Innehållsförteckning för April 2020 från Writer's Digest

“I really love The Village on Horseback by Jesse Ball, published by Milkweed Editions. In his introduction, Ball writes that he had always wanted to publish a pocket-sized omnibus of his work, and that’s what it is: small, sturdy, thick, fits in your pocket, and perfect to read on the bus in the rain. It’s a collection of Ball’s fiction that had never all been in one place before, including his Plimpton Prize-winning story, and since it’s Ball, it’s filled with his strange magical fantasy, always slightly off and always slightly dangerous. This book is like carrying secret worlds around with you, a concealed weapon.” —gaast “Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine” —Ke’Nicole “Summer in Orcus by T. Kingfisher” —Significantotter FROM THE EDITOR It would be impossible to pick…

POETIC FORM: FLAMENCA The flamenca is a Spanish quintain (or five-line stanza) form with a staccato rhythm to replicate the click of heels by flamenco dancers. The flamenca goes by a few other names, including seguidilla gitana, playera, and/or sequiriya. Here are the basic rules: • Five lines • Lines one, two, four, and five have six syllables • Line three has five syllables • Lines two and five assonate (the vowel sounds rhyme) Here are a few examples by Poetic Asides readers: Triteleia Crocea by Taylor Graham It seems so out of place on decomposing stone—this dapper star-bloom of pale yellow-striped silk for a fine lady’s own. Lines two and five assonate. Contemplating a Six-Foot Putt by William Preston Who would have suspected that a ball and a hole…

Sarah Smith grew up in Atlanta and graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with highest honors in English and creative writing. She moved to Argentina after school, then to New York City “with a holey air mattress, a suitcase, and no job,” she says. “I love it more every year.” For three years Smith curated “True Story: Nonfiction,” the weekly reading series at KGB Bar in East Village. After beginning her career in book publishing at Trident Media Group, she joined David Black Literary Agency in 2012. She lives in Brooklyn. “I’m looking for nonfiction projects that hit an elegant high-low balance: a deep-dive analysis of some pop cultural phenomenon, or a digestible primer on some wonky, esoteric topic we should know more about,” she says. “Also, narrative nonfiction about people…

Short-listed for The Booker Prize, Chigozie Obioma’s An Orchestra of Minorities is widely considered one of the finest novels currently in print. From the very beginning of the narrative, it’s clear this is fiction brought to life by a master of the genre. One early moment that attests to this is when the narrator describes a goose trailing its dead mother, which is in the hands of the main character Nonso’s father: His father did not notice the gosling scampering along after him, making a shrilling sound which, many years later, my host would realize was the sound of a weeping bird. One hallmark of great literature is when language possesses meaning on different, sometimes competing levels. In this case, the goose is not only a metaphor for Nonso, but…

Out of 130 entries, Writer’s Digest editors and readers chose this winner, submitted by Bridget Young of Brecksville, Ohio. The screams finally stop as daylight fades away. I’ve gotten used to human laughter but never the cries of fear. A feeling of dread, a sensation I’ve learned from the humans, comes as I wait for the Reporting Council to begin its communication. I am several light years away from home. Distance has given me time to reflect on my assigned territory: Earth. Will I be able to communicate to the Council the agony I encounter here every day? “Agent, please begin your report. We are most interested in the inhabitants’ daily life,” says the Council. “I first want to thank the Council for the opportunity to study planet Earth. The…

“Will someone steal my idea?” This is a common, somewhat justified fear: You can’t copyright an idea, and the internet makes for easy swiping. Jody realized the power of the purloin when she approached publishers with W. Bruce Cameron’s proposal for 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. One editor, who had learned about the essay on which the book was based on The Today Show, accused Bruce of plagiarizing his own writing! But this scenario had a happy ending: Today acknowledged Bruce’s authorship, Jody sold the book, and it became a New York Times bestseller and a popular sitcom. Most appropriation is inadvertent. Mike has seen “The Hook, the Book, and the Cook” concept from How to Write a Book Proposal used elsewhere without attribution. So, yes, things…

