Each registration comes with access to the archived version of the program and the materials for one year. You do not have to attend the live event to get a recording of the presentation. In all WD webinars, no question goes unanswered. Attendees have the ability to chat with the instructor during the live event and ask questions. You will receive a copy of the webinar presentation in an e-mail that goes out one week after the live event. The answers to questions not covered in the live presentation will be included in this e-mail as well.

ABOUT THE CRITIQUE

All registrants are invited to submit the first 250 words of their manuscript, plus a one-paragraph synopsis and/or a query letter. All submissions are guaranteed a written critique by literary agent Katharine Sands. Katharine reserves the right to request more writing from attendees by e-mail following the event, if she deems the writing excellent.

ABOUT THE WEBINAR

Literary agents are always on a treasure hunt. But few writers know what it takes to make an agent yell, “Eureka, I’ve struck gold!” A first glance is all that most writers will get before the agent moves on without ever reading further, and that first glance needs to be a “Eureka” moment. This live webinar will cut through the mystery of getting an agent to want YOU.

Literary agent Katharine Sands will show you the best ways to showcase your writing as a bold, new entry into its category and yourself as a potential author with an intriguing book poised to spring forth. Katharine will explain hooks, selling points, and engines so that you will be able to sum up your entire book with a two-line description—and that’s gold! She’ll dive into best practices that will allow your pitch to either give off sparks or create a moment or pose a provocative question. She’ll show you how you can avoid ‘Querial’ Killers: the easy-to-fix mistakes writers make when querying agents. And, of course, she’ll talk (in detail) about the All-Important-Page-One. Sign up for the webinar here.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• How to make the perfect pitch
• How to deliver the flavor your book to whet the reader’s appetite for more
• How to keep the momentum going through the All-Important-Page-One
• How to start in a logical place—yet from a compelling perch
• How to identify the most exciting elements that illustrate your work
• How to encapsulate (in clear core points) when proposing a book
• The five key takeaways you need to entice an agent/editor
• How to amplify your chances for being selected
• What to do—and what not to do—when summarizing your book in 200-250 words. You want the neurons in the agent’s mind to decide, “Yes, keep reading!”

INSTRUCTOR

A literary agent with the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency, Katharine Sands has worked with a varied list of authors who publish a diverse array of books. She is the agent provocateur of Making the Perfect Pitch: How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye, a collection of pitching wisdom from leading literary agents. Recently contributed “Grey is the New Black” to Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey, a nonfiction look at the cultural phenom of the bestselling novel. Actively building her client list, she likes books that have a clear benefit for readers’ lives in categories of food, travel, lifestyle, home arts, beauty, wisdom, relationships, parenting, and fresh looks, which might be at issues, life challenges or popular culture. When reading fiction she wants to be compelled and propelled by urgent storytelling, and hooked by characters. For memoir and femoir, she likes to be transported to a world rarely or newly observed.

Sign up for the webinar here!

Sure, his novels are everywhere these days. Bookstores. Airports. Bestseller lists. But here’s how they got there.

As Lindsey O’Connor detailed in our profile of the author, Burke published his first story when he was 19. It did not earn him instant fame.

He worked the oil fields. He drove trucks. He taught.

He’d sold a couple of books, but they never really broke out.

And then he hit a mind-bending snag. He’d written a novel called The Lost Get-Back Boogie.

He submitted it. He got rejected.

… 111 times, over the course of nine years.

He battled alcoholism.

He applied for a Guggenheim grant. He got rejected.

… Fourteen times.

And then, finally, almost a decade after he’d first submitted The Lost Get-Back Boogie, LSU Press bought it.

It was nominated for a Pulitzer.

He got his Guggenheim.

He wrote The Neon Rain (1987) and created his famous Dave Robicheaux character.

Black Cherry Blues (1989) sold for six figures.

He’s now written more than 30 novels; he’s an award-winning bestseller; he’s a mainstay of his genre—and that’s the half of Burke’s story you’re used to hearing. But like most writers, the “Yes” that eventually built his career was built upon the foundation of a thousand “Nos.”

Never give up.

