BUILD YOUR PLATFORM!

HOW OUR SELF-PUB WINNER GAINED A PASSIONATE FAN BASE

The
Secret Life
of
Publishers
BEHIND THE CURTAIN:
7 TIPS FROM A
PUBLISHING INSIDER P. 24

EARN A 5-STAR REVIEW

FOR YOUR BOOK P. 36

FIGHT FOR YOUR WRITE!

PROTECT YOURSELF
FROM BAD DEALS P. 32

POWER COUPLES:
THE FORMULA FOR
WRITER/EDITOR SUCCESS P. 28
T H E W D I N T E RV I E W

Leigh Bardugo
THE YOUNG ADULT FANTASY
MASTER ON HER UNIQUE APPROACH
DIVERSE TO WORLD-BUILDING AND HAVING
FAITH IN YOUR ABILITIES
BOOKS MATTER
YOUR PRIMER ON
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FEATUR ES

THE SECRET LIFE

OF PUBLISHERS
24 36
The Editor Behind Critical Thinking
the Curtain Novelists live and die by reviews, yet uncovering what
garners a gushing ovation or blistering takedown is
For first-time authors, the publishing process is often
often a mystery. A professional critic lays out what it
shrouded in mystery. An expert shares an inside look
takes to earn 5 stars.
at what goes on behind the scenes—and how to
BY PAUL GOAT ALLEN
leverage it for future success.
BY ALEX FIELD

39
28 Diverse Books Matter
The 7 Deadly Sins The push to represent a broader range of voices is

(of Editors & Novelists)

no fad—it’s an industry course correction long overdue.
Here, a literary agent unpacks the movement taking
A healthy relationship between author and editor can publishing by storm.
send your story to heavenly heights, but a poor partner- BY AMMI-JOAN PAQUETTE
ship deserves its own special circle of hell. Maintain this
sacred bond with advice from a longtime writer-editor
duo on how to forgive each other’s trespasses.
BY STEVEN JAMES AND PAM JOHNSON

32
ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: OIVIND HOVLAND

13 Reasons Why
In a competitive industry, it’s easy to feel like
publishers hold all the power. But the truth is
they need good content—and writers have a right
to not be fleeced. Here are some situations when
the best option just might be to walk away.
BY JEFF SOMERS

2 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

 M A RCH/A PRIL 2 018 | VOLU ME 98 | NO. 3

INK W ELL

42 8 GRIEF-WRITTEN: When recounting traumatic

events, covering the tragedy of others requires a
THE WD INTERVIEW: delicate touch—while exploring your own sorrow
Leigh Bardugo may demand brutal honesty.
BY ROGER MORRIS
The bestselling author talks finding YA fantasy stardom and
why, if pursuing a dream, you’re always on the right track. 10 PLUS: 5-Minute Memoir: Driving Kurt Vonnegut
BY BAIHLEY GENTRY • Dialect-able • Poetic Asides: Contrapuntal Poem • Top

Shelf • Inside Black Ink • Worth a Thousand Words

C O LU M NS

2 0 MEET THE AGENT: Kerry Sparks,

Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency
BY KARA GEBHART UHL

2 2 BREAKING IN: Debut Author Spotlight

BY BAIHLEY GENTRY

5 0 FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK: Passing Projects to

Peers; Direct-to-Author Deals
46 BY BARBARA POELLE

The Big Dance 5 2 YOUR STORY: “Familiar Words”

BY VALERIE TESTA ALMQUIST
The winner of WD’s 25th Annual Self-Published Book
Awards traded in her pointe shoes to choreograph her 6 2 STANDOUT MARKETS: Contrary Magazine;
career as a novelist—to much applause. Chronicle Books; Bon Appétit; JSTOR Daily
PLUS: A complete list of winners in all 8 categories. BY BAIHLEY GENTRY & TYLER MOSS
BY KAREN KRUMPAK
6 4 CONFERENCE SCENE: Mid-South Christian
W R I T ER ’S WOR KBOOK Writers; The Storymakers; North Words Writers
BY DON VAUGHAN

w 7 2 POTPOURRI FOR THE PEN

55 PERFECTING YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH

ON THE COVER
BY MATT BIRD
2 4 Behind the Curtain: 7 Tips From
a Publishing Insider
5 8 SHAVING YOUR SCENES TO
3 6 Earn a 5-Star Review for Your Book
THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
3 2 Protect Yourself From Bad Deals
BY JEANNE BOWERMAN 2 8 The Formula for Writer/Editor Success
3 9 Diverse Books Matter: Your Primer on
5 9 LEARNING FROM THE FLAWED the Literary Movement
TITANIC SCREENPLAY 4 2 The WD Interview: Leigh Bardugo
BY ROB TOBIN
COVER PHOTO © TAILI SONG ROTH

PLUS: 4 online exclusives 5 editor’s letter 6 contributors 7 reader mail

Writer’s Digest (ISSN 0043-9525) is published monthly, except bimonthly issues in March/April, May/June, July/August and November/December, by F+W Media Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Ste. 300, Cincinnati,
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WritersDigest.com I 3
Right Now at

Pithy Prose
This month’s WD Interview subject, Leigh Bardugo (Page
42), is known for YA fantasy novels, but she’s an equally
accomplished short story writer. Here, she shares the
benefits of fashioning short narratives.

Woke Writing

BLOG ILLUSTRATION © FOTOLIA.COM: BLOSSOMSTAR; TORN FACES © GETTY IMAGES: NICK DOLDING; BIG DANCE © GETTY IMAGES: MADS PERCH; BOOKSTORE © GETTY IMAGES: YELLOW DOG PRODUCTIONS
To accompany her primer on diverse voices in publishing
(“Diverse Books Matter,” Page 39), Ammi-Joan Paquette
provides a list of essential links for informed writers.

Self-Pub Strategy
The 25th Annual WD Self-Published Book Awards winner
(“The Big Dance,” Page 46) shares indie publishing tips.

Bookstore Bonanza
In “Potpourri for the Pen” (Page 72), Bob Eckstein writes
about an essay contest in which the grand prize is a book-
store. Read about his visit to this mom-and-pop shop.

To find all of the above online companions to this issue

in one handy spot, visit writersdigest.com/apr-18.

PLUS: Cram for creative endeavors every day on the WD blogs!

GENDER DYNAMICS
Author Richard Alther wrote his latest
novel, Roxie & Fred, from the perspec-
tive of a woman. Here, he shares
his observations on writing from the
opposite gender’s point of view.
bit.ly/genderviewWD
TRUTHS & LIES
Inspired by The Breakfast Club, Karen
M. McManus’ young adult novel, One
of Us Is Lying, has taken the bestseller
lists by storm. Writer J.D. Myall asks
her about the runaway hit in this Q&A.
bit.ly/truthsliesWD

GENRE LINES
The distinctions between sci-fi and fantasy are crucial, though not always clear at first
glance. Author and screenwriter Jeremy Robinson examines the key differences and
what they mean for your work-in-progress.
bit.ly/genrelinesWD

4 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018


MARCH/APRIL 2018 | VOLUME 98 | NO. 3
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EDITOR’SLETTER
In Medias Res
That’s a Latin term I was unfamiliar with until
a couple of months ago, when a contributor—
an English professor—taught me its meaning:
“into the middle of things.”
It’s a narrative technique in which a story
starts smack-dab in the midst of action, bypass-
ing the slow build up. Think Homer’s Odyssey,
Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, Neil Gaiman’s American
Gods. It’s through that prism—in medias res—I
see myself stepping in as the new editor-in-
chief of the institution that is this magazine.
I regard my role as both steward and soothsayer. WD published its inau-
gural issue in December 1920, and since then such legends as H.G. Wells, Jack
Kerouac, Joan Didion, Ray Bradbury, Maya Angelou and Kurt Vonnegut have
expressed themselves through our pages—a lineage of literary royalty so distin-
guished it would make a Beefeater gawk. I plan to carry on the craft tradition
that WD has so effectively celebrated, while also ushering in a future-focused
vision to ensure this publication is on proper footing to last another century.
To be a writer today means something distinctly different than it did when
this magazine debuted. We’ve seen mammoth change in the past two decades
alone. Books are self-published and recorded into digitally downloadable
audio. Many magazines and literary journals exist only online, and web-based
freelance markets greatly outnumber print. There are more venues to deliver
your words to an audience than ever before. And in terms of our own content,
an interview is no longer just an article—it’s a podcast and a YouTube video, a
meme and a prompt for Facebook discussion.
A shifting world presents new opportunities, but also new challenges. At WD,
it has always been our aim to help you navigate those waters. My job will be to
keep you abreast of industry trends (such as the insider guides in this very issue),
of the latest writers who have found success and what they did to achieve it, and
of innovative ways to improve and empower your inner raconteur—delivered to
you in a variety of mediums, all while preserving the integrity of the WD tradi-
tion. Of course, we will remain committed to teaching story craft across category,
genre and convention, and always offer inspiration when the weight of rejection
seems suffocating or the words themselves just won’t flow.
I began subscribing to Writer’s Digest back in high school. Ten years later, I
had the pleasure of serving as WD’s managing editor to Jessica Strawser, latest
in a long chain of talented former EICs to successfully pursue her own writing
career. So I have no illusions. I’m very much jumping “into the middle of
things”: the continuum of this storied publication. And I intend to do this
magazine, and its loyal readers, justice.
WritersDigest.com I 5
C ON TR IB UTOR S F+W, A CONTENT + ECOMMERCE
COMPANY
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Greg Osberg
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Jennifer Graham
CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER
PAUL GOAT ALLEN (“Critical Thinking,” Page Steve Madden
SVP, GENERAL MANAGER -
36) has worked as a genre-fiction book critic for F+W CRAFTS GROUP
more than two decades, and has written thou- John Bolton
sands of reviews for outlets like BarnesandNoble. SVP, GENERAL MANAGER -
F+W FINE ART, WRITING AND
com, Publishers Weekly, the Chicago Tribune, DESIGN GROUPS
Kirkus Reviews, BookPage and BlueInk Review. He David Pyle

is an adjunct instructor in Seton Hill University’s SVP, GENERAL MANAGER -

F+W OUTDOORS AND SMALL
Writing Popular Fiction graduate writing program, BUSINESS GROUPS
and has also published stories in a variety of Ray Chelstowski
MANAGING DIRECTOR -
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James Woollam
VP, GENERAL COUNSEL
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ALEX FIELD (“The Editor Behind the Curtain,”
Gigi Healy
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literary agency and consulting firm serving authors Phil Graham

and publishers, and is a former vice president and

ADVERTISING
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STEVEN JAMES (“The 7 Deadly Sins of Editors
& Novelists,” Page 28) is a critically acclaimed ATTENTION RETAILERS

author of 15 novels and a WD contributing editor.
Publishers Weekly calls him “[a] master storyteller
at the peak of his game.” His book on writing, Story
Trumps Structure (WD Books), received the Special
Storytelling Resource Award from Storytelling World.
When he’s not working on his next novel, James
teaches Novel Writing Intensive retreats across the
country with New York Times bestselling author
Robert Dugoni.
Manager, F+W Media Inc., 10151 Carver
AMMI-JOAN PAQUETTE (“Diverse Books
Matter,” Page 39) is a senior literary agent with
Erin Murphy Literary Agency representing many
WRITER’S DIGEST MAGAZINE IS A REGISTERED
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also the author of several books for young readers,

including the upcoming The Train of Lost Things,
the bestselling picture book Ghost in the House
and the Two Truths and a Lie series, co-written
with Laurie Ann Thompson. Visit her online
at ajpaquette.com.

6 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018


YOU SHOULD
GO THERE
Excellent article by
Elizabeth Sims (“Should
You Go There?”) in the
January issue of Writer’s
Digest. Just queried
an agent with my first
novel—always great to
find ways to see my work
objectively and learn
from others. Thanks!
—Stephen Eidson
St. Louis
TREK TIPS
To say that I enjoyed Ms.
Dobush’s informative
WRITE TO US: Email writers.digest@fwmedia.com with “Reader Mail” in the subject line. Please include a phone number (for
verification purposes only) and your city and state. Submissions are considered for publication and may be edited for clarity or space.
READERMAIL
article (“Writing cover medical transporta- your pillow and you’re
Wanderlust”) in the tion costs by plane, train, bounding forth to explore
Writer’s Digest November/ boat or ox cart to a third East Pandora, take a
December issue would be country or your homeland, moment to check your
somewhat of an under- as all medical facilities are footwear before you slip
statement. In 1963, the U.S. not equal. Such medical your little tootsies into
Marine Corps provided evacuation insurance is them. Sometimes, small
me with an all-expenses available at a very reason- critters like to sleep in the
paid vacation to Southeast able cost. toes of your vacant shoes
Asia. They even covered and they’ll bite when you
MEDICATIONS: It’s highly stuff your feet in. This
the cost of room and board
recommended that you is not the time to realize
with sightseeing opportu-
transport your medica- you never learned a
nities in a little jungle
tions in the original single word of the local
paradise for 26 months.
containers your local phar- language, your medical
From that adventure to
macy provided, rather than policy is in a drawer in
today, I have enjoyed
just tossing them together New York City and the
many exciting moments in
in a plastic baggie. Some only medical facility is in
Southeast Asia and Europe.
countries have very strict North Pandora (which
And now that I am no
drug laws and you could they won’t let you enter
longer ball-and-chained
find yourself stuck at cus- because your passport
to a job, I enjoy a very
toms while their forensic has expired).
long vacation each year—
department sorts through —Richard Lamb
enabling me to relive past
your jumbled meds. Yucca, Arizona
times in familiar places
with longtime friends. If PASSPORT: Ensure your
I may, I would like to add passport is up-to-date.
CORRECTION: In our
a couple of suggestions Most places will not let you
to Dobush’s list that space November/December
set foot in their country
might not have allowed for: issue, we incorrectly listed
if your passport is due to
Marlene Seielstad as one
expire six months or less
HEALTH INSURANCE: It’s of our Your Story #82
from your departure date.
possible that your health contest winners, when in
insurance policy will CRITTER CAUTION:  When fact the byline should have
not travel across the the sun chases sleep from been Lindsay Neadow.
ocean. You should contact
your provider and find out
SPOTTED ON TWITTER
if you’re covered for medi- Recent [January] issue of @WritersDigest had exact
cal care outside the US of skill I teach my middle school writers ... put your main
A—or if any international character thru the wringer! #ELArocks
caveats apply. It’s also #studentmindsblown —@FDStahl
imperative that your policy
WritersDigest.com I 7
Grief-Written
When recounting traumatic events, covering the tragedy of others requires a delicate
touch—while exploring your own sorrow may demand brutal honesty.
BY ROGER MORRIS