Look at the requirements for any book proposal and you’ll find a request for “comp titles.” These are comparable and competitive books yours will stand next to in bookstores and on sell-sheets with publisher’s sales teams. But what does that really mean? Who really uses them and why is there so much emphasis put on them? We’ll cover all that and more and you’ll quickly understand why so many people (myself included) have a love/hate relationship with comp titles. WHAT ARE COMP TITLES? First, note that it’s “comp titles,” not “comp title.” More than one is always required. When I was acquiring books for Writer’s Digest Books, our pub board (which approved new books for nearly a dozen imprints) required that acquisition editors provide at least six comp titles: three…

1 2020 Writing Conference of Los Angeles Enjoy a full day of intense instruction at this “How to Get Published” writing event sponsored by Writing Day Workshops in Culver City. WHEN: May 2, 2020. WHERE: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles, Westside, Culver City, Calif. PRICE: $189 registration, with add-on options such as pitching an agent ($29), query critiques ($69), and first 10 pages critiques ($89). Spaces limited. See website for details. WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE UNIQUE: This event is aimed at novice or intermediate writers. “Knowing it’s hard to block off a whole week or weekend for a conference, this one is short, sweet, and as helpful as possible,” says Coordinator Kerrie Flanagan. Recognizing the value of pitching to literary agents face to face, the event prides itself on…

• Keep in mind that there may be more than one workshop in each of the listings. • These workshops are listed alphabetically by state, country, or continent. • Unless otherwise indicated, rates include tuition (T) only. Sometimes the rates also include airfare (AF), some or all meals (M), accommodations (AC), ground transportation (GT), materials (MT), or fees (F). • When you find workshops that interest you, be sure to call, email, or check the website of the instructor or organization for additional information. • All listings are paid advertisements.…

Hello dearest readers, and welcome to our April issue—The Small Press Issue. As usual, I am thrilled to share all that is in these pages with you. Small presses are producing great work—you probably have one or five small press titles on your bookshelves right now. Many authors find their first book deals with small presses, which is a big part of why Managing Editor Cassandra Lipp so passionately pitched her concept for this issue. Her ideas generally lean toward the brilliant, so we ran with our first-ever small-press roundup. Here you will find 23 small presses that are open to your pitches. Cassie worked tirelessly to put this list together, and it gives some very valuable insights into what small presses are looking for. She also put together a…

It’s hard to imagine a time when David Baldacci wasn’t a household name. As he celebrates the release of his 48th book, Walk the Wire (Grand Central, April), Writer’s Digest looks back to our January 1997 interview which reflects on the years of work that went into becoming an “overnight success” and how the master of political thrillers found an agent. David Baldacci made headlines when his first novel, a politically charged thriller called Absolute Power (Warner Books), sold overnight in November 1994 for nearly $5 million. Baldacci admits the amount paid for the book stunned him. But the 35-year-old attorney, who lives in northern Virginia and practiced law in Washington D.C. for nine years, laughs at the “overnight success” story that took 11 years “and probably 10,000 discarded pages.”…

Lisa Braxton The Talking Drum (Literary Fiction, May, Inanna Publications) “A story of racial, cultural, class, and political tensions told through three 1970s couples living in a Massachusetts port city in decline, with an urban redevelopment project expected to transform the city economically with gentrification playing a key role.” WRITES FROM: Weymouth, Mass. PRE-DRUM: I had been writing short stories and essays for years and would occasionally get published. I’d been wanting to write a novel since childhood, and after getting a few publication credits, I crafted a scene featuring a woman who purposely runs into an old boyfriend to rekindle their romance. After several years rewriting the same scene, I needed guidance to further the story. I enrolled in the Southern New Hampshire University low-residency MFA program, where I…

A MacDowell Colony and Hawthornden Castle fellow, LELAND CHEUK is the author of three books, most recently, No Good Very Bad Asian. His work has appeared in Salon, San Francisco Chronicle, Catapult, Joyland Magazine, Literary Hub, and elsewhere. He is the founder of 7.13 Books and lives in Brooklyn. ADAM Z. LEVY is the founder and co-publisher of Transit Books. KATE GALE is co-founder and managing editor of Red Hen Press, editor of The Los Angeles Review, and teaches in the low-residency MFA program at the University of Nebraska in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction and in the University of Ashland MFA Program. She is author of seven books of poetry, including The Goldilocks Zone (University of New Mexico Press, 2014) and Echo Light (Red Mountain Press, 2014) and six…

