What to Do While You’re Waiting

Last week, I offered tips on how to research literary agents. But suppose you’ve done your homework, queried a dozen or so agents, and are impatiently waiting to hear back. Now what? The wait may be long. Agents are inundated with submissions. You can generally expect to a wait at least two to three months … Read More

Places to Research Agents for Free or Cheap

Your book is finished. You wrote that horrible first draft, rewrote and revised your manuscript several times, and put it through its paces: beta readers, developmental edits, line edits, copyedits. You’ve taken that first-draft lump of coal and turned it into a diamond. You’re ready to find an agent. Where do you start? Here are … Read More

A Reader’s Reflections

Like most of us who write, I was a reader first. And like most of us who read, my love of reading started when I was a child. I think about this often—the way being a reader has shaped my life. We always had books in our home when I was a kid. I saw … Read More

Rainy Days and Sundays

I wrote recently about my struggle with setting goals for the new year. Well, I didn’t really struggle with setting the goals—I set about a billion of them. What I struggled with was getting excited about my goals because I had done my usual thing where I get carried away and overwhelm myself. I took … Read More

Writing Goals 2023

This year, if I’m honest, I had trouble drumming up much enthusiasm for goal setting—writing or otherwise. I’m generally a goal-setting fanatic, so this was unusual for me. I was excited about setting goals last year. I did a whole, five-part series on goal setting in December 2021. You can find it here. Then I … Read More

Celebrating the Wins

I’m celebrating a big win today. Big. Huge. I have to go shopping now. But before I do, I want to tell you about my win, not to brag, although I’m proud of the accomplishment, but because it’s a perfect example of something I want you to know and to believe with all your heart: … Read More

Dreaming of a Reading Nook

I moved earlier this year, but in my last house, I set up a cozy reading nook with the best and most comfortable chair. I loved it so much. I am enjoying my new place, but it’s much smaller and doesn’t have a readily apparent space for a reading nook. I’m really missing my old … Read More

6 Reasons Writers Should Journal

Like many writers, I’ve kept a diary or journal since I was a teenager. I wish I had my old journals, but after someone read my diary when I was fourteen, I burned it and vowed never to keep a diary again. I kept writing, though, and as is usually the case with young writers, … Read More