E
arly the morning of Sept.
24, 2016, two senior fire-
fighters died in a row house
blaze in Wilmington,
Del., in an attempt to rescue some
young children.
About a month after the disaster,
I was contacted by an editor at a
regional publication to which I regu-
larly contribute. “I’m looking for a
special touch on this one,” he began.
“I want to recreate the last hours of
their lives, then discuss the emotional
aftermath for their fellow firefighters
and, most importantly, their families.
That means talking to the widows at
an emotional time, so … ”
He didn’t need to finish the thought. experiences, and from those of other who was deported to Mexico, then
As a writer, it was the type of challenge writers I’ve talked with, that writing murdered—just as his wife had
I relished, but I also grew up in a rural about grief can be honestly and taste- warned authorities might happen.
culture where people grieving were fully done—and can even serve a “It was a cold call, so I wrote a script,
afforded privacy. The firefighters had purpose. Here are some suggestions even giving her an ‘out’ if she didn’t
children at home, and the first family in how best to approach it. want to talk,” Goldenstein says. “I
PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES: KELLY ISHMAEL

holidays with parents absent were right
around the corner. Covering their
anguish would not be an easy task.
In fact, writing about other
people’s tragedies is never straight-
forward. Yet I know from my own
WRITING ABOUT
OTHERS’ GRIEF
BE EMPATHETIC. Taylor Goldenstein
of the Austin American-Statesman
interviewed the wife of a man
think you need to be a human being
first, but then you have to be objec-
tive as a reporter.”
EXPLAIN THE ARTICLE WILL SERVE
A POSITIVE PURPOSE. I emphasized
to the firefighters’ families and their

8 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

co-workers that the story would be a
tribute, one that painted the officers
as normal people doing heroic deeds.
I also explained that the piece would
give the public a better idea of a fire-
fighter’s life.
LISTEN FOR INSIGHTFUL MOMENTS.
Kim Kozlowski, a writer for The
Detroit News, told the story of a man
whose pregnant wife had terminal
brain cancer but refused treatments
that would’ve endangered her preg-
nancy. The mother died, and two
weeks after being born prematurely,
so did the baby. “The husband shared
a lot of powerful moments,” Kozlowski
says, “but the most poignant was, ‘I
never got to hold the baby.’”
REMEMBER, IT’S THE NARRATIVE THAT
NEEDS TO HOLD READERS’ ATTENTION.
Don’t let emotions cloud the fact
that first you need to be a master-
ful storyteller.
SEARCH FOR UNIVERSALITY. “The
choices that couple made were
rooted deeply in their faith,”
Kozlowski says, “but I wanted to
portray what happened to them as
being more universal”—what it’s like
for any woman to want to save her
unborn child, and for any grieving
father to want to hold his baby.
DOUBLE-CHECK FACTS, AS
MEMORIES OF TRAGIC EVENTS CAN
BE BLURRED. The death of a loved
one is like an emotional accident,
and sometimes key facts are remem-
bered incorrectly.
WORK QUICKLY TO FINISH INTERVIEWS.
Talking to a writer can be cathartic,
but people grieving often have second
thoughts—plus, friends and relatives
may intervene—making follow-up
impossible. “I try to get everything
done in one session,” Goldenstein says.
WRITING ABOUT YOUR
OWN GRIEF
Composing a memoir about personal
tragedy also has its challenges. Scarlett
Lewis’ son Jesse was killed in the 2012
massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary
School, which led her to write
Nurturing Healing Love: A Mother’s
Journey of Hope and Forgiveness.
Deanna Fei’s memoir, Girl in Glass,
recounts her and her husband’s ordeal
of having to make many agonizing
If there’s a common thread in recounting grief, it’s
being honest with everyone involved—your sources,
your readers and yourself.
choices when their daughter was born
very prematurely. Both shared their
experiences, and pertinent advice:
KEEP NOTES, EVEN IF YOU DECIDE
LATER NOT TO WRITE ANYTHING.
“I couldn’t remember the details of the
day [of the shooting] or who came to
the funeral,” Lewis says, “so I started
keeping a diary.” She also found the
exercise to be therapeutic, helping her
“be in the present.”
REMEMBER IT’S NOT JUST YOUR STORY.
Fei says, “I contacted the family
members and doctors who were
critical figures in the book, not to give
them veto power or even to get their
buy-in, but to give them a heads up
on what I was writing and why it was
important to me.” While working on
a draft of her book, Lewis talked with
other parents at Sandy Hook who lost
children, so as not to surprise them—
as well as to glean their insights.
DARE TO TELL THE WHOLE TRUTH.
“I needed to give myself permission
to tell my own story with complete
honesty without censoring myself over
what someone else might think,” Fei
says. When it looked like her daughter
might not survive or might have brain
damage, she says, “I was terrified to
touch her, to name her, to fall in love
with her.” Lewis adds, “Don’t try to
have a happy ending if there isn’t one.”
FIND UNIVERSALITY IN YOUR STORY.
The key messages Lewis wanted to
convey were about not becoming a
victim and finding a reason to live.
“There’s nothing like having a baby on
life support to teach us about living
in the moment and loving with no
guarantees,” Fei says.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO SHOW VULNER-
ABILITY. Both authors agree that the
story suffers if things are held back.
“Be really, really kind to yourself on the
first draft,” Fei recommends. “[But] be
really, really brutal on the final draft.”
LISTEN TO YOUR EDITOR. There is a
fear in writing memoirs of leaving
something out, and editors for both
women reigned in their word count.
Fei says, “After I poured out more
than 600 pages—twice the length of
the finished book—my editor gave me
this very gentle reminder: ‘You’re not
writing the history of World War II.’”
If there’s a common thread in
recounting grief, no matter the cir-
cumstances, it’s being honest with
everyone involved—your sources,
your readers and yourself.
Roger Morris is a Delaware-based writer
who contributes to publications in the
U.S. and Europe about culture, wine, food
and travel.
WritersDigest.com I 9

Driving Kurt Vonnegut
D
uring my days at the
University of California,
San Diego in the 1980s, I
rubbed elbows with visit-
ing writers by assisting the university
events office with airport pickup.
Perhaps I thought their abilities
would magically pass on to me.
Some were famous while others
clung to the fringes. Undergrads
considered members of the Beat
Generation gods. Ginsberg, Kerouac
and Burroughs were the Big Three.
Literary respect was bestowed upon
those who’d crossed paths with the
Beats, such as Ed Dorn and Robert
Creeley. These luminaries would
ride shotgun in my Z600 coupe, a
pint-sized hatchback powered by a
motorcycle engine that I drove like
a Porsche. Anne Waldman kept her
eyes shut. Gary Snyder chewed gum
nervously. The events office gave me
cash for entertainment, a few shekels
to treat guests to drinks and chips.
 I drove Snyder straight to Bully’s
in Mission Valley, where we shot
tequila. Ginsberg thought I was an
airhead; he told me to track down
some pot pronto and was curious
if I had any Asian pals. “Chinese or
Japanese?” I asked. “Japanese,” he
said. I waited for Tillie Olsen while
she shopped for a sympathy card
in the airport gift shop. Hunter S.
Thompson guzzled Wild Turkey from
a chrome flask on our way to his gig
at Revelle Cafeteria. Bobbie Louise
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Submit your own 600-word essay reflection on the writing life by emailing it to wdsubmissions@fwmedia.com with
“5-Minute Memoir” in the subject line.
10 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
5-MINUTE MEMOIR
BY KIRBY WRIGHT
Hawkins thanked me with a signed
copy of Frenchy & Cuban Pete and
dished dirt on Creeley.
In 1985, Kurt Vonnegut gave
me a pep talk on our drive back
to Lindbergh Field . He told me
I reminded him of John Irving, a
former student. He said he saw me
making it as a writer—and that few
novelists possess the rare gift of peer-
ing into the future and seeing things
“us Ordinary Joes” can’t make out.
“You’re loose, Kirby,” he said, “John
was loose too.” Maybe he’d observed
my joie de vivre after I announced I
was going for a dip in his pool after
checking him into the swanky La
Valencia Hotel. I swan-dived into
the deep end, surfaced and watched
Vonnegut circle the pool, wringing
his hands. After about 10 laps, he
flopped down on a lounge chair, lit
a Pall Mall and blew smoke through
his nose. I suggested we buy Black
Russians before sunset. His “So You
Want To Be a Writer” talk had been
scheduled for 7 p.m., and I figured a
little booze might relax him.
It did. Vonnegut was as cool as
ice behind the podium, and avoided
the dreaded flop sweat notorious
for derailing him. His jokes sent
waves of laughter through the sea of
fans. The only glitch came when the
adoring crowd swelled and swept
toward the stage for signatures. They
pushed and pushed. Hands waved
copies of Slaughterhouse-Five, Palm
Sunday and Cat’s Cradle. The pushing
continued, until all those bodies
pressed in and pinned Vonnegut
against the second-floor railing. I
knew a few more pushes would shove
him over the edge and down onto
the blacktop. I picked out the six big-
gest guys I could find wearing yellow
Crowd Control shirts and had them
form a protective half circle. “Push!”
I ordered. We moved the mob back
a few feet. I saw an opening and
grabbed Vonnegut’s forearm. We
slipped through a corridor, out an
open door and down two flights. We
were safe in the night air and I was
breathing hard. So was Vonnegut. We
were like teammates who’d somehow
snuck through a hoard of would-
be tacklers.
“Let’s get whiskey, brother,” he
WRIGHT WITH VONNEGUT PHOTO COURTESY OF KIRBY WRIGHT
told me.
“I know just the place,” I said.
Kirby Wright took first place at the 2017
Los Angeles Script & Storyboard Showcase
for his treatment of an animated series. His
third play was performed at Manhattan
Repertory Theatre’s 2017 Non-Fest in NYC.
 Writing Creative Nonfiction
Taught by Professor Tilar J. Mazzeo
COLBY COLLEGE
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8. Building Dramatic Sentences
9. Rhetorical Devices and Emotional Impact
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12. Creating Compelling Characters
13. Character Psychology
14. Getting Inside the Heads of Your Characters
15. Using Narrative Perspective

20215 16. Shaping Your Voice

17. Writing the Gutter—How to Not Tell a Story

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Dialect-able
An ESL teacher offers 5 tips for writing more authentic accents.
BY D.L. PODLESNI
C
haracter accents are won-
derful fictional devices.
While every character
must have their own
unique voice, accents can show your
reader a character’s class, country of
origin, cultural affiliation and even
age. Yet writing an accent you’re not
intimately familiar with can be a chal-
lenge. In literature, “accents” are really
grammar patterns diverging from
standard English. Grammar is more
consistent than writers notice—the
trick is bending the rules of your
character’s grammar. Achieving
verisimilitude requires research and
patience. Consider these guidelines:
1. ASK WHETHER YOUR CHARACTER
NEEDS AN ACCENT.
Don’t write accents just for laughs,
or because you think a person with
a specific background must speak
with an accent. Readers will have no
trouble believing a Chinese doctor or
a Russian professor speaks standard
English. An accent should be signifi-
cant to the character—personally or
culturally. If it sounds stereotypical, it
likely is. The worst outcome is creat-
ing a caricature instead of a character.
Trust your ear if something rings false.
Read lines out loud. If you cringe, your
reader will, too.
2. MEET PEOPLE WITH YOUR
TARGET ACCENT.
Unfamiliarity with real people who
speak with accents leads to flat, stereo-
typed voices. Talk to people with
your target accent. Many universities
have language buddy programs for
12 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
international students to help improve
their English. Consider volunteering
to talk with a speaker of your target
accent. If you’re shy, listen to celebrities
with your target accent speak in inter-
views. Be careful, though, to avoid
mimicking celebrity voices who capi-
talize on their accent as a part of their
public persona for effect—most com-
mon in comedy. Not all Colombians
speak like Sofìa Vergara, for instance,
nor does everyone from a small town
sound like Larry the Cable Guy.
3. RESEARCH THE ACCENT.
Whichever accent you require, some-
where, at some time, a linguist has
studied in depth. A simple Google
search for “English language learner
errors common for [insert nationality]”
can help you begin building your
character’s voice more effectively. Lists
like the one at bit.ly/linguisticsWD
detail grammar errors common for
non-native English speakers. Learning
how Arabic interferes with standard
English can make your reader fall in
love with the dreamy Kuwaiti boy next
door, instead of rolling her eyes at dia-
logue ripped from cheesy war movies.
4. EMPLOY SUBTLETY.
After you’ve learned about language
interference, choose a few features to
help inform your character’s accent.
Think about who your character is
outside of their English fluency. As a
former English as a Second Language
teacher, I understand that “I know
where is the library” is a sentence a
beginning Chinese-English student
might say—but as a writer, I’m aware
my readers are likely picturing Mickey
Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s instead
of the quirky pianist from Shenzhen
I’m trying to write. “I know where
library is,” for example, is more subtle
and believable—a simple article omis-
sion. Research language quirks and
apply a few consistently. Steadiness is
key. Grammar is consistent in all lan-
guages, and so are grammar errors.
5. BEWARE, SCI-FI & FANTASY WRITERS.
Even if your character’s first language
isn’t “real,” it is real in the world of
your novel. So, good news: You get to
make up your own rules for the lan-
guage. Bad news: You have to make
up your own rules for the language.
Constructing an accent for an imagi-
nary language is tough. Not many
resources exist for Elvish-to-English
language errors. That said, you can fol-
low the same rules. Think about your
character: Is their culture similar to a
pre-existing culture or cultures? You
can combine language interferences.
For example, you can use a common
Turkish-to-English error in tandem
with a common Japanese-to-English
error for a unique accent.
Well-written accents make a
character come alive in fascinating
ways that reveal your worldview.
Conversely, poorly written accents
turn characters into stereotypes. But
if your character’s voice benefits from
an accent, and you are willing to
work, writing an authentic accent can
be both achievable and enjoyable.
D.L. Podlesni is a fiction writer and a teacher
of ESL and college-level composition.
 EARLY-BIRD DEADLINE: MAY 4, 2018

5) "//6"-

WRITING
COMPETITION
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& BEGIN YOUR NEXT CHAPTER
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READY TO WRITE YOUR SUCCESS? IT ALL STARTS WHEN YOU ENTER TODAY!

writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions/annual-writing-competition
 GET

DIGITALLY!
No matter what you write, a bit of poetic license can be a
valuable asset to any writer’s arsenal.
BY ROBERT LEE BREWER

P O E T I C F O R M : C O N T R A P U N TA L P O E M
I’ve struggled to pinpoint the origin of the contrapuntal poem, but it appears to be
influenced by the music world, where contrapuntal pieces are composed of mul-
tiple (and relatively independent) melodies that are played at the same time.
In the poetic world, contrapuntal poems twist together two (or more) inde-
pendent poems into a single piece. This is usually accomplished by alternating
corresponding lines of the original poems.
Here’s an example by a Poetic Asides reader. First, I’ll share two individual
poems—followed by the contrapuntal form, all by Jane Shlensky.