* * *

Here are some of Burke’s insights that he shared with Lindsey O’Connor in WD:

“I started writing and attempting to publish when I was 19. And by age 20 I worked briefly offshore, 10 days on the water, back on land for five days, and during those five days I would write, write, write. I rented a mailbox, and I would send my stories, and I guess some poems, to magazines all over Canada and the United States. Then I would go back on the quarter boat, and come back 10 days later, and my rejections would be waiting for me in the mailbox. But I learned a system and I’ve followed it ever since: Never let a manuscript stay at home longer than 36 hours. It’s that simple. You keep it in the mail, and if you do not you are ensured to fail.”

How did you get through the long period of rejection in the middle of your career?
“Rejection’s not easy. I mean, it’s like somebody, every day of your life, saying, ‘You know, you’re a real loser.’ And you wonder if he has a point. But the truth is that you don’t care. And I never did. I was never bothered by letters of rejection. I never believed one of them. And I received them by the hundreds, over many years.

“You do it a day at a time. You just put your rejection slips in a shoebox and tell yourself one day you’re going to autograph them and sell them at auction.”

If you had stopped with all those rejections over the years, how would that have changed your life?
“Well, I would have resented myself, I suspect, the rest of my life. But my point is an artist will not quit. He doesn’t have a choice. An artist is not going to do other things. It isn’t a matter of being brave. That’s like saying, ‘Well, I was brave because I got up this morning.’ It’s something in your spiritual tissue. You never stop. Why stop? Another thing a person has to remember: If he’s successful, it’s temporary. It’s going to go away.”

What’s the most challenging aspect of the writing and publishing life to you?
“Every writer has a nemesis. For me it’s fatigue. You can do lots of things well if you’re tired, but writing is not one of them. Maybe there are people who can write well when they’re tired, but I think almost any artist would say that it’s very hard to work at a full-time job somewhere else, and then write before you go to work, and write when you come home. That’s when it really takes courage.

“Write for the love of your art. Someplace down the road, the money, the fame, they’ll come, but by that time you won’t be thinking in terms of money or fame.”

What’s your advice for writers inspired by your example of literary longevity and success?
“Don’t ever quit. Never quit. Never show anybody you’re hurt. Grin and walk through the cannon smoke. It will drive them up the wall. You always stay true to your own principles. You always believe in your gift. God doesn’t make mistakes when he presents someone with a gift like that. It’s there for a reason.”

Zachary Petit is the senior managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine. He finally caved in and joined Twitter, and is now hopelessly distracted: @ZacharyPetit. 

For more, check out a copy of the latest issue of Writer’s Digest.

Need some help surviving and thriving in the writing life? Check out James Scott Bell’s The Art of War for Writers. 

Successfully starting and finishing a publishable novel can be like fighting a series of battles—against the page, against one’s own self-doubt, against rebellious characters, etc. Featuring timeless, innovative, and concise writing strategies and focused exercises, this book is the ultimate battle plan and more—it’s Sun Tzu’sThe Art of War for novelists.

That’s why we’re excited to have a new webinar taught by literary agent and author John M. Cusick (Greenhouse Literary) called “FULL CAST: How to Enrich and Expand Every Character in Your Novel from the Leading Man to the Background Extras.” The event happens at 1 p.m., EST, Thursday, June 16, 2013, and lasts 90 minutes.

ABOUT THE CRITIQUE

All writers are invited to submit a query letter for their novel. Every query is guaranteed a written critique by instructor John M. Cusick within 60 days of receipt. John reserves the right to request manuscripts or sample chapters from attendees by e-mail following the event. Sign up for the webinar here.

ABOUT THE WEBINAR

In this live webinar, John M. Cusick will answer these questions and many more, using his experience as an agent, author, and editor to explore the art and business of writing. This invaluable course with an industry insider will help authors open new doors in their craft and career.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• How to create an unforgettable ensemble of empathetic, unforgettable characters
• How to develop compelling motivations to drive your story
• How to craft rich histories to inform your characters’ journeys
• How to intensify relationships, creating intimate, intense connections within your tale
• How to lend nuance and depth by creating “mini-arcs”
• How to employ impressionistic details to bring background characters to life. Sign up for the webinar here.

