Category: Topic Chats

  • Your Query Letter

    Your Query Letter

    The first paragraph should be very close to what you would write for a jacket blurb. Unlike the Synopsis, do not give away the ending. In this blurb, you don’t want to talk about yourself, you want to sell your book.

  • Writing a Synopsis

    Writing a Synopsis

    A synopsis has a specific form. It is written in the present tense no matter what tense your novel uses. It should follow a single viewpoint character, even if the novel involves more than one viewpoint character. A synopsis is written in third person, again, the novel may be done in first person. Sticking to these guidelines will reassure the editor or agent that you are being professional.

  • Submission Packet Items

    Submission Packet Items

    This is a list of things to write and file for your submission packets. Having these items will save you a lot of time during your submission process.

  • Market Research

    Market Research

    Publishers are being bought and sold and auctioned and given up during bankruptcies. The publication you might discover as a potential market for your short story or article may not actually be there by the time you are writing your cover letter or query. Or, it may be there, but run by a whole new group of editors.

  • Knowing Where to Start Your 2020 Writing Goals

    Knowing Where to Start Your 2020 Writing Goals

    Knowing Where to Start Your 2020 Writing Goals We aren’t multi-taskers. We might think we are but physically and mentally we cannot be in more than one place doing more than one thing at the same moment in time. To make up for our inability to do several things at once, we can make lists. We can prioritize the lists.