1. Identity
Sometimes I’m fisherman
Sometimes fish This first poem plays with
Or snap of line the metaphorical complexity
Or rippling chill of identity.
Or morning mist burned clear

2. Apple Picking
fat pink apple cheeks
swell on the trees The second poem is a celebration of
dapple of sunlight the simple act of picking apples.
blush of frost
crisp bite of October sky

And here’s the contrapuntal poem.

3. Naming Seasons
sometimes I’m fisherman When combined, the theme of iden-
fat pink apple cheeks tity is still clear and dominant but
sometimes fish becomes layered in with the apple-
swell on the trees picking imagery to alter the meaning,
or snap of line making it a poem about the seasons
dapple of sunlight and the self.
or rippling chill
blush of frost
or morning mist burned clear
BREWER ILLUSTRATION © TONY CAPURRO

crisp bite of October sky

Robert Lee Brewer is the editor of Poet’s Market and author of Solving the World’s Problems.

SHARE YOUR POETIC VOICE: If you’d like to see your own poem in the pages of
Writer’s Digest, check out the Poetic Asides blog (writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/
poetic-asides) and search for the most recent WD Poetic Form Challenge.

14 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

 A smattering of
our favorite literary
miscellanea these days.
BY SARAH MULLINS

Rock the Tote

W
We don’t normally envision Kafka in
leather or Thoreau wearing a spiked col-
lar, but this tote captures their rebellious
spirit by re-imagining our favorite nov-
elists as punk-rock icons. To complete
your collection, this Out of Print design
is also available on coasters and tees.
The best part? Every purchase helps
fund literary programs and book dona-
tions to communities in need. ($18,
outofprintclothing.com/products/
punk-rock-authors-tote-bag-new) Killer Tee
Inspired by Stephen King’s infamous
1986 horror novel-turned-movie It,
this T-shirt is everything the book is
not—cozy and adorable. The whimsi-
Three-Cheese, Please
cally witty folks at SMRT Apparel Co.,
Impress your guests with this
headquartered in Albuquerque, have
set of cheese boards resembling
a talent for clever, literary-themed
book jackets that are sure to be
tees. Whether you don a design fea-
the talk of Tuesday-night book
turing Hemingway or Kerouac, wear
club. Serve your favorite cheese
your favorite author proudly and look
or charcuterie on the Vermont-made trays, or gift them to the voracious
good doing it. ($24.50, smrtapparel.
reader/host(ess) extraordinaire in your life. ($55, jkadams.com/product/
com/products/we-all-float-down-
maple-book-cheese-servers-set-of-3/wooden-serving-boards)
here-it-fan-crewneck-unisex-t-shirt)

The Great Clutch

With a champagne flute in one hand and this fash-
ionable Gatsby–themed purse in the other, you’ll
have no trouble channeling your inner Daisy
Buchanan. Made by a Moscow-based artist
who hand-embroiders every clutch, each story is
literally stitched into the fabric. Other available
classics include The Wizard of Oz, A Clockwork
Orange and The Hobbit. ($475, etsy.com/shop/
mrschaplinshop)

WritersDigest.com I 15
Inside Black Ink
The new anthology celebrates the role of black writers in American literary tradition.
BY STEPHANIE STOKES OLIVER
W
hen I was a young
and impressionable
magazine editor
aspiring to be an
author, I lived in Brooklyn, where I
delighted in seeing my role model,
Alice Walker, frequent my favorite
local health-food café. After a while I
no longer caught sightings of her. In
reading her next book, I learned that
she had moved.
“New York, whose people I love
for their grace under almost con-
tinual unpredictable adversity, was a
place the people in The Color Purple
refused even to visit,” she wrote
in 1983’s In Search of Our Mothers’
Gardens. Once Walker realized her
characters were country people, she
headed for the hills of northern
16 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
California where Celie, Shug, Albert,
Sofia and Harpo would come and “sit
wherever I was sitting, and talk.”
I read that passage back when it
was first published, and it stuck with
me ever since. Perhaps because I was
intrigued by the idea of characters
coming alive in one’s mind—but also
because it made me question whether
I had what it took to be a successful
author. Characters never came to me
like that. Over time, I realized that
was because I had no knack for
fiction. Instead, as a journalist and
nonfiction writer, I prefer to excavate
the rich experiences and real lives of
my subjects.
Yet characterization is an essential
instrument in every writer’s skill set,
whether a protagonist be living and
breathing or exist only on the
page. It’s a lesson I learned
while curating the work of
writers over 250 years of
African-American literature
for a new anthology: I, too,
have “lived with” characters
of personality and determina-
tion who’ve translated their
experiences to the page—
creative writers.
Researching Black Ink:
Literary Legends on the Peril,
Power and Pleasure of Reading
and Writing, which released
this January from Atria/37 Ink,
I examined works of more than
50 such wordsmiths. I started
from the time of Solomon
Northup, whose 1853 memoir,
Twelve Years a Slave, enshrined
him as one of the first to write a nar-
rative of life as a free man. Northup
was kidnapped from New York and
forced into slavery in the South,
where he had to feign illiteracy. It’s
hard to believe that in the land of the
free and home of the brave there was
a time for the enslaved when learning
to read and write was against the law,
punishable by death. This curation
took me up to the Barack Obama
era, when the same country elected
as president an African-American
man who was an avid reader and
bestselling author. Whittling the
collection down to a manageable 25
voices while also including hard-to-
find pieces from important authors
was not easy. For example, some,
like poet Langston Hughes, wrote
memoirs that included passages on
how they came to have a passion for
writing. Others, like novelist Terry
McMillan, rarely wrote nonfiction
about their own reading pursuits.
What they all had in common
were inspirational traits of inner
strength and resolve. As a child,
Frederick Douglass was sold to a
family in Baltimore in which the wife
treated him kindly and began teach-
ing him to read. Once her husband
found out about it, he admonished
her and she in turn “became even
more violent in her opposition
than her husband himself,” stated
Douglass in an essay from his auto-
biography, Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass, an American
Slave. Nevertheless, the husband’s
tirade helped the 12-year-old realize
 the power of literacy. Once the mis- Rampersad states, we have moved generation to generation. Not only
tress realized his knowledge could from the “literature of necessity to the do they discuss their own methods
not be squelched, Douglass says inclusion of leisure.” of portraying characters, but they
nothing made her “more angry than Black Ink took a life of its own as themselves are essential characters
to see me with a newspaper.” Once an oral history of the freedom strug- in the fabric of the African-
he began learning, he could not be gle of African-American literature. In American storytelling tradition.
restrained from pursuing that knowl- writing the foreword to the anthology, With their Nobel Prizes, Pulitzer
edge. So Douglass adopted a plan of poet Nikki Giovanni noted that the Prizes and other awards, they
“making friends of all the little white first common language of the cap- also represent some of the best
boys whom I met in the street. As tured and enslaved was a song. “The of our overall American literary
many of these as I could, I converted enslavers thought if we were not canon. After three years of collect-
into teachers. With their kindly allowed to read and write, we would ing excerpts and arduously obtaining
aid, I finally succeeded in learning not appreciate who we were becom- permissions to reprint them, I feel
to read.” ing, but they were wrong. We wrote gratified that the characters of this
That says something about the sometimes with paper and we always book have made it sing. WD
character of Douglass (as well as wrote with song.”
his white peers). With literacy and These classic writers I call “legends,” Stephanie Stokes Oliver is a former
in the same way that lover of books magazine editor at Glamour, Essence and
maturity, he was able to read about
Heart & Soul; the author of three books
abolition and plot his way to free- Oprah Winfrey refers to great people.
of nonfiction; and the editor of Black Ink:
dom. Once African-Americans They helped me to understand how Literary Legends on the Peril, Power and
were emancipated and a “whole the stories of our nation passed from Pleasure of Reading and Writing.
race learned to read” at one time,
as Booker T. Washington describes,
these characters still demonstrated
heroics. Washington himself shared
in his autobiography Up From Slavery Worth a Thousand Words
that to pursue an education he walked
500 miles to enroll in college at
Hampton Institute.
One of the youngest contempo-
rary writers I included is Roxane
Gay. I appreciate the honesty she
shares in her essay collection Bad
Feminist—for instance, her account
of the happiness she felt as a teenager
when reading the Sweet Valley High
novel series around the time Vanessa
Williams became the first black Miss
America. Humor like Gay’s has largely
been absent from African-American
literature, mainly because to get pub-
lished by major houses, black authors
traditionally have had to write about
race and the intersection of blacks
and whites rather than the mun-
dane scenes of life that give us light
moments. But things are evolving. As Bob Eckstein is a writer and cartoonist for The New Yorker and The New York Times.
Langston Hughes biographer Arnold His latest book is Footnotes From the World’s Greatest Bookstores.

WritersDigest.com I 17
Self-Published

You could win ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER

WILL RECEIVE:

recognition & $8,000 t $8,000 in cash

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Your self-published book could be celebrated in
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Entry Deadline: May 1, 2018
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 OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM

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 MEET THEAGENT
BY KARA GEBHART UHL

Kerry Sparks
LEVINE GREENBERG ROSTAN
LITERARY AGENCY Jennifer Mathieu,
Jennifer Niven, Camille Perri,
author of All the author of author of Moxie

A native of rural Oregon, Kerry Sparks ditched the Pac-NW

for SoCal after high school, moving to Los Angeles
to pursue a degree in English at California State University.
Bright Places
(Knopf, 2015)
The Assistants
(Putnam, 2016)
(Roaring Brook/
Macmillan, 2017)

During her six years in L.A., she published short stories and
wrote and produced plays, before migrating to New York in
2008 to try her hand at agenting at Levine Greenberg Rostan, “Fiction for young adults,
where in the last 10 years she’s built up the kid-lit department CLIENTS middle-graders and adults.
and digital initiatives. Sparks currently heads up the Levin Always looking for the perfect
combination of a great hook
Greenberg Rostan Oregon outpost in her home state, where and solid writing.”
she now lives with her husband and two young daughters.
“I like to find debuts in the slush that might need a little
work, but that I have a vision and excitement for,” Sparks SEEKING “Calling me Kelly.”
says. “It’s a very exciting job.”
Visit Sparks online at lgrliterary.com or on Twitter
@kerry_sparks. “Writing in multiple
QUERY PET fonts/colors, and
PEEVES having a very long
PLACE: subject line title.”
Oswald West
State Park
“Give me comp
titles that actually
FAVORITE PITCH TIPS make sense.”
DRINK:
Almond milk
with boba
“Let your voice
shine through in
the query.”
BLOG: Hyperbole and a Half WHY SHE
(hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com) DOES WHAT
SHE DOES “I like putting ideas
WRITING FUN FACTS
TIPS together with people
BOBA TEA © GETTY IMAGES: UGURV; TAXI © GETTY IMAGES: ANASBARROS

and also putting people

together with
“Keep writing even when each other. I like to
people aren’t telling you problem-solve.”
to keep writing.”
“I’m obsessed with names
and have been all my life—
“I almost always and I will gladly help clients
know if I’m facing name their characters when
north, south, east necessary. I [even] co-authored
or west. I probably a hipster baby name book,
should have been Hello, My Name Is Pabst.”
a cab driver.”

Kara Gebhart Uhl (pleiadesbee.com) writes and edits from Fort Thomas, Ky.

20 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

 Improve
Your Writing
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BREAKINGIN
Debut authors: How they did it, what they learned and why you can do it, too.
Natasha Bell
Exhibit
Alexandra (feminist
thriller, March, Crown)
“A missing-person
story about love, loss and gender.”
WRITES FROM: Southeast London.
PRE-ALEXANDRA: I started writing
creative nonfiction in my early
20s because I had a story I needed
to squeeze out of myself. [Once]
my brain switched over to fiction,
Alexandra’s world began to obsess
me. TIME FRAME: I wrote the first
draft of this in a fevered few months,
but I’ve spent the past seven years
rewriting it. ENTER THE AGENT: I’d
sort of given up on chasing publica-
tion and [decided] I wanted to keep
writing whether or not anyone ever
read my work, so I applied for what
felt like a completely indulgent MA
in creative writing. A few months
into the course, though, my class
released an anthology—and to my
surprise that led to a number of
agents contacting me. I knew I’d
found my home when I met Marilia
Savvides at Peters Fraser and Dunlop
and the first thing she told me was,
“I’m an angry feminist who likes
dark books.” WHAT I LEARNED:
Patience. There are moments, like
when you sign with an agent or get
a publishing offer or receive a box
of proofs, that are so exciting you
22 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
feel like you just want to spin on the
spot like a 5-year-old. But most of
the process is in-between, waiting
for things beyond your control to
happen and trying to calm your
brain enough to focus on writing
the next thing. WHAT I WOULD’VE
DONE DIFFERENTLY: Given myself
less of a hard time during all the
years it felt like it wasn’t working.
ADVICE FOR WRITERS: Keep going.
NEXT UP: I’m working on book two.
WEBSITE: I’m on Facebook and
Twitter @bytashb.
Elaine Castillo
America Is Not
the Heart (literary
fiction, April, Viking)
“A Communist insurgent
turned undocumented immigrant
moves to California, falls in love and
grows the hell up.”
WRITES FROM: I’m currently in the
middle of moving back to the Bay
Area, where I was born and raised,
after living in London for the better
part of a decade. PRE-AMERICA: I
was mainly writing essays, cultural
criticism and reviews of books
and films, along with working on a
BY BAIHLEY GENTRY
completely different novel that I’ve
since thankfully abandoned. [Later],
I compulsively wrote a second-per-
son piece, just for myself. That piece
later found its way into the prologue
to America Is Not the Heart. TIME
FRAME: [I] started writing in the
summer of 2013 and finished the
first draft in January or February
2016, with multiple drafts to follow.
ENTER THE AGENT: I was reading a
section of my novel at a Goldsmiths
literary evening for grad students
and Emma Paterson—who is
now my agent—was in the audi-
ence. She’s since become a very
dear friend, along with being an
amazing support throughout the
entire writing and publishing pro-
cess. Furthermore, it’s meant no
small thing that, like me, she’s also a
BELL PHOTO © SIMON WAY; CASTILLO PHOTO © AMAAL SAID
woman of color—which has meant
the world when dealing with what
one might call publishing’s “gate-
keeping spaces.” BIGGEST SURPRISE: I
[found I] genuinely enjoy editing—
in particular, ruthless editing—
which is helpful if you write big,
sprawling world-building first drafts.
At some point I joked that the book,
which was originally pushing 950
 pages, was going to be trimmed
down to a novella. I think I slightly
alarmed one of my editors. WHAT
I DID RIGHT: Held stubbornly to
the things about books that I love,
wrote the book I needed to write
and surrounded myself with people
who protected, challenged and
13-year-old Vanessa Martin enters
her school’s pageant—even
though her father and [the] resi-
dent mean girl think she doesn’t
stand a chance.”
WRITES FROM: New Jersey. PRE-
VANESSA: I wrote a few really bad
stories—and had the nerve to query
GROUP THINK
Charles lists the invaluable benefits of
critique groups at bit.ly/WDBreakingIn.
Andrea Brown Literary Agency
the old fashioned way. WHAT I DID
RIGHT: I joined the SCBWI and

encouraged both that stubbornness agents with them. I got rejected a lot Women Who Write. ADVICE FOR
and the book that came out of it. and rightfully so! TIME FRAME: I got WRITERS: Do not compare yourself

