5 Great Writing Retreats and Books to Achieve Balance
We are here to help you find some balance in your writing. We recommend five great writing retreats and some...
Creative Writing
5 Lessons on the Creative Process – “Hadestown” and “Working On A Song”
Everything is seamless to the audience of a Broadway show like the award-winning musical Hadestown. But what I discovered reading...
What You Should Know About the Best and Worst Writing Advice
The Best Writing Advice Put One Word in Front of AnotherFind Your Own Path Sympathetic Characters Make for Great Stories...
5 Essential Books On Writing Craft That Take You Beyond Story
Table of ContentsWhat Does It Mean To Go Beyond Story?Fallen Heroes: Sixteen Master Villain Archetypes, by Tami D. CowdenUnderstanding Conflict:...
Celebrating Black History Month | Seeing Myself on the Page by Renita McKinney
I started reading romance before there were authors who looked like me. Before there were characters who looked like me....
The Hats Worn by the Hat in Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything That Rises Must Converge”
(O’Connor, Flannery. “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” The Complete Stories. New York: Farrar, 1993. 405-420. "Everything That Rises Must Converge,"...
Curating Your Reading
One of the things about being a writer is that in some ways, you never leave school. Textbooks, grades, and...
14 Indispensable Resources for Querying Writers
For authors hoping to publish that first book, the challenge of querying for representation can be daunting. If you’re new...
Creating Your Own Mythology
My friend, Dave Robison, spoke recently of creating his own mythology and it got me thinking. As writers, when we’re...
The Steps To Writing a Mystery
Ideally, writing a mystery requires careful planning, a mound of research, and the ability to think more deviously than the...
Why People Love Series
I love series. My must-buy list is mainly comprised series books. My eagerness for the next story filled with characters...
Historical Fiction: WorldBuild an Era, Not a Year
There’s a scene in Reality Bites (1994) where the main characters sing Scholastic Rock songs after their college graduation. The...
Setting Is Character
Setting is character. That’s what a wonderful writer friend of mine, Robin LaFevers, told me when I was struggling with...
Practical Advice for Beginning Writers
I’ve been writing since I was a kid. (That’s a very long time. I’m old, y’all). Being a published writer...
Editor Joe Illidge on the Evolution of Graphic Novels
When I browsed my local library today, I saw something that never would have existed when I was a kid...
LitChat Interview| Tina Moss: Chief Operating Officer, City Owl Press
In keeping with providing you writer types with the best intel on the industry and honing your craft, we continue...
Tin House Books Reading Nonfiction Subs
A great opportunity for nonfiction writers! Three times per year, Tin House Books offers a two-day submission period for writers...
7 Suggestions on Finding Your Writing Groove
Everyone has a different approach to writing. Some outline and plot until their brains feel heavy and the story is...
Lincoln Michel’s “Everything I’ve Learned about Being a ‘Professional’ Writer in One Post”
We love this recent column from Lincoln Michel, a practical inventory of all the business points every writer needs to...
LitChat Interview: Amy Brewer, Senior Agent, Metamorphosis Literary Agency
Amy Brewer wears many hats every day, from literary agent at Metamorphosis to co-author of the Texting Prince Charming series,...
What a Literary Agent Wants to Know on “The Call.”
For writers hoping to work with an agent, your research and diligent querying will hopefully lead to "the call"—that moment...
LitChat | Meredith Bernstein, Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency
Good morning, LitStackers! We're continuing our 10th-anniversary celebration with the relaunch of our popular LitChat segment. Today, we sit down...
Litstack Recs | Changing My Mind & Time Salvager
Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays, by Zadie Smith This collection of essays came about by accident, Zadie Smith tells us...
Litstack Rec: How to Write an Autobiographical Novel & The Cost of Hope
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays, by Alexander Chee "Writing is a way of going to the depth of...
You Are What You Eat
There are many axioms that get tossed around writing advice columns and beginning writer's workshops. Show, don't tell is a...
LitChat Interview: Samantha Wekstein, Writer’s House
Samantha is a Junior Agent at Writers House. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2012 with a...
LitChat Interview: Kelly Peterson, Corvisiero Literary Agency
Kelly has her B.S.Ed. in English and originally became a teacher. She quickly found out that the teaching profession wasn’t...
LitChat Interview: Laura Zat, Red Sofa Literary
Laura Zats graduated from Grinnell College with degrees in English and anthropology. She began working in the publishing industry in 2011,...
LitChat Interview with Sarah Bedingfield, Levine, Greenberg, Rostan Literary Agency
Prior to joining LGR in 2016, Sarah began her publishing career in trade fiction editorial at Crown and Hogarth. There,...
LitChat Interview: Jenny Bent, The Bent Agency
In a career spanning 15 years, Jenny Bent has made a practice of making bestsellers - either by spotting new...
LitChat Interview: Amy Tannenbaum
Amy Tannenbaum began her book publishing career with a brief stint at Harlequin where she edited romances that were far...
LitChat Interview: Russell Galen, Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency
Russell Galen Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency Russell Galen is a graduate of Brandeis University. He started within days as...
LitChat Interview: Peg Alford Pursell, WTAW Press
LitStack recently sat down with writer, editor—and now indie publisher—Peg Alford Pursell, a literary community builder with a grand...
LitChat Interview: Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Patricia Nelson joined Marsal Lyon Literary Agency in 2014. She represents adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction, and is actively building...
LitChat Interview: Kimberly Brower, Rebecca Friedman Literary Agency
Kimberly Brower represents a wide range of authors, particularly those who write contemporary romance, women's fiction, thrillers and young adult....
LitChat Interview: Sarah Younger of Nancy Yost Literary Agency
Sarah Younger has been with Nancy Yost Literary Agency since 2011, having previously been an eBook editor at Press 53....
LitChat Interview: Lisa Rodgers of JABerwocky Literary Agency
Lisa Rodgers grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from California State University, Sacramento, in 2011...
Traveling Light: Unpacking a Story
So there I am, in a small hotel between the Costa Brava and Sitges, once again unpacking the bag I’ve...
LitStack Recs: The Night Angel Trilogy & A Definitive study of Alfred Hitchcock
The Night Angel Trilogy The Way of Shadows / Shadow's Edge / Beyond the Shadows Brent Weeks I really like...
LitChat Interview: Kimberly Witherspoon, InkWell Management
Kimberly Witherspoon, at age 26, founded her own literary agency, which quickly became one of the most prestigious and successful...
It’s a Jekyll and Hyde Thing: My Pursuit of the Written Word
The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink...
LitChat Interview: Pam van Hylckama Vlieg, Foreword Literary
Pam van Hylckama Vlieg started her literary career as assistant to Laurie McLean, of Foreword Literary Agency, in early 2012. By...
LitChat Interview: Emma Patterson, Literary Agent, Brandt & Hochman
Emma Patterson, Literary Agent, Brandt & Hochman From Emma Patterson: I grew up in New Jersey as an avid reader and...
