Innehållsförteckning för May/June 2018 från Writer's Digest

1 Louder Than Words In this issue we feature authors and industry professionals inspiring dialogue and tangible change in the world of publishing (“ROAR,” Page 42). Find extended interviews with each of our impressive subjects, as well as a reading list of essential books, at writersdigest.com/roar. 2 Caught in Our Web Our 20th annual roundup of the 101 Best Websites for Writers (Page 31) highlights top online resources, and in these exclusives we go more in-depth with insider guides to sites like Reedsy, Write Nonfiction NOW and DIY MFA. PLUS: Find listings of our favorite writing podcasts and apps. 3 The It Crowd In “Alpha-Blog Soup” (Page 22), Gabriela Pereira demonstrates the ways in which a blog can help you establish an author platform even before your book is finished.…

POETIC FORM: ROUNDELAY Roundelays are essentially lyric poems that incorporate a refrain. That’s simple and broad enough to cover quite a few other poetic forms, including the rondeau and villanelle. However, John Dryden developed a 24-line roundelay (tip of the cap to Lewis Turco’s The New Book of Forms) with a more sophisticated approach that uses eight refrains, including an AB refrain that finishes off each sestet (or six-line stanza). The rhyme-refrain pattern is revealed below in this example by a Poetic Asides reader. Category 5, by Bruce Niedt a The weather radar shows its core, (1) b a cold, dead eye amidst a brew a1 of wind and storms and rains that pour, b1 a buzzsaw set to tear and chew. a2 Some day it will blow…

Bob Hostetler grew up in a family of readers and writers, and subsequently has spent the bulk of his years pursuing related professions: first earning a degree in English Bible from Cincinnati Christian University and one in English communications from Bloomfield College, then working as a magazine editor and freelance book editor. He’s also an award-winning speaker; the bestselling author of more than 50 books, including The Bone Box and Right From Wrong; and was recently named executive editor of the Christian Writers Institute. In July 2017, Hostetler added “literary agent” to his repertoire, joining The Steve Laube Agency, who’ve represented him as an author for more than a dozen years. “I love coaching, guiding and encouraging writers to create great books,” he says. Visit Hostetler online at bobhostetler.com and…

Landing that first publication credit is no easy feat. Even so, writers often overlook online literary magazines. It’s true; there’s something powerful about holding a physical copy of a magazine, journal or anthology that includes your work. But as the editor of one such web-based magazine, I encourage you not to let the dream of print deter you from also pursuing online publication. Consider the following benefits. WHY TO LOOK ONLINE 1. The Numbers Are in Your Favor Because many online literary magazines are relatively new and don’t receive the same volume of monthly submissions that print venues do, you’re competing with fewer writers to catch an editor’s attention. For instance, at 2 Elizabeths— the literary magazine I co-founded that focuses on short fiction and poetry, with an emphasis on…

WritersDigest.com WD’s hub of free articles, prompts and downloads is filled with career advice, craft tips, competitions and more. Check out the editor blogs for friendly expert advice on writing and publishing, poetry challenges, agent updates and beyond. WritersDigestUniversity.com You don’t even have to leave home to get one-on-one instruction from expert authors and editors: WDU classes are offered year-round for every genre and experience level. Tutorials.WritersDigest.com More than 350 instructional videos are available to stream immediately, with new videos added weekly. A monthly subscription is $25, while an annual is $199. WritersMarket.com Along with 9,000-plus market listings updated daily, subscribers receive articles, industry updates, submission trackers and more. Monthly, six-month and annual-paid subscriptions are available. ScriptMag.com Script Magazine, set to merge with WD in 2018, offers vital script-writing advice,…