ADVICE FOR WRITERS: Be tender,
stubborn, vulnerable—and go in!
NEXT UP: I’m working on some
essays and a second novel.
CHARLES PHOTO © ASHLEY LYNN PHOTOGRAPHY
the idea for Like Vanessa in 2012. I to other writers. You’ll just end up
finally wrote it from start to finish selling yourself short. NEXT UP: I’m
during NaNoWriMo in 2013. Then currently revising the follow-up to
I worked with my critique group Like Vanessa. I also have three pic-

for about four months (shout-out
Tami Charles to the Westfield Children’s Critique
Like Vanessa Group!), landed an agent in 2014,
(historical middle-grade, got a two-book deal in 2015, met
March, Charlesbridge) Vanessa Williams in 2016—and got
“After seeing Vanessa a glowing blurb from her in 2017!
Williams make history ENTER THE AGENT: I queried (and
as the first black Miss America, later signed) Lara Perkins of the
ture books and two more novels in
the works. WEBSITE: tamiwrites.com.
You can also find me on Twitter
(@TamiWritesStuff ), Instagram
(@tamiwrites) and YouTube
(TamiWrites). WD
Baihley Gentry is the associate editor of
Writer’s Digest.

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WritersDigest.com I 23
The SECRET LIFE OF PUBLISHERS

The Editor For first-time authors,

BEHIND
the publishing process
is often shrouded in
mystery. An expert
shares an inside look
at what goes on
behind the scenes—

the Curtain and how to leverage it

for future success.
BY ALEX FIELD

ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: OIVIND HOVLAND

24 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

W hether you’re currently writing a book,
querying agents or on submission to
publishers, allow me to share this small-
but-important truth: There’s an editor out there right
now—sorting stacks of pitch letters, book proposals
and manuscripts, thumbing through literary agent sub-
missions, reading selections of the manuscripts she
requested from authors directly—who is seeking to buy a
book similar to yours.
So, in a sense, your future editor is out there thinking
about you.
Picture this person for a moment: Perhaps she’s an
associate editor for a mid-level imprint, working her
way up at a growing publishing company. She majored
in creative writing or English literature or journalism in
college, where she developed a passion for Jane Austen
or Jack Kerouac, Joan Didion or Anne Lamott. Whoever
her muse, she knows good writing when she sees it. She
wrote articles for the school newspaper or poems for the
literary journal, nabbed a good internship after college
and she’s worked hard ever since to finally land her
dream job—acquiring and editing books full time and
getting paid for it!
Now she fills the role of champion for her authors and
books. She pitches the books she discovers to her own
internal publishing team, during which she makes a case
for both the editorial and business side for acquiring
said manuscripts.
Her boss expects her to acquire a handful of new books
every year, and though she’s still learning and growing into
the job, in part, her performance is tied to the performance
of her selections. If she acquires and takes a huge financial
risk on a book and it bombs a year later, it reflects on her
directly. Of course, like anyone in a new position, she needs
time to grow and, sure, she might have more seasoned edi-
tors guiding her through this journey. But eventually, given
a couple of years, her acquisitions become hers to own.
Does all of this create a little pressure on our friendly
associate editor? You bet.
Every editor’s list of acquisitions is viewed (especially
by management) as their own personal business within
the greater publishing company, complete with its own
profit and loss statement (P and L). As a result, each indi-
vidual book might get more or less scrutiny depending
on how it fits into the greater scheme. The worse the edi-
tor’s books perform, the harder time she’ll have convincing
her team to take risks on her projects in the future.
When you’re writing a book, preparing a proposal or
query (for publishers or literary agents, because agents
make decisions based on whether they think a publisher
will be interested), it’s important to think about your future
editor. He is a human being, just like you, and every day he
is facing the very real difficulties of the changing market,
the shifting retail landscape and his own internal company
pressures. He, like many editors in this business, hopes to
come across something special—a work of unique power
or appeal or finesse or authority—that makes him feel like
he did in college when he read Jack Kerouac.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Think about the ways in
which you can remove
hurdles for your future editor.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As someone who once sat in the editor’s chair at
publishers large and small, I know those simultaneous
pressures and hopes firsthand. My first publishing job
was as a junior editor acquiring and editing 10–12 books
a year for a small, family-owned press. To be honest, for a
long time I had no idea what I was doing—but I worked
hard and soaked up every lesson I could. Despite my inex-
perience, over the course of several fairly successful years,
I found myself the publisher of that small imprint: hus-
tling to make budgets; publishing competitive, influential
books; learning the fast-changing worlds of marketing
and publicity; and managing a team that shared my goals.
Fifteen years and a couple of mid-size publishing
companies later, I managed two imprints for Penguin
Random House as vice president and publisher, work-
ing within the largest publisher of trade books in the
English-speaking world. While much in this role was
new, especially on a corporate level, most everything else
remained the same. The art of good publishing is difficult
no matter where it’s practiced.
My accumulated experience has taught me this: Large
and small, all publishers ultimately desire the same thing.
WritersDigest.com I 25
The SECRET LIFE OF PUBLISHERS
Editors are hopeful (if slightly jaded) readers. They’re
all on the hunt for a carefully crafted manuscript, a clever
concept, or an author-influencer with a platform who is
ready to write and sell a great book. We’re all in this busi-
ness because of the power books hold to incite change,
inspire people or make the future brighter in some way.
We all recognize that fantastic stories help us relate to the
world around us and discover the way others see things.
Most of us in publishing really do love books. That’s why
we do what we do.
But while hopeful, publishing professionals are also
pragmatic and deeply skeptical. Why? Well, consider
this: Your future editor will go out and buy (and publish)
10 or 12 books a year, and watch as a high percentage of
them fail to earn back their initial advances. Industry-
wide, that number is roughly 70 percent, though it can
vary. Editors are full-time talent spotters, but predicting
winners is never a sure thing.
Think about the ways in which you can remove
hurdles for your future editor in such a way that, first,
you actually get her to read your manuscript or book
proposal, and second, she finds it good enough to take a
personal risk on you—and then is able to convince oth-
ers at her imprint to join her in publishing your book.
Your future editor faces a few daily realities: Limited
time. Loads of meetings. Corporate politics. An excess of
manuscripts to read. Unique financial challenges.
Many publishers face incredibly tight margins, espe-
cially small, nonprofit or family-owned presses. As they
move toward acquiring your book, your future publisher
must project your book’s future sales long before there’s
a book cover, an Amazon description or even a final
title. If there’s a modicum of interest, publishers start to
carefully estimate based on similar or competitive titles.
Using a combination of the sales history of books similar
to yours; editorial, marketing and sales team feedback;
as well as good old-fashioned gut instinct, the publishing
team whittles down their submission pile to a few key
projects they deem worthy of the risk.
So, with that in mind, here are seven keys to getting
(and keeping) your publisher’s attention.
--------------------------- 1
Do Your Homework
Every category and genre of publishing is governed by
unspoken rules. In the world of traditional trade book
publishing, fiction and nonfiction aren’t the same. For
instance, most editors sign nonfiction book deals based
26 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
on one to two chapters. But for fiction, and especially
with first-time novelists, editors typically need to read
the full manuscript before a deal is done.
If you’re submitting the next high-concept business
book to an experienced agent, or an editor at a business
imprint, make sure you’ve done your research. Do you
know what other books the literary agent has repre-
sented, or the editor has acquired in the recent past?
Has that press recently published a book like yours?
Immerse yourself in books similar to your own. Read
in the category, but also study the jacket, the acknowl-
edgements page, the author’s blog and their previous
books. Conduct industry research on publishing houses,
editors and literary agents through sites like Publishers
Weekly. Attend a conference, watch lectures on YouTube.
Read relevant articles, essays and blog posts.
To know a category is to know the world in which
your future editor lives every day.
--------------------------- 2
Use Concise
Communication
The volume of reading material that accrues on the desks
of editors and literary agents is immense. These folks
read mountains of content every day, sifting through
stacks of submissions for eye-catching queries.
Which is why yours should get right to the point—
in such a way that compels them to read more. Don’t
belabor your initial synopsis or write a three-page email.
If in doubt, the fewer words the better. Share a little
about yourself, but only the most relevant points.
Most important: Any sample writing you include
should read fast and clean. Editors aren’t looking for
reasons to reject, per se, but when inundated, it’s far too
easy to dismiss a submission for little things like spelling
errors, awkward phrasing or poor formatting.
--------------------------- 3
Sign With an Agent
Inking a contract with a good literary agent can help avoid
some of the above issues. When on submission to publish-
ers, agents almost always get a faster read than unsolicited
queries—especially in certain categories. There are several
reasons why this is the case. First, most literary agents take
the time to build relationships (and a level of trust) with
acquisition editors in the genres they work within. Second,
because publishing professionals have such limited time,
agents effectively serve as a filter, siphoning in projects with
higher-caliber content. Plus, most have also taken the time
to work with their authors to develop and shape their book
concepts, which adds additional value for the publisher.
I’ve also had countless conversations with authors
who published their books agentless, and suddenly
found themselves in a strange new world with no idea
how to navigate it. Their books released to the world
and their lofty publishing dreams slowly wilted as they
made mistakes, agreed to bad contractual terms, blindly
trusted editors, or neglected their marketing and public-
ity campaigns. The best literary agents act as a trusted
guide, thinking through these details long before a deal
ever comes to fruition.
--------------------------- 4
Grow Your Platform
Here’s a fact of life in modern publishing: Attracting (and
holding) attention is difficult in any medium, especially
in a world of social media, streaming television and
unlimited self-publishing. As a result, presses look for
projects with a built-in audience. It’s thus through a
platform that authors can do just that.
I define platform as any outward-facing method a
writer uses to attract a readership prior to publishing—
which will, in theory, translate to that readership pur-
chasing the writer’s book. It can manifest as anything
from a YouTube channel, podcast, blog or Twitter follow-
ing to an email newsletter or college classroom.
Think of your writing as a business, and take the
initiative to build your influence via a robust platform,
which will only increase your chances of publishing.
--------------------------- 5
Forge a Relationship
Once you sign a book deal, you’ll be assigned a “champion.”
More often than not, that person is an acquisitions editor
or developmental editor, but it may also be the marketing
manager or the publisher herself. While every press is
different, often that person is your point of contact through-
out the publishing process—from beginning to end.
Whoever your point person, be intentional in build-
ing that relationship. If possible, meet your champion
face-to-face, or at least set up regular phone calls. Get to
know her. This small investment of time and effort on
your part can pay off big in the long run.
I’ve seen authors send a nice handwritten note after
a meeting or a phone call, thanking the participants for
their time. And sometimes I’ve seen those simple thank
yous tacked to the wall of an editor’s office years later. A
small, kind act goes a long way, and when you need a
favor down the road, your champion will remember you.
--------------------------- 6
Remember to Engage
Shift your thinking about the publishing process:
Turning in your manuscript is not the end, but the begin-
ning. The more engaged you are at each subsequent stage,
the better chance your book has of making an impact in
the market. Writing a terrific manuscript is step one, but
you must also help to market, publicize and sell.
Seek to be included in the key publishing decisions
along the way, including the final title, cover design,
marketing and publicity strategy and so on. Believe it or
not, each of these things is regularly decided without the
author’s input—but by becoming a part of these deci-
sions, you can bring your vision to the table.
--------------------------- 7
Be Your Book’s CMO
Remember: You are your book’s Chief Marketing Officer.
You are its first and last advocate. Be clear that this book is
still your baby, while remaining cordial and professional.
Consider setting aside some of your advance (if you
received one) to help market your book when the time comes.
Thinking that far ahead is tough, but every bit of marketing
is important: strong Book 1 sales pave the way for Book 2.
If you know your publisher’s marketing strategy
(presuming you’ve stayed engaged in the process), then
you can supplement it. For example, if the publisher
focuses on store placement, ads in industry magazines,
focused banner ads and a book tour, then perhaps
you invest in hiring a freelance publicist to line up TV,
radio or print interviews.
Once you’ve garnered a book deal, it’s easy to sit back
and let the professionals handle everything for you. But
resist, for your own sake (and the sake of your book).
Your book is your baby. When it gets out into the world,
you’re the best one to teach it how to walk. WD
Alex Field is principal and founder of The Bindery (thebinderyagency.
com) and a former VP and publisher at Penguin Random House.
WritersDigest.com I 27
The SECRET LIFE OF PUBLISHERS

DEADLY
7SINS
The

(of Editors j Novelists)

A healthy relationship
between author and editor
can send your story to
heavenly heights, but a
poor partnership deserves
its own special circle of
hell. Maintain this sacred
bond with advice from a
longtime writer-editor duo
on how to forgive each
other’s trespasses.
BY STEVEN JAMES
AND PAM JOHNSON

ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: OIVIND HOVLAND

28 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

T
he relationship between writer and editor can
be incredibly positive and mutually beneficial
as you both learn from each other. But if your
expectations aren’t aligned, it can also be toxic
and infuriating—for both parties.
Wherein lies the balance? We asked professional
freelance editor Pam Johnson and award-winning
novelist Steven James, frequent collaborators, to map
out the seven deadly sins most commonly committed
by their counterpart.
Writers, listen up: These insights are going to help
you understand the wheels turning in your editor’s mind
when she made the changes or suggestions that she did.
And editors, take note: The language you use and the
assumptions you make might be inadvertently offending
an author in ways you never even imagined.
May you all find hope, ye who enter here.
The 7 Sins of Editors
1. Carelessness: Missing mistakes
or (gasp!) inserting them.
WRITER’S TAKE: After one of my novels was printed, I was
paging through it and noticed that the villain stepped
out of a house onto the porch and then, three pages later,
walked outside and closed the door behind him.
Oops.
It was an obvious continuity error, yet none of the
book’s editors caught it, even though that’s precisely the
type of mistake editors are uniquely positioned to catch.
So, that’s one they missed.
On a more egregious note, editors should never insert
mistakes into a manuscript. (Yes, this has happened to
me—and unfortunately, it’s common enough that I feel
the need to bring it up.) Carelessness like that will, under-
standably, drive an author crazy.
EDITOR’S TAKE: I’ve also been on the receiving end of
an editor inserting a mistake into my writing. Not fun!
Editors should take their time and be attentive to detail.
2. Undervaluation: Disrespecting
the author’s time.
WRITER’S TAKE: When editors refer to what they do as
“tweaking” or “cleaning up” a manuscript, the implication
is insulting to many authors. After all, imagine how a
painter would feel if he spent years on a painting and
then handed it off to the art gallery owner, and she
picked up a paintbrush and said, “Let me just touch this
up a bit for you.”
Or if a composer spent months on his symphony
and you told him, “I just need to tweak this so it fits
our musical style manual.” Or if a carpenter worked for
months on getting his custom-made table just right and
someone takes a saw to it: “It’s a little long. We need to
cut out 20 percent of it.” You get the point.
The painter, the composer and the carpenter would
be apoplectic. And yet when it comes to writing, editors
often treat the work of authors in this manner.
A more helpful approach would be to start off by ask-
ing, “How can I help you bring this manuscript to the
place where you want it to be?”
EDITOR’S TAKE: Yes! Everyone should set boundaries
from the get-go. If the author wants you to be more
hands-on, then okay—go to town. But find that out
before you start “tweaking.” Respect the author’s vision.
3. Smarty-Pantsiness: Telling
the author what she must do.
WRITER’S TAKE: Maybe this is just a way of framing
things, but editors shouldn’t come across as bossy. Give
feedback rather than orders. Telling an author that he
“should” or “needs to” or “has to” rework something will
often cause him to get defensive.
One of my editors once told me, “I’m the midwife. I’m
just here to help you give birth to your story.” Hearing
those words set my heart at ease—I knew that she wasn’t
there to prove a point, but was dedicated to helping me
bring forth the story as I felt it needed to be told.
EDITOR’S TAKE: Nice analogy. We editors need to remem-
ber to be the “midwives” in our approach to helping the
author, keeping in mind that it’s their baby, not ours.
4. Intrusion: Changing the
author’s voice.
WRITER’S TAKE: As an editor, your job might include
helping the author find or maintain his voice, but it’s
never your job to let your own voice sneak in—and this
includes altering things so it sounds more like it would
WritersDigest.com I 29
The SECRET LIFE OF PUBLISHERS
have if you wrote it. The author is the one who’s ulti-
mately responsible for what’s written. You’re the consul-
tant who is there to help him improve his work.
Be discerning.
If an author’s work is a mess from the start, it’s probably
fair to conclude your role will be more hands-on. But if the
work has already been carefully proofread, assume the
author has meticulously chosen every word (and punc-
tuation mark) with care. Respect the time he’s put into it
and don’t be heavy-handed in your approach.
EDITOR’S TAKE: Guilty! One of my early authors told me
I tinkered too much with her voice. That was a teaching
moment for me. Fellow editors, be careful. You can pro-
vide constructive feedback without being intrusive.
5. blind-eye errors: Failing to
let context determine content.
WRITER’S TAKE: Stylistic conventions change all the time.
The readers’ relationship to the story is paramount, not
whether or not something jibes with this year’s edition
of a certain style manual. Instead ask, “Would this pro-
posed change serve the reader?”
Valuing context, pace and voice is always more impor-
tant than grammatical nitpicking.
Communicate and clarify what the role of the editing
will be. Is it primarily developmental (on the macro-
scale of analyzing the story as a whole), is it proofreading
(on the micro-scale, looking for grammatical errors), or
somewhere in-between?
Be clear. Good fences make good neighbors. If the author
hired you as a freelance editor, ask specifically what type
of input he would like. If you work for a publisher, specify
what’s worked well for you in the past and ask the author if
she thinks that process will help serve her in this instance.
Starting from a position of mutual respect and under-
standing can go a long way.
EDITOR’S TAKE: Freelance editors may have more leeway
on this than editors at publishing houses. But no matter
which you are, take time to understand the context of the
passage you’re editing and the author’s voice before sug-
gesting stylistic changes.
6. Meddlesomeness: Failing to
give the author final say.
WRITER’S TAKE: Perhaps the most infuriating experience
I’ve ever had with an editor occurred when she made an
unnecessary change to my story, I changed it back, then
she reverted it back to her way before sending it to design.
30 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
Obviously, I asked my publisher not to assign me that
editor again.
Remember, editing is not a “give-and-take.” It’s not a
negotiation. You’re not here to force the author to “pick
his fights.” Things are not “open to debate” or “discus-
sion.” It isn’t your job to debate anything, but rather to
serve the author. This is the author’s book, not yours.
EDITOR’S TAKE: I echo: It’s not our book! We should sug-
gest edits, not demand them.
7. Dabblement: Making
superfluous changes.
WRITER’S TAKE: Do not tinker with the author’s work.
If something is a matter of taste, always defer to the
author’s preference. If you read a manuscript that needs
no changes or corrections, don’t make them.
Remember, even though you might get paid by the
hour, writers do not. Never waste his or her time by
making unnecessary changes, thinking, He can just
change them back if he doesn’t like them.
And please don’t use the manuscript to air your gram-
matical pet peeves. You like semicolons? Great. But don’t
go crazy inserting them. The author shouldn’t be able to
tell what your typical hang-ups are when he’s done read-
ing your comments.
Never leave your fingerprints behind.
Instead, point out places where you were confused,
scenes you couldn’t picture, inconsistencies, narrative
promises that were made but not kept, or outright mistakes.
EDITOR’S TAKE: Again, communication is a must. A not-
yet-published author may want (or need) more help than
a seasoned writer. But clarify that early in the process.
When I start working with an author, I usually edit several
pages and get feedback from him before continuing. It’s
the best way to find out if our objectives are in sync.
The 7 Sins of Novelists
1. Lack of Communication:
Failing to specify expectations.
EDITOR’S TAKE: Writers—please set editing goals, commu-
nicate expectations and ask for any clarifications before
the editor jumps in. We look at your manuscript with a
different set of eyes depending on what you want, so it’s
important to let your editor know exactly what you want.
Also, tell your editor directly if you don’t want her to
follow grammar rules. We know there are times when an
author likes to break conventions. Remember, editors have
been trained to point out grammatical errors. So let her
know if you’ve made a stylistic choice to ignore the rules.
WRITER’S TAKE: Absolutely. Communication up-front
prevents a lot of problems down the line.
2. Sloppiness: Not submitting
your best work.
EDITOR’S TAKE: You may think, “Well, she’s an editor, so
she can fix all my typos and errors. I don’t need to correct
them before I submit.” Not true! Poor punctuation,
grammar, spelling and so on is so distracting to an edi-
tor that she will struggle to concentrate on the story she’s
been hired to edit. Unless you only want proofreading,
please submit as clean a copy as possible.
WRITER’S TAKE: Authors—never settle for sending in less
than your best!
3. Stubbornness: Refusing to
change your course of action.
EDITOR’S TAKE: You have probably hired an editor to
point out what she considers to be errors in your manu-
script. No, she shouldn’t change your “voice,” but if some-
thing doesn’t make sense or the punctuation is confusing,
you need to at least consider her suggestions. Don’t be
married to what may be a fatal mistake in your story.
WRITER’S TAKE: I usually think of it this way: Don’t fall in
love with the first draft.
4. Impatience: Not realizing
that writing a book is a
long process.
EDITOR’S TAKE: Impatience when writing a book will not
serve you well. Writers (especially new authors) must rec-
ognize that writing a publishable book takes a lot of work
and time. I don’t mean to be condescending, but it’s amaz-
ing how many writers think all their manuscript needs is a
one-time edit. Quality takes multiple rewrites. And, usually,
multiple passes by an editor. Patience distinguishes those
who will write a good book from those who won’t.
WRITER’S TAKE: Write 300 words a day, 300 days a year,
and you’ll have a 90,000-word book worth reading.
Remember: Anything worth publishing takes time.
5. Passing the Buck: Expecting
your editor to write the book.
EDITOR’S TAKE: Let’s say I just spent days line-editing
your manuscript. I return it with detailed comments
about certain issues you need to correct. Then you spend
a single day rewriting and think you’ve fixed it all. Not!
Yes, I’ve made edits that you can go through and
“Accept” or “Reject,” but when I point out issues like point of
view, or cause and effect, or speaker attributions, or sentence
structure, you (not me) need to go through your whole
manuscript and rework it. They’re not one-time problems,
but likely occur throughout the entire book. Spend a few
weeks on it. Every individual revision needs to be made in
context to that passage and to the larger story. Trust me—
it will take more than a few hours to make those changes
work. I can’t do this for you.
WRITER’S TAKE: Revise, revise, revise! I’ve edited some of
my scenes more than 50 times. Don’t be surprised if you
need to do the same.
6. Testiness: Getting upset with
your editor when she’s only
trying to help.
EDITOR’S TAKE: Please, don’t cuss out your editor. Her
goal really is to make your book better. If you disagree
with anything she changes then voice your disagreement—
but don’t do it in anger. Know that we’re not trying to
make your life more difficult. We’re just trying to help
get your book published.
WRITER’S TAKE: Always take a day or two to process an
editor’s ideas before countering them. Time will give
you perspective.
7. Throwing in the Towel:
When the going gets tough,
the author quits.
EDITOR’S TAKE: Aack! Don’t quit! Don’t abandon your
baby! As I mentioned previously, writing a book is a long,
difficult process—and editing can be equally strenuous.
You need to be patient and work hard. Even if your current
book doesn’t make it into Barnes & Noble, you will learn
so much from writing it. Maybe the experience will lead
to a future bestselling novel. And the sense of accomplish-
ment when you’ve completed your work truly is priceless.
WRITER’S TAKE: Persevere. Finishing a novel is never easy,
but in the end you’ll be thankful you stuck with it.
A contentious editor-author relationship doesn’t help
anyone—and it won’t ultimately serve readers. Listen to
each other, respect the input of your counterpart, and be
forgiving if she commits one of these “sins.” A little grace
can go a long way. WD
Steven James is a critically acclaimed novelist and contributing editor to
WD. Pam Johnson works as a freelance editor and writing consultant.
WritersDigest.com I 31
The SECRET LIFE OF PUBLISHERS

REASONS
13 WHY
In a competitive industry, it’s easy to feel like
publishers hold all the power. But the truth is they
(You Shouldn’t Sign That
Contract or Take That Job)

need good content—and writers have a right to not

be fleeced. Here are some situations when the best
option just might be to walk away.
BY JEFF SOMERS

ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: OIVIND HOVLAND

32 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

W hen I was first starting out as a fledgling
fiction writer, for a while I gave stories
away for free. I did this because I was
young, and I’ve never claimed to be particularly bright,
so the idea that someone would pay me for my words
seemed laughable. Here’s how I thought things worked:
STEP 1. Work on story for months.
STEP 2. Give work away to zine or website.
STEP 3. ????
STEP 4. Profit!
The fact is, there’s just as much of a learning curve
on the business side of writing as on the craft side. For-
tunately for us, a lot of craft-centric writerly wisdom can
be boiled down to pithy, easily remembered phrases—like
avoid passive voice; or show, don’t tell; or never explain plot
twists with the sudden, unexpected introduction of poorly
conceived time travel—and you can make major headway
on your story craft by simply reading other people’s
work. Business wisdom, unfortunately, is not so easily
accessible. Craft goals converge slowly with the business
side of writing, and many writers believe publishers are
doing them a favor merely by printing their words.
But that’s wrong.
Publishers need our words. Desperately. So desperately
they will pay us for them—and pay well—because they
have an infinite void to fill.1 Their business is content and
we are the suppliers. Our work has value—real, economic
value. Once hit with that epiphany, you realize that a
good editor is actually more business partner than boss.
Good editors respect what you, as a writer, bring to the
table. And that respect is traditionally expressed via cash
money. Which is why one of the first business lessons a
writer learns is money flows to the writer, or, put another
way, don’t work for exposure—people die from exposure.
As with most universal axioms, actually putting
that advice into practice can be a bit more complicated
because, as any working writer knows, this career isn’t for
the faint-hearted. When offered a book contract or an ideal
freelance gig, it’s easy to be blinded by the opportunity—
1 For example, I didn’t initially want to write this article. I had a bottle of very, very
cheap whiskey and 10 more episodes of “Twin Peaks: The Return” to get through.
But WD Editor Tyler Moss called me up and offered me money for it, and when I
hesitated he said he would dramatically act out the rest of the season with sock
puppets, which was an offer I just couldn’t refuse.
especially when you’re just starting out and trying to
build a résumé, or looking for any way to get your words
into readers’ hands.
You have to remember: Publishing is a business, con-
tracts are always negotiable and not every opportunity is
worth your time. Sometimes the reasons to not sign that
contract or take that job are easy to miss. Here are 13
less-obvious grounds to walk away from paying jobs and
publishing offers in both fiction and freelance writing.
Fiction
When an acquiring editor expresses interest in your
manuscript, it’s easy to be wooed by the simple idea that
someone wants to publish your work. But just because
a book contract comes with an advance and royalties
doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. These are some easy-to-
miss warning signs:
1. THE GREEDY GRABBER: If a book or story contract
comes with a payment, you might think you’ve already
won. But you should only be selling specific rights
to your work, and if the publication wants more, you
should be properly compensated. For example, I once
sold a short story for $150 to a magazine only to discover
that in the contract, they were claiming just about every
sub-right under the sun—including the film rights. That
means if they managed to get a movie into production
based on my story, I wouldn’t see a dime, even if the film
budget was hundreds of millions of dollars. I passed.
2. THE SO-CALLED PUBLISHER: It’s pretty easy to call your-
self a publisher, and some small presses offer modest
advances on novels. Nothing wrong with that, and under
a standard royalty arrangement you should be proud to
publish your book even if the company is small. That
said, the indie press must be able to perform the basic
functions of a publisher—editing, design, distribution,
marketing. Be sure to research any company offering you
a contract and make sure they have the bandwidth to fol-
low through with your expectations—as not all do.
3. PAY-TO-PLAY: Some small houses push all the work onto
their authors out of simple, honest incompetence. Other
so-called publishers are more upfront about it, putting
language in their contracts requiring you to do the work a
publisher traditionally takes care of. If you’re contractually
WritersDigest.com I 33
The SECRET LIFE OF PUBLISHERS
required to proofread, edit and act as your own salesperson,
you’re not being published—you’re being hired.
4. THE OTHER PAY-TO-PLAY: When looking for markets
that publish short fiction, you’ll likely encounter maga-
zines or websites—some well-known and respected—
that charge a small submission fee, typically less than
$5. They may justify this by saying that their staff are
volunteers, that reading submissions takes a lot of time,
that they’re doing this for the love of literature, etc. The
problem? They’re still using your words to sell subscrip-
tions and advertisements. Submission fees turn publishing
attempts into a lottery, and should be all the reason
needed to take your valuable words elsewhere.
5. IN PRINT IN PERPETUITY: In publishing, relationships
aren’t necessarily forever, which means that someday
(perhaps sooner than you think), you’ll need to get back
those rights to your book. While not as common as it
was a few years ago, any contract that doesn’t specify
when your book is considered officially out of print
should be rejected—after all, when you publish some-
thing you’re selling a license, and eventually the
rights should come back to the author. In the old days,
34 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
publishers had to actually print physical copies, which
was expensive, so clearly defining “out of print” was pretty
simple. But in the digital age, your book can technically be
available forever, at no cost to the publisher. So make sure
there’s a provision for getting those rights back if the pub-
lisher stops promoting or actively distributing your work.
6. IRRATIONAL RATIOS: When you make your first book
sale for real, actual dollars, it feels like you’ve finally
arrived—but just because you’re getting paid doesn’t mean
you’re getting paid fairly. Read your contract to see what
you’re giving up and what you’re getting compensated for.
I was once offered a contract that specified token pay-
ments for subrights no matter the budget—meaning I got
a tiny, fixed amount of money whether a deal for a movie
ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: OIVIND HOVLAND
or other adaptation was for $100 or $1 million. When
they refused to change that language, I walked away.
Freelance
Whether you’re hunting freelance assignments at
Mediabistro or ProBlogger, or cold-pitching an editor at
a magazine, freelance writing is all about the hustle. But

in the midst of seeking out assignments, you might be
overlooking little details that are actually huge red flags.
7. WE DON’T DISCUSS FILTHY LUCRE: Money is always an
awkward topic for writers, but there’s one golden rule:
Money has to be part of the conversation. If it’s an ad for a
freelance gig, the complete absence of rate information is a
concerning omission. If you’re pitching an editor and they
tell you to go ahead and write the piece but don’t mention
payment terms, chances are they don’t value writers very
much, because they either think it’s not important (despite
the fact that, you know, you make your living this way) or—
worse—because they think you won’t notice.
8. GET THE FILTHY LUCRE IN WRITING: Something else
freelance writers need aside from payment is a contract
that spells out all the specifics—including a kill fee that
protects the writer from putting in all that leg work only
to see the piece pulled at the last minute. A refusal to put
terms in writing is in and of itself a major warning sign.
9. THE STEP DOWN: On the other hand, no matter how
many clips you have under your belt, not every gig that
seems interesting is going to offer your desired rate (and
just because you suggest a rate in a cold pitch doesn’t mean
your editor is going to agree to it). There’s an argument
to be made that steady, enjoyable work is always worth
considering—but keep in mind that once you agree to a
rate, you’re kind of stuck there. Sure, you could ask for a
raise later, but rates have a way of getting sticky over time.
10. IT’S A HARD-KNOCK LIFE: You click on a posting only
to find a depressing list of the many ways you will prob-
ably irritate and disappoint your Freelance Overlords.
Or you cold-pitch an idea to an editor, and although
they like the concept, their response is a recitation of
your copious responsibilities (only a few of which will
involve creating words). In both cases, there’s likely to be
a lengthy lecture on the ways your work can (and prob-
ably will) be rejected. This is another situation in which
a contract that clearly sets out your services, pay and
expected deliverables will serve you well.
11. THE FREEBIE: This is a bait-and-switch. You see a job
on the boards that looks compelling, or an editor actu-
ally pitches you with an idea for ongoing work. In both
cases the rate is fine—but you’re asked to supply a few
thoughtful, fleshed-out pitches, or even full-scale articles.
It might seem reasonable … but you know what else is
reasonable? Paying writers for their time, even if it’s a test
project. At worst, it’s a scam for free content. At best, it
indicates the editor doesn’t value your time.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Publishing is a business,
contracts are always
negotiable and not every
opportunity is worth your
time. Sometimes the reasons
to not sign that contract or
take that job are easy to miss.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. GOLDILOCKS SYNDROME: Good news, everyone!
There’s a posted rate or range of pay that’s in your Green
Zone. The problem? The job description reads like a
fever dream of marketing buzzwords and indistinct
concepts, making it impossible to figure out whether
the rate’s fair or not. Or you get a positive response to
a pitch, but it’s so lengthy and specific it’s basically the
article itself, meaning you’ll never hit the sweet spot the
editor is looking for—they’d be better off just publish-
ing their version.
13. THE TERRIBLE WORDS: Any mention of “copyscape”
or “plagiarism” should have you running. Editors have a
right to protect themselves from plagiarism, and if they
choose to process every submission through a plagia-
rism-protection algorithm, that’s fine. But putting it in
the advertisement or explicitly mentioning it (seven or
15 times) in pitch correspondence means they think of
writers as goldbrickers seeking to rip them off. And that
gives you an early glimpse of what your working rela-
tionship with them will be.
Turning down a paying job or publishing opportunity is
never easy, especially if you—like many authors—lack
the advanced time-travel technology that would allow
you to go back and rectify mistakes. If the opportunity
truly seems too good to pass up, there’s no harm in mark-
ing up a contract (if you’re not well-versed, remember to
always have your contracts reviewed by someone familiar
with publishing or freelance legalese). Legitimate compa-
nies will at least attempt to be accommodating or arrive
at a compromise, because they know that they need you—
and the words you’re capable of supplying. WD
Jeff Somers (jeffreysomers.com) is the author of We Are Not Good
People and eight other novels.
WritersDigest.com I 35
The SECRET LIFE OF PUBLISHERS

Critical
THINKING
Novelists live and
die by reviews, yet
uncovering what
garners a gushing
ovation or blistering
takedown is often
a mystery. A
professional critic
lays out what it
takes to earn 5 stars.
BY PAUL GOAT ALLEN

T
here I sat, the lone book critic at a lunch table
full of established novelists: Nicole Peeler,
Victoria Thompson, Lee Tobin McClain,
Rebecca Drake, Anne Harris.
They were all instructors at Seton Hill University’s
Writing Popular Fiction program—one of the few graduate
careers from one or more of the companies I’d listed.
All eyes were on me—and not in a good way. I was
inundated with questions: “Who are these people that
write reviews? How do titles get chosen for review?
How are books judged? What exactly constitutes a
‘starred review’?”
ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: OIVIND HOVLAND

curriculums in the country specializing in writing commer-
cial fiction—and I had just landed a job as a program mentor.
For two decades I’d been working as a freelance genre fic-
tion book critic for outlets such as BarnesandNoble.com,
Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews and the Chicago Tribune.
After sharing my credentials with the group, some
of the writers began telling stories about mediocre or
bad reviews they’d received at different points in their
Some answers were easier than others. I told them
that critics, while anonymous at companies like
Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews and BlueInk Review,
are highly knowledgeable in the categories they review.
Editors at the respective companies pick releases to
be reviewed from the numerous galleys and advanced
reader copies (ARCs) that arrive in the mail every week,
and from that stack assign books to their reviewers.

36 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

 Yet when it came to the specific criteria for judg-
ing a book, I could only explain how I, personally,
critiqued novels.
While part of my responsibility is to qualitatively
compare titles to other releases in a specific genre or
category—and to sometimes put a noteworthy work
into historical context—I approach my job as a universal
reader of sorts. I’ve always devoured books. As an intro-
verted kid growing up in the ’70s, I read anything I could
get my hands on—classic sci-fi and fantasy, pulp myster-
ies, horror, even “adult” novels like Erica Jong’s Fear of
Flying and Harold Robbins’ The Adventurers, which my
mother had secretly stashed away in her nightstand.
As a reviewer, not much has changed since then. I
enjoy all genres and have reviewed thousands of titles
in hundreds of subgenres ranging from apocalyptic fic-
tion to zombie erotica. (Yes, there’s such thing as zombie
erotica.) In the end, genre categorization matters little to
me—it’s all about the story.
With that in mind, I decided to formalize a universal
framework through which I process and analyze my
various reading experiences. While there are undoubt-
edly specific narrative elements I look for in particular
genres (pacing and tension level in thrillers, for example),
there’s a pyramid of qualities—a Hierarchy of Needs, if
you will—that I seek in every story. While highly simpli-
fied, it’s this structure that dictates whether I give a book
a positive or negative review. (To see a graphic of the
Hierarchy of Needs, visit writersdigest.com/apr-18.)
These five criteria will not only provide a glimpse into
how a veteran book reviewer dissects and evaluates a
novel but, hopefully, make you look at your writing in
a different light. See for yourself: Does your work-in-
progress have what it takes to earn a positive review?
The Book Reviewer’s
Hierarchy of Needs
1. Readability
A book’s degree of readability is the base layer of my
reviewer’s pyramid, and the foundation for any good
story. The quality of a novel—narrative clarity, narrative
fluidity, having a coherent storyline—is directly related
to the number of times I put that book down. Some are
so bad, so poorly written, that I struggle to get through a
single paragraph without wanting to walk away. Others
have such a fluid plot that I find it virtually impossible to
stop reading—Tad Williams’ The Witchwood Crown and
Jim Butcher’s The Aeronaut’s Windlass being two such
examples of utterly readable, page-turning novels.
I’ve read a lot of “unputdownable” books over the last
few decades, and the vast majority of these all have some-
thing in common beyond a clear and fluid narrative: The
stories have noticeably strong chapter beginnings and
endings. It’s a small thing, but a great way to compel read-
ers to keep reading. How can you put a book down when
every chapter begins and ends with a cliffhanger sequence,
bombshell plot twist or powerful statement? When I con-
sistently find these elements in a novel, I know the author
fully understands the significance of readability.
Conversely, novels that aren’t as readable—that are
poorly written with awkward sentence structure, a con-
fusing storyline, weak chapter beginnings and endings—
are almost asking to be tossed aside. This may sound
obvious, but if you can’t compel a reader to read your
story, then you need to focus more on your craft before
penning another book.
2. Immersion
I define immersion as the ability for me, the reader, to
not only lose myself in a novel (I call these “stay-up-all-
night-till-your-eyes-bleed” reads) but to experience the
story intimately, living vicariously through the char-
acters. This trick is accomplished through a continued
focus on setting, rich description and atmospherics. I
don’t want to experience the story as a detached viewer
looking down at what’s happening—I want to feel like
I’m in the story.
The litmus test for this is easy. If I become so engaged
with a book that I lose track of time—if I glance at the
clock and hours have passed by—you’ve succeeded in
drawing me fully into your read. Writers who are absolute
immersion masters (think Cherie Priest, Justin Cronin,
Charlaine Harris) are so good at captivating description
that weeks, months and oftentimes years after reading
their novels I can still vividly recall specific scenes.
This layer is where many writers stumble, and here’s
why: While they may excel at world-building and metic-
ulous description at the beginning of a novel, once the
action and adventure ramps up, they not only lose focus
WritersDigest.com I 37
The SECRET LIFE OF PUBLISHERS
but completely ignore description altogether. I’ve seen
this happen countless times in every genre: rich descrip-
tion for the first 100 pages or so, then almost nothing in
the final 200.
It’s called literary escapism for a reason. If I can’t lose
myself in a read—from beginning to end—then I haven’t
fully escaped.
3. Character Depth and/or
Plot Intricacy
Three-dimensional, interesting and identifiable charac-
ters bring emotional connectivity and intensity to the
read. If your readers aren’t emotionally invested in your
characters, then the narrative impact of your story is
inevitably going to be negatively impacted. Emotions
wield power. If you can bring your readers to tears, make
them laugh out loud or scare them to the point of check-
ing under the bed, then you’ve succeeded on some level.
Creating authentic characters to whom readers can relate is
a solid achievement—but an obvious word of warning: Stay
clear of clichés and stereotypes. Overused conventions—
like the Chosen One in fantasy who is consistently a
white male, or the emotionally damaged billionaire
entrepreneur in erotic fiction who needs to sexually
dominate his love interest—even if brilliantly rendered,
will underwhelm and disappoint more than a few
readers (and reviewers).
Now, the reason I include an “and/or” between char-
acter development and plot intricacy is because, in some
rare cases (particularly in mainstream thrillers), a novel
with an impressively knotty storyline can still succeed
with relatively cardboard characters.
Which is why plot intricacy is key: Why read a novel
where you can accurately predict what’s going to happen
after a few chapters? (I do that quite often. After reading
the first chapter or two, I’ll jot down a prediction in my
notes. You’d be surprised how many times I’ve guessed the
ending correctly.) I just finished reviewing a brilliant his-
torical mystery for Publishers Weekly that was filled with so
many plot twists I was left guessing until the last few pages.
It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a fantasy or a thriller or a
romance—the plot has to be intricate enough to keep your
reader simultaneously engaged and a bit off balance.
4. Originality and Innovation
This one ties in with embracing originality, be it atypical
characters or unconventional story structure. So many
books out there today are built upon unoriginal,
38 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
rehashed, derivative storylines. I read a lot. And I get
bored easily, especially when reading the same basic
story arc again and again. My advice? Don’t play it safe.
Write a story that you’ve never read before. In a 2016
Goodreads interview I conducted with fantasy novelist
Michael J. Sullivan, author of Age of Myth, he said, “It
doesn’t matter if it’s been done before. It just matters if
it’s being done well now.”
I love that quote. Just because something has been
done before doesn’t mean it can’t be re-envisioned or re-
imagined, but be innovative—put a new twist on an old
mythos, turn a stereotype on its head. Have the courage to
be creative!
5. Thematic Profundity
In the introduction to the 2006 reissue of Walter M.
Miller Jr.’s 1960 Hugo Award–winning classic, A Canticle
for Leibowitz, Mary Doria Russell writes, “You’ll be dif-
ferent when you finish it.” That’s my hope for every novel
I pick up—that within the story there will be some kind
of spiritual and/or existential wisdom, some kind of
revelation or insight that will change the way I look at
myself and the world around me.
A novel that holds this kind of thematic power—as well
as the other aforementioned elements in the Hierarchy
of Needs—will get a starred review from me every time.
Stories, no matter the genre, have the power to change
lives. Novels like Andreas Eschbach’s The Carpet Makers,
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Yevgeny
Zamyatin’s We have irrevocably changed who I am.
After all, that’s the ultimate goal, right? To write a
commercially successful and critically acclaimed novel
that is both entertaining and enlightening.
Evaluating a novel is a cumulative process. Those with
masterful character development but zero immersion
will still receive a poor review, for example, while a the-
matically profound read with excruciatingly bad read-
ability will receive a terrible review.
May this Hierarchy of Needs not only make you more
aware of how your writing is experienced by readers—
and jaded book reviewers like myself—but also offer up
a few invaluable insights that can be used to improve your
craft. Who knows, maybe my next starred review will be
yours. WD
Paul Goat Allen has worked as a genre fiction book critic and
written thousands of reviews for companies like BarnesandNoble.
com, Publishers Weekly, the Chicago Tribune and Kirkus Reviews.
 DIVERSE BOOKS
MATTER
The push to represent a broader range of voices is no fad—
it’s an industry course correction long overdue. Here, a literary
agent unpacks the movement taking publishing by storm.
BY AMMI-JOAN PAQUETTE
ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: OIVIND HOVLAND