INSTRUCTOR

John M. Cusick knows the business from both sides, as a literary agent for young adult and middle-grade fiction at Greenhouse Literary, and as a young adult author. His debut novel GIRL PARTS was published by Candlewick Press in 2010, and his much-anticipated follow-up, CHERRY MONEY BABY, will pub September, 2013. His clients include debut novelists and veteran authors. John has lectured for the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Texas Writer’s League, and for Utah’s Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers. His pieces on writing for teens have appeared in Writer’s Market, The New Inquiry, and on multiple online resources for writers. John is also a founder and managing editor of 2012 Saboteur Award-winning literary magazine, Armchair/Shotgun. He lives in Brooklyn and is at work on his third novel.

Sign up for the webinar here!

Here are a few of my personal light-bulb moments from its pages:

1. The proof of your prose lies with the reader.

This tip comes from the incomparable novelist and writing instructor David Corbett. Because he’s, well, incomparable, I’ll quote directly from his thoughtful article here:

In Alphabet Juice, Roy Blount Jr.’s earthy, contrarian screed to the pleasures of language, he traces to Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch the now immortal edict of revision: Murder your darlings.

It’s interesting that this advice, so often attributed to one great writer or another—Twain, Faulkner, Hemingway, Orwell, Auden, even Samuel Johnson—was in fact penned by a relative obscurity who’d be lost to posterity were it not for that one fierce, scolding admonition.

And yet, as Blount points out, the phrase “Murder your darlings” is itself, well, a darling. There are many less flashy ways Quiller-Couch could have issued his diktat: “Eliminate all words or phrases, no matter how pleasing, that draw undue attention to themselves (or the writer) at the expense of the narrative flow.”

But who would remember that?

Writing is rewriting, another pithy bon mot (per Eudora Welty), and one that shies away from the homicidal imagery. After all, you’re not out to flog your manuscript—or yourself—into a state of self-abnegation. You’re hoping to create an impression in the reader’s mind, one that forms clearly and flows naturally. You’re hoping for immediate comprehension and yet also a force of impact, a depth of meaning, or an aptness of expression that causes what’s been read to linger. You’re hoping to make the reader happy.

Notice that each one of those goals involves someone else: the reader. One of my favorite aunts used to say: “You don’t know yourself by yourself.” The writer’s corollary to this might be: The proof of your prose lies with the reader, not the writer.

(Read Corbett’s full May/June 2013 Writer’s Digest article “Clearing Out the Clutter,” and I think you’ll agree that his thoughtful approach to such an evergreen topic is a breath of fresh air.)

2. Tinkering is not revising.

Read that again. This innocuous-sounding tidbit comes from freelance editor and novelist Tanya Egan Gibson, and I think it’s something we all need to be reminded of on a regular basis. I’ve found that often when I’m revising a piece—whether it’s a novel chapter or a magazine article—and just can’t seem to get it right, the key is to open up a blank document and re-vision it anew. At first, it might seem like more work to start fresh, so I think we all have a tendency to resist the need to do this—but I’ve found that when I stop tinkering with something that isn’t working and try another approach instead, it almost always leads to a speedier solution. (Gibson’s full May/June 2013 Writer’s Digest article “10 Things Your Freelance Editor Might Not Tell You—But Should” is filled with general wisdom that applies regardless of whether you’re working with an editor or critique partners, or revising on your own.)

3. Dialogue can almost always be more compressed, more driven by conflict, and more unique to the person speaking.

No roundup of revision tips would be complete without an appearance from revision guru James Scott Bell (author of writing pantry staple Revision & Self-Editing, recently revised and reissued from Writer’s Digest Books). Here’s a bit from his May/June 2013 Writer’s Digest article “The 5 Biggest Fiction Writing Mistakes + How to Fix Them” that I’ve applied successfully to my own work almost daily since first reading it:

Try this: Copy a lengthy dialogue exchange into a fresh document. Then cut and compress as much as you can. Compare it to the original. Nine times out of 10 you’ll prefer all or part of the new version.

Here’s an example from Bell:

“Mary, are you angry with me?” John asked.
“You’re damn straight I’m mad at you,” Mary said.
“But why? You’ve got absolutely no reason to be!”
“Oh but I do, I do. And you can see it in my face, can’t you?”

The alternative:

“You angry with me?” John asked.
“Damn straight,” Mary said.
“You got no reason to be!”
Mary felt her hands curling into fists.

Try it. It works.