With Twitter-based pitch events such as #PitchWars and #PitMad so immensely popular, it’s only fitting that #DVpit has now joined their ranks. Created in 2016 by agent Beth Phelan, now with the Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency, the hashtag aims to “showcase pitches from marginalized voices that have been historically underrepresented in publishing.” (Details on how it works—and when the next event is scheduled—are kept up to date at dvpit.com and on Twitter at @DVpit_ and @beth_phelan.) In its short tenure, Phelan counts more than 60 successes in the form of #DVpit authors landing representation and/or book deals—and that number is growing. “I wanted to see the industry follow through on supporting diversity by also giving the money and opportunity to people behind the books—as well as the characters within…

What are some aspects of writing you’ve struggled with, and how have you worked to strengthen yourself in those areas? Definitely procrastination and discipline. Writing is hard work. I have to make it a priority, and that can be hard. Life is so full of distractions. Being in a writing community certainly creates accountability to get your butt in the chair. That’s been the most important thing for me. If you have someone else waiting to read something new from you on Monday, you better show up ready. Who has most inspired you as a writer? D.H. Lawrence and Shirley Jackson have written short stories that still haunt me. Zsuzsi Gartner has really unique ideas. For my novel writing, I’m inspired by Agatha Christie, L.M. Montgomery and Dodie Smith. Among…

TO ENTER: Send your story via the online submission form at writersdigest.com/your-story-competition or via email to yourstorycontest@fwmedia.com (entries must be pasted directly into the body of the email; attachments will not be opened). NOTE: WD editors select the top 12 entries and post them on our website (writersdigest.com/your-story-competition). Join us online in early June, when readers will vote for their favorite to help rank the top 10 winners! The winners will be published in a future issue of Writer’s Digest . DON’T FORGET: Your name and mailing address. One entry per person. DEADLINE: May 28, 2018.…

FOR YOUR WEB-FRIENDLY WRITING: Rodale’s Organic Life ABOUT: “We are an online handbook for living naturally in the modern world, a vivid chronicle of friendly, authoritative information about global cooking, gardening, design, wellness and travel.” FOUNDED: 2015. TRAFFIC: 6 million page views per month. LENGTH: Varies; pitches accepted for columns/ departments (Food, Home, Garden, Wellbeing, Almanac) and feature articles. PAYMENT: Up to $1/word. INTERESTS: “An organic life goes beyond the fridge. It’s about doing the best you can one step at a time for a happier, healthier life and planet.” HOW TO SUBMIT: “Familiarize yourself thoroughly with the magazine before pitching, so you can suggest how the article might appear and at what length it might run.” Query with published clips and outline at ROLsubmissions@rodale.com or by mail…

“What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.” One night in early January, my wife and I were watching Oprah Winfrey accept the Cecil B. deMille Award at the 75th Golden Globes. This quote captured perfectly the essence of the evening, filled with influential stars using their platform to highlight the “Time’s Up” and #MeToo movements. As we watched and admired the individuals taking the opportunity to speak their truths and to amplify the truths of others, it struck me that as writers, we have a similarly unique opportunity—a responsibility, even—to voice our own truth and to help others do the same. The stories we choose to tell are the stories that define us, capture the sentiment of our time,…

My first paid writing assignment was 500 words on “The Best Portable Toilets in New York.” I was commissioned, through a third-party service, to write the piece for Call-A-Head Corporation (the pun was not lost on me). Little did I know that five years later, I would have much more than port-a-potties to write about, my essays would appear in several major publications and I would be querying literary agents for my completed memoir. As a freelancer, I was constantly frustrated by having to cover frivolous topics for meager pay. What I really wanted to do was write about things that interested me. Most of all, I wanted to tell my story. The problem was, I didn’t have a story to tell—or so I thought. In January 2015, I became…

Author Emily James is an anomaly in self-publishing: She has almost no platform to speak of. Her name is a pseudonym. She has no Twitter account, no active blog and a Facebook account used solely to announce book releases. Yet she wholeheartedly believes in the necessity of connecting with her readers. How? By personally answering every single reader email she receives. “Those moments when someone actually took the time to email me are the most special,” she says. “That means something I wrote touched their life. Some authors make platform work [that same function]. But that’s not the only way to connect.” James never doubted that self-publishing, as opposed to traditional channels, would be her path to success. “I knew the chance of making a full-time income was better as…