WRITE A SHORT STORY of 650 words or fewer based on the photo prompt below. You can be poignant, funny, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story. TO ENTER: Email your story with the subject line “Your Story 105” to yourstory contest@aimmedia.com. Entries must be pasted directly into the body of the email; attachments will not be opened. NOTE: WD editors select the top five entries and post them at WritersDigest.com/Your-Story-Competition. Join us online in June, when readers will vote to rank the winners! Follow @WritersDigest on Twitter for Your Story updates. The winner 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 11, 2020…

We’ve seen much online vitriol that castigates publishers because they seek profitable books. Publishers have to make money. They must keep the lights on and hire good people so they can continue to publish books. This means they say no to projects they don’t believe they can sell. Sometimes they’re right, and other times they turn down worthy projects, but in any event, we want publishers to publish selectively and keep those lights on. Financially stable publishers are good for writers and good for the world.…

To understand Rattle, it helps to know how the Los Angeles-based magazine and nonprofit got its start with Editor-in-Chief Alan C. Fox. Though he always wanted to be a writer, Fox started out as a lawyer before getting into the real estate business. Eventually, he took a poetry workshop, offered to print a chapbook of the students’ poetry at its conclusion, and that became the first issue of Rattle. As editor Timothy Green recalls, “He did it for that class and the next class. Then he decided to keep it going and expand. And that’s how it started.” First published in 1995, Rattle has grown into a quarterly poetry journal that boasts a circulation of 10,000, including 7,000 subscribers. That’s in addition to poetry contests, ekphrastic challenges, a young poet…

You’ve worked hard to establish a strong panel of topics and presenters that will entice attendees. Now’s the time to promote your event to make sure your efforts pay off. Whether your marketing budget is large or small, here are some tips to raise the profile of your event. • A targeted email campaign with a strong subject line is a great reminder to send to lists from neighboring workshops and conferences or even previous attendees. Your message should be succinct, with clear headings, links to more detail, and chunks of info for an easy read. • Create brochures and posters for distribution (with permission) at area coffee shops, book stores, libraries, and any place writers congregate. Don’t forget your local college campuses. If you can coordinate this effort with…

SMALL BUT MIGHTY Each of the clues below hints at the title of a book or series about something small. Use the clues to fill out the accompanying crossword puzzle. (Hint: All answers contain the words small or little.) ACROSS 5. Charles Dickens’s critique of debtors’ prisons 6. Jenny Slate essays celebrating small pleasures 8. Original French title of a boy who leaves his home planet to see oddities throughout the universe 9. Western parody starring Jack Crabb 10. Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth 11. The famous mouse born into a family of humans who has big adventures 12. Izzy Richardson’s revenge 13. Greta Thunberg speeches DOWN 1. Andrea Levy’s Whitbread Book of the Year 2. YA series following the members of a teen clique, their anonymous blackmailer, and the…

JESSICA STRAWSER JessicaStrawser.com is editor-at-large of WD, where she served as editorial director for nearly a decade and became known for her cover interviews with such luminaries as David Sedaris and Alice Walker. She’s the author of the book club favorites Almost Missed You; Not That I Could Tell, a Book of the Month bestseller and Barnes & Noble Best New Fiction pick; and Forget You Know Me, (all from St. Martin’s Press). A Career Authors contributing editor, Tall Poppy writer, and popular speaker at writing conferences nationwide, she recently completed a distinguished term as 2019 Writer-in-Residence for the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. She loves connecting with writers and readers on Twitter @JessicaStrawser, Facebook @JessicaStrawserAuthor, and Instagram@JessicaStrawerAuthor. CASSANDRA LIPP is managing editor of WD and a freelance…

A quarter-inch layer of dust covered a bottle of Prosecco in my refrigerator. This held significance for two reasons. One: I had no idea dust could accumulate inside a major appliance which got used daily. Two: There was an unopened bottle of booze in the house. Stashed away for when I signed with a literary agent, this preemptive celebratory bottle represented my sparkling writing future. I never considered it would turn into an archaeological wonder. Every day it reminded me of failure. For two years, I actively queried my first novel. Over time, my query letter got snappier and my manuscript pages improved. This resulted in 23 full requests from established (some prestigious) literary agents. A roller coaster of emotion correlated with my ego. On days when an agent requested…