WritersDigest.com I 39
The SECRET LIFE OF PUBLISHERS

ne of the most common questions I’m asked have largely focused on white, straight, able-bodied char-

O as a literary agent at writers’ conferences

these days—and one I’m always happy to
hear—is some variation of: “How do you
feel about the increased focus on diversity in publishing?
acters. What’s wrong with that, you ask? It’s not so much
what’s there that’s the problem; it’s what’s not. Seeing our-
selves reflected in the books—and media—we consume
can be a way of legitimizing our own journey, struggles
What changes are you seeing in this area?” and questions. Seeing the reflection of someone else’s jour-
Why does this make me so happy? Because five years ney, one unlike our own, provides an essential portal into
ago, it’s a question that didn’t really come up, or at least the experiences of others, fostering empathy, understand-
not to this extent. It should be frequently broached, and ing and growth. Simply put, readers of all stripes want—
the fact that it’s discussed with increasing regularity is in need—to see themselves in the books they read. Recently,
itself a sign of the industry’s change and forward progress. that need is beginning to be addressed via a growing num-
But first, a caveat: This won’t be an article detailing the ber of books reflecting a broader, more comprehensive lens.
history, statistics or specific trajectory of diversity in pub- A more diverse selection means more mirrors to reflect our
lishing. I’m neither a scholar nor an analyst, and while I do experiences, and more windows to offer glimpses into lives
love a good spreadsheet, I am not qualified to deliver any unlike our own. Win-win, right?
type of comprehensive treatise. Instead, what I hope to do
here is share my broader perspective as an active member What Agents &
of the publishing community—both as a consumer of
books and someone who helps funnel them toward your
Editors Want
Certainly I cannot speak for all of the publishing commu-
bookshelves. In fact, I’ve included relevant quotes from
nity, but from what I’ve seen as a literary agent working
authors and industry insiders’ inboxes throughout this
largely in publishing for young readers, I can safely say:
article (with even more online at writersdigest.com/
There is a great and growing hunger for diverse books—
apr-18). This is a primer, if you will, for those who may be
in terms of culture, race, sexuality, gender, ability, class
less familiar with the subject and could use an overview
and beyond. When I meet with editors and talk about
on diversity in publishing today.
what they’re looking to acquire, almost invariably the
conversation will come around to: “I want to see more
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diverse books, and books by diverse authors.”
This appetite is also seen in the formation of social
“As someone obsessed with
media campaigns to enhance visibility for underrep-
and who writes [about] small-town resented voices, such as the popular #DVpit event on
America, if you don’t see Twitter (created by literary agent Beth Phelan), where
authors can pitch their diverse projects in real time.
diversity in your town, you’re Interested agents and editors can—and do—request
not looking hard enough.” these manuscripts, and the event already has an impres-
sive rate of authors signing with agents and getting book
— J U L I E M U R P H Y,
AUTHOR OF DUM PLI N ’
deals. Also, initiatives like We Need Diverse Books have
provided resources and a rallying point for writers of
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- marginalized communities and beyond.

What Readers Want RESOURCES FOR INFORMED WRITERS

For a list of websites and organizations that will continue to
Someone unfamiliar with publishing might be wondering: enlighten, visit writersdigest.com/apr-18.
What’s this all about? Well, historically, published books

40 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

 Bear in mind: This is a process. The skewed balance of On one thing all sides agree, however: Any author
worldview in literature didn’t happen overnight, and the writing outside their culture should do so thoughtfully,
shift to a more accurate and complete representation will respectfully and deliberately. If you’re considering doing
not happen overnight either. But readers are hungry for it. so, ask: Why am I the one telling this particular story? What
Agents are hungry for it. Editors are hungry for it. is my touch-point or connection that makes me an authentic
narrator for this character? Next, be willing to put in the
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
work. Research is good, but that alone isn’t enough. Talk,
interview, experience. Bring in readers of the race or cul-
“When I started in publishing two ture in question to critique your work—and then listen to
decades ago … we weren’t allowed what they’re saying, and make the necessary changes.

to use the word ‘gay’ in describing

What the future holds
a character unless it was specifically One only has to look at The New York Times bestsellers
tagged a ‘gay book’ and was list or the National Book Awards winners to see how
wholeheartedly readers and critics alike are taking to this
geared toward that community shift toward greater and more accurate representation. In
only. Now it feels like there is a real the last year, books by authors of color have repeatedly
sold in high-stakes auctions, with foreign and film deals
push toward diversity, a focus on following in their wake. This is especially evident in YA
and celebration of that.” and children’s publishing, but adult fiction is catching on
as well. It turns out that people like to see themselves in
— JOHN MORGAN,
E X E C U T I V E E D I T O R AT I M P R I N T, A the books and media they consume. It’s a social move-
PA R T O F M A C M I L L A N C H I L D R E N ’ S ment that also pays financial dividends.
PUBLISHING GROUP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“‘ Diversity’ should just be called

What Writers Can Do ‘reality.’ Your books, your TV shows,
Some people have called the spread of diversity in publishing
a “trend.” Let me be clear: It’s nothing of the sort. It is, and your movies, your articles, your
will continue to be, a gradual shifting—a correction in the curricula need to reflect reality.”
market, so to speak—an increased awareness for those writ-
— TA N A N A R I V E D U E ,
ing and publishing from a place of privilege that there are AUTHOR OF THE AMERIC AN BOOK
important stories out there that were formerly overlooked. AWA R D – W I N N I N G TH E LIVI N G B LO O D
It’s an initiative that I believe will only grow more as margin-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
alized authors continue to gain confidence and experience
and wherewithal to make their stories known and as pub-
lishers continue not only to diversify their acquisitions, but What does this all mean for you? If you’re a marginal-
also their staff at every step of the publishing process. ized writer: There’s never been a better time to tell your
A contentious issue right now is the debate over story. If you’re writing from a place of privilege: Be will-
whether authors can—or should—write from a per- ing to educate yourself, and in the works you do create,
spective that is outside their own race or culture. Those strive for honesty, authenticity, inclusivity.
arguing against point to the glut of inauthentic voices Publishing is experiencing a period of growth. Things
crowding the shelves and taking space and attention are changing, yet more change is still needed. Diversity is
from those writing from their “own voice” viewpoints. not a fad, trend or marketing gimmick. It is a lifestyle; a
On the other side, some argue that authors writing only requirement. The new normal. WD
their own distinct gender, race, culture and specific back- Ammi-Joan Paquette is a senior literary agent with Erin Murphy
ground would make for dull books indeed. Literary Agency and the author of many books for young readers.

WritersDigest.com I 41
Leigh Bardugo
UNSTOPPABLE
The bestselling author talks
finding YA fantasy stardom
and why, if pursuing a dream,
you’re always on the right track.
BY BAIHLEY GENTRY

