Guest Post

How I Navigated My Way to a Memoir Deal from a Small Publisher

How I Navigated My Way to a Memoir Deal from a Small Publisher

Learning from others and practicing patience while navigating the publishing industry led to a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
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The Glimmers You Find While Chasing the Whale

While in pursuit of our writing goals, the serendipitous experiences along the way might be just as meaningful as landing the big fish.
Image: a man looks quizzically at the open book he's reading.

How NOT to Confuse Your Readers

A successful story unfurls in a way that both keeps readers grounded and keeps them guessing—so withhold information, but not context.
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Writing at the Intersection of Fear, Politics and Responsibility

Writing is an act of exposure, especially when it’s about something personal, political, and dangerous. But we write anyway.
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What Improv Comedy Taught Me About Writing Novels

Improv is about being in the moment, and showed one author how to let go, listen better, take risks, and move on when something doesn’t work.
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The Art of Connective Tissue: What Raymond Carver Teaches Us About Building Character and Showing

Small bits of action—descending the stairs, cleaning off the car—might not be insignificant if they tell something about a character’s world.
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The Pros and Cons of Launching a Book Without a Publicist

A publicist can be an invaluable part of your launch team when your book is published, but it’s also possible to do it on your own.
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When Women Ignore Their Instincts (and Why I Wrote a Novel About It)

One writer explores how women will rationalize away feelings of unease for the sake of pleasing others, and how we express that on the page.
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Writers and Artists Need a Way to Label AI Use: Here’s What That Could Look Like

To encourage transparency among creators and audience, one writer suggests a simple, two-category system for labeling AI use in works of art.
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Writing Memoir? The Life You Change the Most Is Yours

A memoirist who began writing with the goal of helping others was surprised by how the process healed old wounds and reframed her self-image.
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The Crucial Ingredient Your Story May Be Missing

If you’re hearing that your story lacks structure or impact, you might be missing the interconnected cohesion of plot, stakes, and character.
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The Struggle Is Reel: Marketing Without Social Media

Needing to build audience for a new book, one author examines her avoidance of creating video content in favor of face-to-face connections.
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How to Move Your Reader Toward Transformation

This excerpt from Nina Amir’s Change the World One Book at a Time examines how nonfiction authors can best effect change in readers.
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Watch for These 2026 Social Media Trends

A social media manager shares her observations on how current trends might impact authors and publishers in 2026.
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Write Your Book Like You’d Run a Startup

Sharing his work-in-progress has helped one writer build confidence and conviction about who his readers are and what they’re interested in.
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Crafting Cinematic Action by Scene Segmenting

By thinking like a filmmaker—planning your beats, deciding your shots—you create a vivid experience that pulls readers into the story.
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Comps Can Clinch Your Query

When pitching to agents or editors, the right comp titles help you articulate where you position yourself within a very competitive market.
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Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn: Use Stress Responses to Strengthen Your Scenes

Understanding stress responses as learned survival strategies can help you turn every high-stakes scene into character development on the page.
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Please Allow Your Characters Moments of Happiness

When a story barrels from one conflict to the next, hitting pause for a well-placed glimmer of light can benefit both characters and readers.
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No, Colleen Hoover Did Not Email Me: Current Scams Targeting Authors

If you receive solicitous emails from book clubs or famous authors, follow these simple steps before replying or clicking on any links.
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Why Your Memoir Feels Like Rambling (and How to Fix It)

Having analyzed over 1000 memoir manuscripts in a 15 year span, Wendy Dale found two linked components of powerful, plot-driven storytelling.
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It’s Not About You: Your Memoir Is Someone Else’s Story

The person on the page can’t be the person writing the book. Because if your life has changed enough to write about, you aren’t that person anymore.
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My Brush with a Pay-to-Play Book Award

The majority of book awards are pay-to-play deals. Some do little harm, others are genuinely useful, but most make no difference to your career or sales.
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The Case for Shrinking Your Novel

Even experienced novelists overwrite. Here are five insights about ruthlessly cutting a manuscript—and why that’s a good thing.
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Why Print Never Died

This excerpt from the new book Digital Inc. by Richard Curtis examines why ebooks failed to supplant print as many tech pioneers expected.