Christine Mangan 1 Tangerine (psychological thriller, March, Ecco) Two women with a complicated relationship are reunited in 1950s Morocco—and for one, life inexplicably begins to unravel. WRITES FROM: Whatever city I happen to be living in at the moment—but almost always at a coffee shop. PRE-TANGERINE: Before writing Tangerine, I had been focused entirely on academic writing. Despite getting a bachelor’s and Master of Fine Arts in fiction writing, I had always been too nervous to submit my work and had started writing less over the years. [But] after traveling to Tangier, Morocco, in 2015, I was inspired to sit down and write what would eventually become Tangerine. TIME FRAME: I wrote the novel in the year after I graduated from University College Dublin. ENTER THE AGENT: I queried a…

The new online directory Literary Agents of Color (literaryagentsofcolor.com)—which includes bios and submission guidelines for around 50 such agents and growing—is the brainchild of Empire Literary’s Penny Moore, joined by Kurestin Armada (P.S. Literary), Linda Camacho (Gallt & Zacker Literary) and Quressa Robinson (Nelson Literary Agency) in bringing the site to life and expanding its reach. “The inspiration came from seeing writers of color on social media expressing their disappointment over how there were no agents of color to query with their projects,” Moore explains. “But we [literary agents of color] see each other at events and on social media all the time, so we knew there had to be a better way to respond to that need than an individual ‘I’m here!’ It’s common for a person-of-color (POC) writer…

Dear FYSA, My agent sold my young adult novel in a two-book deal to be published in 2019 (yay!). The editor who bought the book then moved to another publishing house, and I was reassigned a new editor. Then that editor left publishing, and I’ve yet again been shuffled. I’m feeling adrift. Should my agent be doing something? Sincerely, Anchorless Dear Anchorless, Yes. Your agent should do what I do: Have the acquiring editor sign a document, in blood, that completely rescinds their free will and stipulates they will never leave their imprint—nay, their desk!—for the duration of your contract. Hm? What now? Oh, it turns out I don’t do that. Because that is not a thing. What is a thing: editors, agents and publishers changing jobs, all the time.…

Starting a story with a line of dialogue or a verbal exchange can be a powerful opening and an effective way to hook readers. Here are 14 techniques to get your imagination rolling and to kick-start your conversations. 1. OPT FOR SPECIFICITY. Specify, specify, specify in order to reveal details about the characters or the situation. Often, this requires adding or altering just one or two words. This technique can be used to reveal information about the current situation or a previous encounter between two characters: Current Situation: Instead of, “Where did you put the key?” try, “Where did you put the handcuff key?” Instead of, “What is he going to say if he finds us here?” try, “What is your husband going to say if he finds us here?”…

1 Alabama Writers’ Conclave Sun and surf make for a relaxing setting at this popular conference on the Gulf Coast. WHEN: June 15–17, 2018. WHERE: Various locations around Orange Beach, Ala., including the Coastal Arts Center of Orange Beach, Orange Beach Recreation Center, Orange Beach Community Center and Hudson Marina. PRICE: $175 for AWC members, $225 for nonmembers. Students and seniors receive a $30 discount. A pitch session with publisher Misty Williams (Fiery Seas Publishing) is an additional fee. See website for details. WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE UNIQUE: The Alabama Writers’ Conclave welcomes conference-goers with true Southern hospitality. “We enjoy lifelong learning, rich experiences and searching for new inspirations and opportunities around each corner,” Conference Chair Jessica Jones says. WHO IT’S PERFECT FOR: Writers in all genres eager to sharpen…

