issue, we look at whether writers should query multiple literary agents at once, reveal a new market spotlight, dig into freelance writing tips for regional pubs, and more!  Can Writers Query Multiple Agents? Recently, I received a familiar question that I've fielded several times over the years. It went something along the lines of, "Is it better for me to email one agent at a time or multiple agents at different agencies?"  (Do writers need literary agents?) It's a good question, especially as writers weigh how to improve the time between finishing their manuscripts or book proposals and actually getting published. So, what is the proper etiquette? Can you query multiple agents at once? Do the query letters need to be personalized? Does it make sense to pitch one literary agent at a time? Read the full article... Craft & Business of Writing Blade Magazine: Market Spotlight Established in 1973, Blade is branded as "the world's #1 knife publication." This monthly magazine covers the entire knife industry, including making knives, how to use knives, collecting knives, knife rights legislation, and more. The editors say, "Stories for Blade must not only be newsworthy, educational and informative, they must entertain." They pay $150 for shorter pieces up to $300 for feature stories. Read More... An Almost Published Author No More "I think I was constantly surprised while writing this book. Though I knew where it was headed, a lot of the twists and turns appeared along the way. It was one of those blessed instances where everything just flows. Not all of my projects are easy like that." Read More... Steering the Ship: Researching Tips for Writers 500 pages. That's the length of the transcript journalist Rachel Slade had to wade through in researching her 2018 bestselling book, Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro. Assembled from 26 hours of audio pulled from a doomed ship's data recorder—actual conversations between the crew and the Ahab-like captain—Slade had to sift through the transcription's technical language to unveil these complex characters and their extraordinary situation, extracting quotes along the way. Read More... Send Your Work to 2nd Draft Critique Services! No matter your style or genre, Writer's Digest Shop offers a high-level view of your writing. After an evaluation of your submission, one of the professional 2nd Draft critiquers will provide feedback and advice. You'll not only learn what's working in your writing, but what's not, and—most important—how to fix it. Gain a critique of your manuscript, query letter, synopsis, and more! Click to continue. 8 Freelance Writing Tips for Regional Pubs If you're looking to break into the freelance writing arena but are unsure of where to start, consider pitching to publications found in your own community. Whether you are a beginning freelancer or interested in branching out from your day job, regional publications offer opportunities to get your foot in the door, build confidence, gather reputable contacts, and create solid portfolio clips you can use to build a platform toward work with other magazines. Read More... Robert Lee Brewer Robert Lee Brewer is a senior editor for Writer's Digest and former editor of the Writer's Market book series. He is also the author of Smash Poetry Journal and Solving the World's Problems. Find him on Twitter at @RobertLeeBrewer  Privacy Policy Writer's Digest an Active Interest Media company 5720 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, CO 80301