4. The most successful writers “pressure test” their work (before submitting).

This one was written with freelance writers in mind, though the advice can certainly be adapted to any kind of writing you do. In my experience as a magazine editor, though, I can honestly say I wish every writer would take this suggestion from veteran freelancer Roger Morris to heart:

Aggressively challenge your work before presenting it your boss (the editor). Pressure testing isn’t perfect, but the more flaws you can eliminate before sending an article to your boss—the editor—the less likely you will get it back for revisions. And that makes for a more efficient, satisfying and profitable career in freelance writing. Here are 3 ways to do it:

• Keep asking yourself: What am I missing? Editors expect a story to be complete—that is, to not leave the readers with unanswered questions. If it’s not, expect a note about holes that need to be filled.

• Challenge your own points with this: So what? A lode of information is good, but being relevant is better. Constantly ask yourself the implications of details you present in an article—and then present those, too.

• Back it up. An article that presents a lot of good points but is not fleshed out with examples, statistics and quotes from experts to validate those points is asking to be rewritten. But it’s also true that an editor is more likely to overlook some flaws—or even be unaware of them—if you are constantly feeding her (and thus the ultimate reader) a heady diet of interesting information.

In his complete article “The Freelance Writer’s Guide to Avoiding Revisions & Rewrites,” Morris offers up 10 generous tips for pressure-testing your own work before you submit, and goes into helpful detail about each one. If you freelance, this article alone is worth the price of the issue, in my humble opinion.

5. Insert your best revision tip here.

What works well for you when it comes time to revise, and what approaches have you learned to avoid? What are your own favorite revision tips and strategies? Leave a comment below, and keep the discussion going!

Whether you’re revising a project now or will be in the near future (won’t we all?), I wholeheartedly endorse the full issue as a must-have reference. Find it on newsstands now, or order or download the May/June 2013 Writer’s Digest through the Writer’s Digest Shop right now.

Jessica Strawser
Editor, Writer’s Digest Magazine
Follow me on Twitter @jessicastrawser

Like what you read from WD online? Subscribe today, so you’ll never miss an issue in print! Or, have our specially formatted digital issues delivered directly to your inbox, or to your Amazon Kindle.

What does it take to finish something worthwhile?

Two ingredients:

1) Zest.

2) A focus on the small.

Let’s talk zest. Also known as passion, verve, or enthusiasm.

Zest is what you have when you feel strongly about your subject, or when you feel excited about the act of writing. I’m working with a fellow who is writing his first novel, set in the world of international sport. Even though he’s not very experienced, his writing is exceptional because he’s so passionate about his subject. He is determined to get his novel finished and start sending it out. Zest is his fuel.

A writer without zest will not write much of anything that is worthwhile. You just can’t. But in the short term, that’s still all right! You must simply write, dammit, zest or no, and by writing—just by sticking with it, keeping your pen moving or your fingers going on the keyboard—you will eventually write a piece of a sentence or even a whole sentence that sounds OK. You will say, “Hey! That doesn’t suck! Now I gotta keep going!”

Your zest is awakening.

What about focusing on the small?

I used to think that ‘the big picture’ was the main thing. But over the course of my writing career I’ve come to realize that the big picture can be overwhelming, thus a hindrance to an artist; and mall will get you to big.

Often, as writers, we don’t even have the big picture, as in a fully-realized plot or a detailed outline, whether for fiction or nonfiction. If you feel you need the big picture but don’t have it, that can lead to anxiety and tightness.

But a general idea of where you want to go with your writing project is often all you need.

When I say focus on the small, I mean really pay attention to each piece of a scene, character, description, conversation or memory that you want to present. If you feel stuck, don’t flail around looking for what should come next. Instead, try going back to something you’ve touched on but haven’t fully fleshed out. Take one detail and write on it. Write deeper, write with more detail, write in the spirit of wanting to find things out rather than presenting them.

Say you’ve written a scene that ends in a dramatic moment: somebody gets killed. Maybe it feels hard to get your story going again, to ramp it up all over again. Try writing more deeply about the inner life of that victim before their life was snuffed out. Just pretend you’re inside that person’s head and heart and see what happens. What do you find there? How might it fuel the rest of your story? For one thing, you can do a lot more with the people who knew that victim in life.

