The querying process can be very hard mentally and emotionally. If you want to be traditionally published, though, it is one of the ways you’re most likely to land an agent. You can participate in Twitter pitch wars, attend a
Where to find writing advice
One of the challenges in taking writing and publishing advice from other authors is that they usually know only what works/worked for them. An author who has only been publishing for a little while has a very limited experience to
Why I focus on the three-to-five biggest developmental problems in a ms
Typically in a manuscript evaluation or developmental edit I focus on what I perceive to be the three-to-five most important concerns I’ve noticed in the ms. This is the approach I teach my editing students. In any given ms, there may
How (and why) I give direct guidance
Some editors ask authors questions in the editorial queries (the comments an editor makes on a ms.) For these editors, a typical query/comment might be, “What are you trying to accomplish here?” or “Do you mean for Martha to sound
When to use a beta reader and when to hire an editor
Authors often use beta readers to give them feedback on their work and I think this can be a great way to get a sense of a reader’s experience of the novel. Any thoughtful reader can tell you what they
“Writer” and “editor” are two different skills
I’m an editor who is also a writer, but I would caution you to be careful of hiring an editor whose main experience is their own writing and revising process. Being a writer has certainly helped me understand what the