JULIE DUFFY (“The Attention Deficit,” Page 28) is the founder of StoryADay May, a creativity challenge and online community where she has been blogging about creativity, productivity and short fiction since 2010. She hand-coded her first website in 1996 and has long been fascinated by the tension between tech’s ability to both help us reach our goals and distract us from them. She writes speculative fiction and can be found online at storyaday.org. ELISE HOLLAND (“Secrets to Cyber Success,” Page 26) is the editor of 2 Elizabeths, a literary magazine focused on poetry and short fiction, with an emphasis on romance and women’s fiction. Her work has been published in Darling, as well as on DIY MFA and Jane Friedman’s blog. Find Holland online—along with a copy of the 2…

He warmed his way into the dangerous terrains of Mexican narcos, the inner circles of Chinese Triads, the dimly lit backrooms of young Vietnamese gangsters in New York and became a confidant to other folks who usually don’t talk to strangers. It’s safe to say that as a crime journalist, T.J. English has a remarkable gift for gaining access. The 2015 book Where The Bodies Were Buried—about South Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulgerwas greatly informed by the killer’s old associates, a group known to be stiff-lipped about sharing Southie’s secrets. The author and the Boston Mob have a long personal history. English has written three books and several magazine articles about other Irish-American criminals. He was the first journalist to interview disgraced former FBI agent John “Zip” Connolly, Bulger’s…

“I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” —Jane Austen “When you can’t find someone to follow, you have to find a way to lead by example.” —Roxane Gay “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.” —Charlotte Brontë “I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.” —Virginia Woolf…

For the last two decades, we’ve scoured the web for sites to include in our annual roundup of the best online resources for writers. Things have changed a bit since our “101 Best Websites” feature debuted in May 1999: We’ve eliminated Dictionaries and Search Engines (remember Ask Jeeves?) as primary categories, and our website listings are no longer merely a part of the now-defunct “Ultimate Computing Guide for Writers”—which included tips for “how to get online” and “where to buy a computer,” to name a few. What’s remained constant, though, is our commitment to seeking out and curating a definitive catalog of the best websites for writers everywhere. Year after year, we review dozens of reader nominations, revisit sites from past lists, consider staff favorites and search the far-flung corners…

When writing conferences invite Eric Smith of P.S. Literary to join their roster of attending literary agents, he’s usually happy to comply, pending one request: a guest pass, so that he can bring along a marginalized writer from the surrounding area. “These conferences and workshops can be expensive,” Smith says. “Not everyone can drop $100 on a one-day workshop, or several hundred on a weekend conference. And forget about being able to afford it as a teenager or college student.” In response—wouldn’t you know it—conference coordinators have readily agreed. And writers have jumped at the chance. Smith puts out the calls on his blog, then weighs responses from interested applicants. In 2017, he brought writers from historically underrepresented groups to events in Pennsylvania and Indiana, and so far in 2018…

Out of more than 1,150 entries, Writer’s Digest editors and forum members selected the following 10 winners. 1 The wolf never came. —Vanessa Santos 2 Even a year after her encounter with the wolf, for Red, the nightmares continued. —Eric Hanson 3 As she watched his shadow dance between the trees, the girl never could have guessed the boy was dead. —B.E. Van de Veire 4 Frost was wrong. —Deb Richmond 5 Lisetta was startled at how the trees appeared so much taller, stronger, more alive than they did from her window in the asylum. —Kevin Neill 6 Though taller and warmer, she still felt like the cold, confused little girl with panicked eyes found clinging to a tree trunk 10 years earlier. —Erin Schreiner 7 She breathed in the…

Dialogue—the words people say—is a huge component of good writing. Fiction or nonfiction, no matter what you write, spoken word is bound to be a component. The more convincingly you employ dialogue, the more you will awaken your readers’ emotions and bind them to your characters. More than anything, I want to help you understand dialogue so that you can begin to think about it as professional writers do—as a component of writing that’s alive. UNDERSTANDING THE DIALOGUE PARADOX Authors must pen conversations that come across as real. Yet actual speech often sounds inane when transcribed onto the page. Here’s an example. SHE: Did you remember to pick up milk? Because Chris had his friends over and they— HE: Yeah. SHE: —and like I said on the phone, I’m going…