If you write in the spirit of discovery, you’ll be propelled forward by your subject. Go along for the ride! Don’t try to steer, just hang on and keep going! All kinds of wonderful things will happen: you’ll find new vectors to explore, you’ll learn things about your subject you didn’t know before, you’ll realize that you ought to explore this territory next, tell that anecdote next, introduce a new character so as to fully bring to life one you’ve already got, and so on. And as we know, lots of little things can add up to a big thing.

This, by the way, can also lead you to your Zest moment!

So if you simply keep doing that, every writing session, you will be awestruck by the number of projects you start, finish, and ship out into the world.

Elizabeth Sims is the author of the Lillian Byrd crime novels and the Rita Farmer mysteries, and she is also a Contributing Editor at Writer’s Digest magazine. Her newest book from Writer’s Digest, You’ve Got a Book in You: A Stress-Free Guide to Writing the Book of Your Dreams, is now available. You can learn more about Elizabeth at www.elizabethsims.com.

1. Don’t assume there is any single path or playbook writers need to follow. (Or, for that matter, a definitive superlative list of Dos and Don’ts …) Simply put: You have to do what works best for you. Listen to the voices in your head, and learn to train and trust them. More often than not, they’ll let you know if you’re on the right path. People often bemoan the surplus of contradictory advice in the writing world—but it’s there because there really is no yellow-brick road, and a diversity of perspectives allows you to cherry-pick what uniquely suits you and your abilities.

2. Don’t try to write like your idols. Be yourself. Yeah, it sounds a bit cheesy, but it’s true: The one thing you’ve got that no one else does is your own voice, your own style, your own approach. Use it. (If you try to pretend to write like anyone else, your readers will know.) Perhaps author Allegra Goodman said it best: “Know your literary tradition, savor it, steal from it, but when you sit down to write, forget about worshiping greatness and fetishizing masterpieces.”

3. Don’t get too swept up in debates about outlining/not outlining, whether or not you should write what you know, whether or not you should edit as you go along or at the end—again, just experiment and do what works best for you. The freedom that comes with embracing this approach is downright cathartic.

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to pitching something—always be working on your next book or idea while you’re querying. Keeping your creative side in gear while focusing on the business of selling your work prevents bigger stalls in your writing life down the road.

5. Don’t be unnecessarily dishonest, rude, hostile—people in the publishing industry talk, and word spreads about who’s great to work with, and who’s not. Publishing is a big business, but it’s a pretty incestuous business. Keep those family reunions gossip free.

6. Don’t ever hate someone for the feedback they give you. No piece of writing is universally beloved. Nearly every beta reader, editor or agent will have a different opinion of your work, and there’s value in that. Accept what nuggets you believe are valid, recognize the recurring issues you might want/need to address, and toss the edits your gut tells to toss. (Unless the changes are mandatory for a deal—in which case you’ll need to do some deeper soul searching.) Be open to criticism—it will make you a better writer.

7. … But, don’t be susceptible to the barbs of online trolls—you know, those people who post sociopathic comments for the sake of posting sociopathic comments. That’s what trolls do: they troll (on Amazon, Goodreads, Twitter, etc.). It’s not personal. Which means the message at the core of their words means as little as the 0s and 1s used to code it. Ignore them heartily.

8. Don’t ever lower you guard when it comes to the basics: Good spelling, healthy mechanics, sound grammar. They are the foundations that keep our writing houses from imploding … and our queries from hitting the recycling bin before our stories can speak for themselves.

9. Don’t ever write something in an attempt to satisfy a market trend and make a quick buck. By the time such a book is ready to go, the trend will likely have passed. The astronomical amount of romantic teenage vampire novels in desk drawers is more than a nuisance—it’s a wildfire hazard. Write the story that gives you insomnia.

10. Don’t be spiteful about another writer’s success. Celebrate it. As author Amy Sue Nathan recalled when detailing her path to publication in the upcoming July/August 2013 issue of WD: “Writers I knew were landing book deals and experiencing other things I was working toward, so I made a decision to learn from them instead of begrudging them. I learned that another author’s success doesn’t infringe on mine.”

11. Don’t ever assume it’s easy. Writers with one book on shelves or one story in print often had to keep stacking up unpublished manuscripts until they could reach the publisher’s doorbell. (The exception being those lucky 19-year-old savants you sometimes hear about, or, say, Snooki. But, hey, success still isn’t guaranteed—after all, Snooki’s Gorilla Beach: A Novel has only sold 3,445 copies.) Success is one of those things that’s often damn near impossible to accurately predict unless you already have it in spades.