Indie authors often spend more time publishing their book than they do promoting it. But if you want to sell copies to more than just family and friends, you must rely on others to spread the word. One of the easiest—and cheapest—ways to do that is by creating a media kit. Before diving into the details, let’s first look at why you need one. WHY YOU NEED A MEDIA KIT Companies create media kits all the time when launching new products. They’re designed for reporters who want a quick snapshot of the product and why they should cover it. In the publishing industry, media kits help bloggers, reviewers, reporters, and editors understand how your story stands out from the crowd. Hundreds of thousands of books are published each year, so…

According to literary science,1 completing a novel lands somewhere between climbing Mount Everest and extinguishing the sun in terms of difficulty. Note the gerund2 in that sentence: Completing a novel is hard. Beginning a novel is easy. If you’re like me, you probably started about five novels this morning, all of which collapsed into ruin by around the third sentence. Like everything else in this business, there’s no shortage of advice on every aspect of writing a novel—and most of that advice centers on what not to do. And, as always, most of that advice contradicts all the other advice, leaving you no closer to a finished novel.3 As usual, books are the answer. The best piece of advice any writer can receive is “read,” after all—read widely, read continually,…

Dear FYSA, Someone in my writing group has had three rather successful books published by a major publisher, but then, she had two proposals rejected by her publisher, and her third proposal, her agent rejected, saying it wasn’t at the level needed for submission. She is trying to keep a stiff upper lip, but it got a few of us wondering—how can someone go from having an instinct for writing relatable characters, stakes, and plot to … not? And how can we best support her? Signed, Empathetically Inclined Dear EI, Ah. Yes. The “yips.” Generally used with athletes, it describes a sudden and unexplained loss of ability. It has been thought to have a neurological base—the idea that using the same micro movements in muscles and nerves causes fatigue and…

A New Yorker cartoon published in 1999 by Mick Stevens shows Adam and Eve sitting together under a tree in Eden. Adam says to Eve, “I can’t help thinking that there’s a book in this.” Adam had a great idea. Do you? If you’re uncertain, this article will help you decide if the time is ripe to write your proposal. It will also reveal the likelihood of finding a publisher. If you’re absolutely certain that your concept is compelling and salable, skip this article. If not, read on. Someone once said, “Getting an idea should be like sitting on a pin; it should make you jump up and do something.” Here are five “somethings” you can do to determine if your idea is salable: 1. EXAMINE MODELS. 2. TEST-MARKET YOUR…

Rattle offers a universe of opportunities for poets. Here’s a quick look: MAGAZINE: Each issue publishes general submissions and submissions for issue-specific tributes. For instance, the Fall 2020 issue seeks submissions from service workers. Contributors receive $200 per poem. CONTESTS: Rattle offers three poetry prizes—a $15,000 Poetry Prize (for best single poem); the Rattle Chapbook Prize (three winners receive $5,000, 500 copies of their chapbook, and distribution to subscribers); and the $2,000 Neil Postman Award for Metaphor. YOUNG POETS ANTHOLOGY: Annual anthology written by poets who are 15 or younger. Contributors receive 10 chapbook copies. POETS RESPOND: Each week, one poem written about a recent current event is selected and published online. Contributors receive $100. EKPHRASTIC CHALLENGE: Each month, Rattle supplies a visual piece of art that poets use to…

CALIFORNIA ANNUAL GREATER LOS ANGELES WRITERS CONFERENCE, produced by West Coast Writers Conferences at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Westside Los Angeles. August 14–16, 2020. Writers of all genres and disciplines benefit from this popular educational and inspirational three-day event on the craft and business of writing. Our 26th conference will feature multi-track programs for what we call the 3-A’s™ (Aspiring, Active, and Accomplished) for writers of fiction, nonfiction, and screenplays. Topics will be presented by 40+ literary agents, editors, veteran educators, bestselling authors, and industry professionals in progressive streams of seminars, workshops, and panels. Live critique workshops include Great Beginnings for Novels & Screenplays, Query Letters, and more. There are FREE one-on-one pitch sessions with literary agents and publishers looking for new talent with polished manuscripts. We also offer a…