Guest Post

Stories with a real sense of meaning don’t merely stand out in the slush pile—they’re the types of stories that make for a better world.

Engaging with generative AI in a way that enriches human creativity, you can take your writing further than you might have on your own.

What do you do when a teen in your life is a diehard writer? When they won’t clean their room and just want to write stories or poems all day?

Working hard isn’t necessarily a virtue if it masks the ways that we might be sabotaging our own paths to success and fulfillment.

A little planning and reflection will help your website be a project you sustain, rather than discard like a half-baked draft.

No matter what language our characters are speaking, writers should strive to express dialogue and inner thoughts in a naturalistic way.

With these four elements you’ll be able to create a more compelling protagonist and, as a result, a more interesting story.

An amateur historian finds that her passion has led to enough expertise and authority for her book proposal to be taken seriously.

Here are some tips on what to do before approaching a published writer with questions about how to get your book published.

If your publisher’s suggested cover design feels wrong, put your foot down when necessary but also listen—really listen—to the professionals.

Worried you’re not enough of an expert to write your book? That’s OK. You don’t need to be the annoying expert who knows it all. There’s another—far more effective—approach you can take when talking to readers.

How one author leveraged a sizable social media platform to breathe new life into a self-published book.

Authors who’ve been using Mailchimp for their email newsletter might consider moving to Substack, as it offers several benefits—and it's free.

When an author’s article went viral, she didn’t have the tools in place—a website, a social presence—to capture and leverage that audience.

Authors should consider using AI for historical research—not as a replacement for primary sources, but as just another useful tool.

According to neuroscience, scenes make the reader feel as if they are actually in the world of the story. And that makes scene the most memorable way to share information with the reader.

If your writing project has hit a wall, consider whether it really wants to be a different form than the one you’re trying to shape it into.

When self-publishing be sure to determine a distribution strategy, avoid gotchas when using POD, and get pricing and metadata right from the start.

In this nexus of fact and fiction, writers can mine, select and transform their real life journeys, turning points and discoveries into story.

Building up courage to own your identity as a writer starts when you realize you need to ask someone for an objective opinion on your work.

Author Elisa Lorello’s exploratory dive into ChatGPT led her to discover its usefulness—rather than threat—to fiction and nonfiction writers.

Asking yourself the right questions about why, when, how, and how much your characters speak will help you craft more powerful dialogue.

A book pitch requires an author to distill character, plot and stakes into one or two juicy sentences that entice a reader to ask for more.

One of the hard parts of working on a book is that day-to-day progress isn’t readily visible. Give yourself credit for all the small achievements.

These five steps will help you find your ideal comp titles for your query letter or book proposal, using ChatGPT. Includes sample prompts.