12. Don’t forget to get out once in a while. Writing is a reflection of real life. It’s all too easy to sit too long at that desk and forget to live it.

13. Don’t ever discount the sheer teaching power (and therapeutic goodness) of a great read. The makeshift MFA program of countless writers has been a well-stocked bookshelf.

14. Don’t be afraid to give up … on a particular piece. Sometimes, a story just doesn’t work, and you shouldn’t spend years languishing on something you just can’t fix. (After all, you can always come back to it later, right?)

15. But, don’t ever really give up. Writers write. It’s what we do. It’s what we have to do. Sure, we can all say over a half-empty bottle of wine that we’re going to throw the towel in this time, but let’s be honest: Very few of us ever do. And none of us are ever really all that surprised when we find ourselves back at our computers, tapping away, and waiting for that electric, amazing moment when the pebble of a story shakes loose and begins to skitter down that great hill …

Image By Marcus Quigmire [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Zachary Petit is the senior managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine. He finally caved in and joined Twitter, and is now hopelessly distracted: @ZacharyPetit. 

For more, check out a copy of the latest issue of Writer’s Digest.

Need some help surviving and thriving in the writing life? Check out James Scott Bell’s The Art of War for Writers. 

Successfully starting and finishing a publishable novel can be like fighting a series of battles—against the page, against one’s own self-doubt, against rebellious characters, etc. Featuring timeless, innovative, and concise writing strategies and focused exercises, this book is the ultimate battle plan and more—it’s Sun Tzu’sThe Art of War for novelists.

These types of questions are why we’ve put together the upcoming May 9 live webinar, “Everything You Need to Know About Getting an Agent: Queries, Synopses, Pitching, Copyright, and More.” It’s actually taught by me (Chuck Sambuchino) and lasts 90 minutes. The session is at 1 p.m., EST, Thursday, May 9, 2013 — but you do not need to attend the actual live broadcast to get the recording & extras. And regarding said extras, all attendees will get 1) a downloadable PDF of the book FORMATTING & SUBMITTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT as well as 2) exclusive one-sheet that details the 7 parts of a query letter pitch.

ABOUT THE WEBINAR

If you want to get your book published and secure the best deal possible, you need a literary agent—and this webinar, taught by the editor of Guide to Literary Agents—is an one-stop, intensive webinar that will tell you everything you need to know about getting one.

This webinar will delve into the subjects of query letters, synopses, proposals, platform, researching agents, self-publishing, protecting yourself from scams, pitch a series, categorizing your work, and much more. This is an intensive webinar that will leave time for Q&A. If you have questions specific to your situation, ask the instructor. In WD Webinars, no question goes unanswered. Sign up for the webinar here.

EXTRAS

This webinar also includes a complete downloadable PDF of Chuck Sambuchino’s book FORMATTING & SUBMITTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT and a special downloadable one-sheet detailing the six essential parts of every pitch. The free book and one-sheet will be delivered to you by May 17, 2013, in the post-webinar e-mail package.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• What agents do for writers and why you need one
• How to protect yourself and avoid being scammed
• How to compile a list of agents to query
• The 3 essential parts of any query letter
• Examples of successful pitches in queries
• The elements of a fiction synopsis
• What agents want to see in a nonfiction book proposal
• The differences of submissions for fiction vs. nonfiction
• Answers to FAQs, such as: Should you query a single book or a series, how many agents should you query at one time, when can you follow up with an agent, and many more. Sign up for the webinar here.

INSTRUCTOR

Chuck Sambuchino is an editor and a writer. He works for Writer’s Digest Books and edits two annual resource guides—the Guide to Literary Agents and the Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market. Chuck’s first humor book, How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack (gnomeattack.com), was released in 2010 and has been featured by Reader’s Digest, USA Today, the New York Times and AOL News. His second humor book, Red Dog / Blue Dog: When Pooches Get Political (July 2012) has been featured by Political Wire and the Huffington Post. His Guide to Literary Agents Blog (guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog) is one of the biggest blogs in publishing. In addition, Chuck has written two other writing-related titles, and was recently included in a FORBES Top 10 list of “Social Media Influencers: Book Publishing.”

Sign up for the webinar here.

Photo: brendanovak.com

The following is a guest post from bestselling author Brenda Novak. In writing about the keys to penning a hit novel, Novak reveals a valuable point: It often boils down to nailing the core storytelling basics.

10 Keys to Writing a Bestselling Novel:

1. Start your story in the right place—when something exciting happens, when something unusual comes to pass, when a worthy challenge has been presented to your protagonist.

2. Save the backstory for later, and be sneaky about it. Feed it in carefully and sparingly just when the reader needs to know. And use only the most essential details of the past. Don’t have your protagonist staring out the window so that you can tell your readers through internal dialogue everything you need them to know. (This is called an “info dump,” and is to be avoided.)

3. Avoid saying too much or too little. Saying too much bogs down your pace and can come off as pretentious. Saying too little makes it difficult to connect with your characters and can strip your story of its emotional impact.

4. Build conflict. The conflict is the engine that drives your story. If you don’t have much under the hood, you aren’t going anywhere. Layered conflict, or conflict that grows and changes as the story progresses, is even better. It keeps your reader from getting frustrated, bored or weary of the protagonist’s journey.

5. Stay active. Active writing means keeping the reader in the action. It means moving forward in real time. It means using specific details as opposed to clichés and generalizations. It also means using better diction and stronger verbs.

6. Skip the boring stuff. Nobody wants to read it. Use snappy, realistic dialogue that is unique to each character and isn’t bogged down with too many tags or adverbs (“she said sternly …”).

7. Create characters who are interesting and layered—which means they are not perfect. They must also be properly motivated or they will not be believable or sympathetic.

8. Help your reader suspend disbelief by avoiding a plot that is too contrived or coincidental. Put in a strong foundation at the beginning of your book so that whatever turns on it is credible and rings true.

9. Avoid writing that is overly dramatic or self-indulgent. Writing that tries too hard becomes obvious very fast.

10. Trust your reader and use plenty of subtext. By this I mean … be careful not to make everything quite so obvious. According to Alicia Rasley: “Subtext is like a gift to the astute reader—an additional layer of meaning implied by the text but not accessible without a bit of thinking. … Experienced readers aren’t confined to the text—what’s printed on the page—they interact with the text, fully participating with the writer in the making of meaning in the story.” Such reader participation heightens the emotional impact of a story.

—New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak is the author of more than 45 books. A three-time Rita nominee, she has won many awards, including the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Book Buyer’s Best, the Daphne, and the Holt Medallion. She is in the middle of a new contemporary romance series set in the heart of Gold Country, and her book When Snow Falls just won RT Book Reviews’ Best Contemporary of 2012. She also runs an annual online auction for diabetes research every May at brendanovak.auctionanything.com (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she has raised over $1.6 million; her ninth auction is going on right NOW.*

*And speaking of that: WD is participating in this year’s auction! We’re offering a chance to win the most inspiring desk accessory we could think of: a pen from one of your favorite authors. For more details or to place a bid, click here.

You’ve Got a Book in You by Elizabeth Sims

Are you writing a book or novel for the first time? Chances are you probably have (or have had) a bout of insecurity, fear of failure, or worry about making it perfect. But you don’t have to let all of those feelings take hold of you and cripple your ability to write. In fact, You’ve Got a Book in You is filled with friendly, funny, telling-it-to-you-straight chapters that teach you how to relinquish your worries and write freely! With this book, you’ll get tips, advice and exercises geared toward helping you gain the skills and best practices needed to finish writing a novel.

And that’s why we have awesome literary agent Kate McKean (Howard Morhaim Literary) to teach the new webinar, “How to Submit Your Book to Agents: Take the Right First Steps on Your Road to Publication” on Thursday, May 2, 2013. The webinar starts at 1 p.m., EST and lasts 90 minutes. Not only will attendees get instruction, they will also get a critique of their query letter by Kate. (Remember that at least three agents — Barbara Poelle, Kathleen Ortiz and Louise Fury — have signed writers after critiquing their work as part of a WD webinar.)

ABOUT THE CRITIQUE

All registrants are invited to submit their query letter (up to two double-spaced pages). All submissions are guaranteed a written critique by literary agent Kate McKean. Kate reserves the right to request more writing from attendees by e-mail following the event, if she deems the writing excellent. (Pro Tip: Send in your query for critique AFTER the webinar to apply everything you learned to your work!) Sign up for the webinar here.

ABOUT THE WEBINAR

Sometimes writing the book is the easy part! The road to finding an agent for your work can be difficult, frustrating, and laden with contradictory advice. Literary agent Kate McKean is here to give you a road map for finding not just ‘an agent’ but rather the ‘right agent’ for your work.

There are hundreds of literary agents in the U.S. alone; however, their information is not conveniently collated on one or two websites that you can easily search to find the perfect one for your work. Wouldn’t that be nice if it were true! Because it isn’t, you need to be armed with the tools and resources to find and decode the information across the web that will lead you to the agents looking for work just like yours—right now.

Finding an agent for your work is very important, but finding the ‘right agent’ is mandatory if you wish to achieve your traditional publishing goals. This live webinar will discuss how and where to search for agents in your genre, how to tell if they are the right agent for you, and how to plan your submission. The webinar will also discuss how you determine whether your work is ready for submission in the first place.

Kate McKean will cover the ever-important submission etiquette (so you don’t ruin your chances before you even get started), Query Letters 101, and the many, many dos and don’t of sharing your work with agents. She’ll go over what next steps you can take if you don’t find your best agent match.

Finding the right agent is the first step (after finishing the book) on the road to meeting your publishing goals and should not be taken lightly. With the information from this live webinar, you’ll be well on your way!

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• How and where to look for agents hungry for new writing in your genre
• How, when, and in what format to submit work to agents
• How to decipher the contradictory advice blogs about what you should and should not do when submitting your work
• Query Letters 101: What you need to know
• Submission Etiquette: The absolute dos and don’ts
• How not to go crazy while your book is on submission
• What questions to ask agents when you get ‘The Call’
• What to do if no agent bites. Sign up for the webinar here.

INSTRUCTOR

Kate McKean is a literary agent at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency in Brooklyn, NY, where she has worked for seven years. She earned her Master’s in Fiction Writing at the University of Southern Mississippi, and enjoys both the creative and business aspects of her job. Her clients include the New York Times bestselling humor book I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?, YA and Adult Fantasy writer Delilah S. Dawson, and blogger, designer, and creativity expert Noah Scalin. She is most interested in contemporary women’s fiction, middle grade and young adult fiction.

Sign up for the May 2 webinar here.

Bossypants by Tina Fey (2011, autobiographical humor): 921,856 copies sold

L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad (2009, young adult fiction): 430,597 copies sold

sTORI Telling by Tori Spelling (2008, autobiography): 370,721 copies sold

Miles to Go by Miley Cyrus (2009, autobiography): 261,601 copies sold

The Truth About Diamonds: A Novel by Nicole Richie (2005): 122,528 copies sold

Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger, with Peter Petre (October 2012, autobiography): 52,183 copies sold

 Modelland by Tyra Banks (2011, YA fiction): 32,564 copies sold

Palo Alto by James Franco (2010, short-story collection): 25,881 copies sold

CelebraTORI by Tori Spelling (April 2012, party-planning manual): 18,142 copies sold

Here’s the Situation by Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and Chris Millis (2010, self-help): 17,369 copies sold

Getting the Pretty Back by Molly Ringwald (2010, nonfiction/self-help): 14,999 copies sold

Red Carpet Suicide by Perez Hilton and Jared Shapiro (2009, humorous nonfiction): 13,881 copies sold

Priceless: A Novel by Nicole Richie (2010): 13,758 copies sold

Red Hats by Damon Wayans (2010, fiction): 11,483 copies sold

When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories by Molly Ringwald (August 2012): 6,254 copies sold

Hooking Up With Tila Tequila by Tila Tequila with Sarah Tomlinson (2008, self-help): 5,882 copies sold

Gorilla Beach: A Novel by Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi (May 2012): 3,445 copies sold

The Boy With Pink Hair by Perez Hilton (2011, picture book): 2,855 copies sold

A version of this piece is in the May/June edition of Writer’s Digest, which features our Pain-Free Guide to Revision, along with our annual 101 Best Websites for Writers list and an interview with self-pub sensation Hugh Howey. Check it out here. (All credit images above copyright Amazon.com.)

—Zachary Petit is the senior managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

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Need some help surviving and thriving in the writing life? Check out James Scott Bell’s The Art of War for Writers.