PHOTO © CHRISTINA GUERRA

42 I WRI TER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

L
eigh Bardugo has always written the stories she
wanted to write.
When querying her debut, Shadow and Bone—
in which she introduced readers to a Czarist Russia-
inspired world where individuals called Grisha have the
mystical ability to manipulate matter—Bardugo was faced
with a publishing-industry reality. Although young adult
novels were popular at the time, and her premise was
unique and compelling, no literary agents seemed inter-
ested in epic or high fantasy books for young readers.
She forged ahead anyway.
“I knew very little about the market. I learned that many
[agents] would not even entertain the idea of that kind of
book,” she says. “It’s wise to know what’s out there, [but
don’t] let that hinder you. If you have an idea, pursue it.
[Think] about things that make your story a story that only
you could tell—those are the things that will stand out.”
The strength of that story did eventually resonate with
a rep, and the series was sold in a three-book deal in 2010.
Within a week of its release in 2012, Shadow and Bone
skyrocketed to the top of The New York Times bestseller
list—as did her six books after that: 2013’s Siege and Storm
and 2014’s Ruin and Rising, which rounded out the Grisha
trilogy; 2015’s Six of Crows and 2016’s Crooked Kingdom,
a “heist-con” duology Bardugo likens to “Ocean’s 11 meets
Game of Thrones”; and her two latest stand-alones in 2017:
The Language of Thorns, her first short story collection,
and Wonder Woman: Warbringer, about the superhero’s
teen years.
In sum, her books have sold more than 1 million copies
combined internationally, and have earned such accolades
as RT Reviewers Choice Awards in 2012 and 2015, and
multiple starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus
Reviews and School Library Journal. Bardugo regularly
writes short stories for Tor.com, and she has appeared
in various anthologies, including Last Night a Superhero
Saved My Life with notable names like Jodi Picoult and
Neil Gaiman, and Slasher Girls & Monster Boys alongside
Jonathan Maberry and Kendare Blake.
Despite the impressive trajectory of her career, the path
from aspiring author to bestseller was a circuitous one.
Born in Jerusalem and raised in Southern California,
Bardugo’s lifelong aspiration to be a writer led her to earn a
degree in journalism from Yale. While struggling for years
to finish a first draft of a novel (“I didn’t know yet that I
was an outliner, and how badly I needed structure in order
to work”), she took jobs in copywriting, advertising and as
a Hollywood makeup and special effects artist.
It wasn’t until she brushed off “some pretty wonky ideas”
espoused by media, TV and film about what it meant to
produce creative work that Bardugo was able to embrace a
“terrible, messy, ugly first draft.” That experience taught her
something valuable: “Let go of the idea that somehow you
can outsmart a first draft,” she says. “Because I have never
met anybody who can.”
The YA fantasy maestro took a break from promoting
The Language of Thorns and Wonder Woman: Warbringer
to talk world-building, personal perseverance and more
with WD.
The runaway success of a debut can put a lot of
pressure on subsequent follow-ups. How did you
manage to cope with that so gracefully?
When a book lists, there’s the illusion of runaway success.
My [first book] listed, but it’s not as if you hit The New
York Times bestseller list and all of a sudden they give
you the keys to a magical clubhouse and you’ve suddenly
arrived. That’s one book, and a book does not make a career.
Certainly, I had a wonderful push from my publisher and
got very lucky. I’m very aware of what it means to have a
publisher back you. But your job as a writer, no matter what
else is happening, is to continue to produce work—whether
you’re succeeding or failing. [You have to put] aside ideas
about sales or success or ambition, and just work.
You know, I think I have a journey that looks smooth
from the outside. And I’m always a little hesitant to talk
about it because I don’t want people to get a false impres-
sion about what it takes to get published. But [up until the
point of publishing Shadow and Bone], I did face plenty of
rejection, and even after I signed with [my agent], every
single one of those rejections stung. Because the marvel of
the information age is that you’re still getting email rejec-
tions months and months after you sent them. [Laughs].
And so, until Shadow and Bone came out, I would read those
rejections—because, of course, I had to read every single one
of them—and I would think, Well, maybe they’re right and
WritersDigest.com I 43
 Leigh Bardugo
“Part of the journey is that horrific balance of, you know,
delusions of grandeur and abject humility that I think
writers walk the line of all the time.”
everybody else is wrong. Part of the journey is that horrific
balance of, you know, delusions of grandeur and abject
humility that I think writers walk the line of all the time.
You’ve talked about losing faith in your ability to
become a professional writer. What would you tell
others who are struggling with that same feeling?
I want to be really clear about something: I think we kind
of fetishize the creative life. We have the vision of what
it means to be an author, where you sit in your garret or
looking out at your view and you give everything to your
art and you commit fully to it. But the reality is that most
of us have bills to pay. We have loans to pay off. We have
educations to pay for. Some of us have children to take
care of or other relatives or dependents or responsibilities.
And the idea that somehow you’re not a real writer if you
are pursuing taking care of yourself and your life, as you
pursue your art, is an incredibly damaging one. Very few
people have the wherewithal or the safety net to be able
to pursue writing full time from moment one. And I want
people to understand that you can absolutely work a job,
sometimes two jobs, and have those responsibilities—
and still write. I didn’t fail to become a writer, and there-
fore had to take a job. I had to take a job to keep a roof
over my head because I had student loans to pay off. And
that’s the way it works.
For writers trying to balance life and art, how would
you encourage them to stay motivated in pursuing
their passion?
Set realistic goals. Sometimes that means doing some-
thing like NaNoWriMo, or it means saying, “I’m just
going to write 500 words a day, but I’m going to write
500 words a day.” Or “I’m going to do writing sprints for
30 minutes before work.” Or in the 45 minutes when my
kid is napping, or whatever it is. Carve out a time, find a
process that works for you and don’t compare yourself to
anybody else.
[And] get offline. Stop reading about what other
authors are doing. Stop reading reviews. Let yourself be
immersed in the story that you’re writing.
44 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
Remember: There is no expiration date on your talent.
I did not publish my first book until I was 35 years old. If
you have a story to tell, it doesn’t matter when you tell it.
Just get it onto the page and let go of any of the ideas that
somehow it’s less worthwhile because it took you a little
longer to get there than it took others.
Man, you’re inspiring me!
[Laughs.] Oh, good. Do it. Do it.
You’ve said before that there is no right way to write
a book. You’ve been publishing at least one book
per year since 2012, which is an impressive output.
Describe your process.
I’m an outliner. I write through a three-act structure. I
build all of my books in pretty much the exact same
way: I have the idea, I write it out onto a single page so
that I essentially have a book that is one-page long, and
then I begin to fill in all of the things that I know. I build
this kind of ramshackle zero-draft, that operates as an
extended outline, and that is what becomes the mus-
culature of the book. Now, when I get into the work of
actually writing the scenes and revising the book into
something that it can be, that process changes a little
depending on the project.
Everybody processes differently, but [the exact
method] is something you can keep coming back to
when you feel psychologically embattled. A big part of
writing is the discomfort of the work not being what
you want it to be and the feelings of doubt or failure that
come with not being able to make the idea instantly into
what you want it to be.
Your books have very elaborate, well-rounded
worlds. I haven’t read a book in a long time where
I felt so there. When world-building, where do you
typically begin?
I start with my characters and with the story, the plot.
When a reader enters the first chapter of your book,
they’re trying to get their bearings. It’s our job as authors
to give them the signals they need in order to be able to
navigate that world. The great challenge of world-building
is not building the world. You could build a world with
maps and languages and all these things [and still be
missing something]. It’s releasing that information to the
reader. The world-building that really falls into place first
is what I always describe as the sense of power—helping
readers understand how power flows in the book. That
could mean governmental power, personal power, magi-
cal power, whatever. But [determining how power flows]
is going to determine how your characters behave on the
page, and what they’re able or not able to do.
You had help creating the Grisha Trilogy’s Ravkan
language from David Peterson, who assisted with
developing the Dothraki language in HBO’s Game of
Thrones. What was that like?
David and I met at Worldcon several years ago. I went
to a presentation of his on Dothraki. He has been kind
enough to be a resource for me as we’ve worked through
the [Grisha] books, although we do occasionally butt heads
because he wants me to be much more ambitious in my
language in the book, and he’s very probably right.
You write a lot of diverse characters without falling
victim to stereotypes. Do you think attitudes about
diversity in publishing have shifted, or does the
industry still have a ways to go?
I think both of those things are true. I think that there’s a
new dedication to making sure that not only is represen-
tation better, but that marginalized authors and voices
that maybe didn’t have voices before are increasingly
given platforms in publishing. And that is not only as
writers, but as editors and in everything from publicity
to sales. That said, I don’t think there’s any question that
there’s a long way to go because that is a long process and
because until the fundamental power structures change,
until the gatekeepers are different, I don’t think we’re
going to see the kind of change that we really need to
see—in the way not only that stories are told, but in the
way they reach readers.
I’m sure many authors ask you what’s trending in
YA. What do you think is the ideal balance of writing
what you’re passionate about and understanding
what’s drawing readers in the industry?
You have to know the market. So you have to know
what’s selling, what isn’t selling anymore, what people
are fatigued by. But that doesn’t mean you can say, “Oh,
THE BIG SHORT
Bardugo talks her latest short story collection, and why she’s
always been a fan of short prose, at writersdigest.com/apr-18.
well, I [can’t write that ever].” There was a period of time
where people would say, “Oh, no more vampire books,”
or “no more dystopians,” or no more this or that. But that
is really false because what that actually meant was no
more of that particular kind of story. We need a different
take on vampires or we need to see a dystopian that is
simply described as science fiction. YA shifts and moves
faster than most other categories because so much work
is being generated and consumed so quickly. And to be
frank, I think if I brought Shadow and Bone out now,
it would not have the same reception it had in 2012.
Be aware of the market, but really, being aware of the
market is just one part of being a storyteller and thinking
about craft.
What’s next for you?
Well, King of Scars is the first book in my upcoming
duology that continues the story of the Grishaverse, and
will pick up the story of Nikolai Lantsov, the young king
of Ravka. And I’m [also working on] Ninth House, my
first novel for adults. It is the start of a series set at Yale, a
dark fantasy that focuses on the secret societies among
East Coast elites. I’ve got a couple of other things cook-
ing, but nothing I can discuss just yet.
I heard you have a band, which is probably the coolest
side hustle ever. What type of music do you play?
Our lead guitarist would probably punch me for this,
but I’ve always described it as “geek rock.” It’s sort of like
if you put the Pixies and the New Pornographers and a
little bit of They Might Be Giants in a blender. I mostly
sing. Unfortunately, all of our lives got taken over by
adulthood: Our guitarist had a baby. Our bassist had a
baby. Our drummer bought a house. I landed my dream
job. But we do occasionally meet up for band brunch
and one of these days we’ll have a reunion show.
I think that when you’re writing, being creative in
other ways is really useful and therapeutic. And whether
that’s creating visual art or making music—or hell, even
baking—as long as you’re doing something that’s keeping
you engaged and keeping you from chewing over reviews
on Goodreads, I think you’re better off. WD
Baihley Gentry is the associate editor of Writer’s Digest.
WritersDigest.com I 45
 The
Big dance
The winner of WD’s 25th Annual Self-Published Book Awards traded in her
pointe shoes to choreograph her career as a novelist—to much applause.
BY KAREN KRUMPAK
F
or most of her life, Suanne Laqueur’s passion
for storytelling was manifest on the dance floor.
Although Laqueur began writing at a young
age, dancing always took center stage. She majored in
dance and theater at Alfred University and taught at her
mother’s dance studio in Croton-on-Hudson, New York,
for years. But when her mother was ready to retire and an
opportunity opened for Laqueur to inherit the studio, she
realized she had no interest in taking on the business side
of her art: “Owning a studio is a lot of work—financially,
logistically. I love the teaching, the choreographing, the
staging, but I didn’t want to own it.”
Yet Laqueur’s disinterest in running the show changed
when she became a self-published author. In the fall of
2013, she decided to pursue self-publishing as a way of
sharing her first completed novel with friends and family.
During the process, she realized that following her true
artistic passion—telling stories through writing—made
the day-to-day business of the art worthwhile, and owning
that business meant she could direct her writing career
however she so choosed.
Starting with her second self-published novel, she
began investing more time in marketing and building
her audience. As a business analyst for Verizon
Wireless by day, Laqueur employed her “analyst mind”
to set up meticulous spreadsheets as she dove deep into
46 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
the world of book-blogging. “I put together a list of
maybe 2,000 blogs,” she says. “I had my Excel spread-
sheet, and I would do 30 queries a month. If I got a read
[by a book blogger], then that blog [became part of] my
team, and I cultivated those relationships.”
Her investment paid off. Since 2014, Laqueur, now
49, has self-published six novels, which collectively have
hundreds of ratings and reviews on Goodreads. Her
2016 novel An Exaltation of Larks stole the show at the
25th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards,
topping more than 2,300 entries to win the grand prize.
Laqueur’s winnings include $8,000 and a trip to the
2018 WD Annual Conference in New York.
Her grand prize–winning novel follows five characters
over three decades and two continents—and, like her
other stories, it does not fit neatly into one genre.
Her books are often categorized as general romance,
but Laqueur and her fan base say terms like “therapy
fiction,” “emotionally intelligent romance” and “contem-
porary train wreck” are more apt. Laqueur asserts it’s
PHOTO © GETTY IMAGES: MADS PERCH
self-publishing that has given her the liberty to defy
traditional genre conventions.
“You have to write the most truthful story to you, and
I think self-publishing allows that freedom,” she says. “If
you work with traditional publishing, it’s more about
what’s marketable. There are trade-offs, which everyone

will tell you, but [by self-publishing] I have control of the
book, I have control of the story, and I’m cool with that.”
Laqueur attributes her success to decisions she made
to hire a strong editor and cover designer, and by
setting realistic, quantifiable goals. Instead of telling
herself, I’m going to publish this book and I’m going to be
famous, she thinks, I’m going to publish this book with
the intent of selling 10 copies a month. What do I need to
do to get there?
To reach those goals and allow writing to remain a
priority, Laqueur hired a formatter and personal assistant
in addition to her editor and designer, ensuring that each
task is performed by the most capable person—but she
always retains ownership of how her stories enter into
the world.
“I do a lot of things,” she says, “and [self-publishing]
lets me be everything.”
Read on for more of Laqueur’s advice on self-publishing,
and turn the page for a full list of winners in all eight
PHOTO © JP LAQUEUR
categories. To enter the 26th Annual Self-Published
Book Awards, visit writersdigest.com/competitions/
selfpublished.
WINNER’S SPOTLIGHT:
Suanne
Laqueur
What advice would you give to other
authors considering self-publishing?
It’s absolutely essential that you put money into your
manuscript and your cover, because that carries the
entire weight. Have a platform, have a team, have a
plan and make your cover and your manuscript the
best that they can be. If you are starting out and
know you have a series in you, I’d almost hold off until
you have two [books] finished so you could put one
out and [then] put another one out in quick succession.
What can you not live without in your
writing life?
Coffee. Actually, no, my massage therapist. He’s
been with me for five books now, and not only does
he help with the chronic neck and shoulder strain,
but when I take that 90–minute slot of just isolated
quiet … it’s really amazing what I’ve worked out
while I’ve been on his table.
What is the best writing and/or publishing
advice you’ve received?
My editor told me, “Just tell the story. Don’t be clever,
and get out of your own way. Say what happens. Say
what you mean.” [She also told me,] “Hire that shit out!”
What writers have inspired your work?
Stephen King—how he makes his characters completely
ordinary people that he then puts into extraordinary
circumstances. [Also] Catherynne Valente and the way
she plays with language, and Neil Gaiman and Philip
Pullman as storytellers and masters of simple language
telling complex stories.
ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT
Read more about Laqueur’s approach to forging her own path
at writersdigest.com/apr-18.
WritersDigest.com I 47
 THE WINNERS OF THE 25 TH ANNUAL
WRITER’S DIGEST SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK AWARDS
Grand Prize
An Exaltation of Larks BY SUANNE
LAQUEUR ($17.99) Cathedral Rock Press.
suannelaqueurwrites.com.
Children’s Picture Books
FIRST PLACE
Rice & Rocks BY SANDRA L. RICHARDS
AND MEGAN KAYLEIGH SULLIVAN
(illustrator) ($17.99) Wise Ink Creative
Publishing. sandralrichards.com.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Charlie the Cross-Eyed Crocodile (The Adventures of
Willy Nilly and Thumper) BY JIM HENRY WITH JIMMY
PATTERSON AND MARJORIE VAN HEERDEN (illustrator)
($7.95) Willy Nilly Stories LLC. willynillyandthumper.com.
The Day Annabelle Was Bitten By a Doodlebug
BY JULIE WENZLICK AND JAIME BUCKLEY (illustrator) ($10)
Wordmeister Press. juliewenzlick.com.
Genre Fiction
FIRST PLACE
The Baker’s Man BY JENNIFER MOORMAN
($9.99) CreateSpace. jennifermoorman.com.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
A Violation of Innocence BY JOE PIKE FARR ($9.99)
CreateSpace.
Brutal Angels BY GORDON GUSTAFSON ($7.99)
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Castle Danger BY CHRIS NORBURY ($16.95)
Booklocker.com Inc. chrisnorbury.com.
Cenote BY CARLETON PRINCE ($7.99) CreateSpace.
carletonprince.com.
48 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
Death’s Grip BY KEN L. GOULD ($9.99)
Grael Publishing. authorkengould.com.
Deeply Flawed: The Zombie Apocalypse
BY RO RUFFALO ($14.99) CreateSpace. roruffalo.com.
Duality BY D. M. LOCKWOOD ($14.99) Blue Penney Press.
Grave Matters BY TODD HARRA ($13.99) Todd Harra.
toddharra.com.
Murder in Madden BY RAEGAN TELLER ($12.99)
Pondhawk Press LLC. raeganteller.com.
The White Devil BY DOMENIC STANSBERRY ($11.95)
Molotov Editions. domenicstansberry.com.
Inspirational
FIRST PLACE
Ten Commandments of Business Success
for Women BY SHARMAN DOW ($19.95)
HigherLife Publishing. sharmandowministries.org.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Deep Living: Healing Yourself to Heal the Planet
BY SUSANNE MEYER-FITZSIMMONS ($16.83) Full Court
Press. susannemeyerfitzsimmons.com.
Fall In Love With Your Life, One Week at a Time
BY EMILY MADILL ($24.99) EM & JOE Books Co.
emilymadill.com.
The Refuge: An Inspirational Novel of Scotland
BY REGAN WALKER ($12.99) reganwalkerauthor.com.
Life Stories
FIRST PLACE
An Unforeseen Journey
BY MARY STEWART
VANVALKENBURG WITH GAIL DUPAR ($30) Classic Day
Publishing. decaturislandjourney.com.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Asian Girl in a Southern World
Middle-Grade/Young Adult Fiction
BY DALENA H. BENAVENTE ($14.99) Dalena H. Benavente. FIRST PLACE
Thomas Holland in the Realm of the Ogres
Beyond Rain Man BY ANNE K. ROSS ($15.98)
BY K. M. DOHERTY ($14.99) Wizard’s Mark
Leatherback Press. beyondrainman.com.
Press. thomashollandbooks.com.
Cheeking My Meds BY FRANCIS COCO
(AKA PENNI GOODE EVANS) ($11) CreateSpace.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Crazy Horse Appearing BY JUDEE SHIPMAN ($25.95) Keep in a Cold, Dark Place BY MICHAEL F. STEWART
Ishi Press. ($8.95) The Publishing House. michaelfstewart.com.

The Grand Gypsy BY OTTAVIO CANESTRELLI Paige in History BY ERIN MEADOWS ($11.50)
WITH OTTAVIO GESMUNDO ($18.98) CreateSpace. theerinmeadows.com.
Lulu Publishing Services. thegrandgypsy.com. The Last Letter: A Novel
BY SUSAN POGORZELSKI ($12.99) Brown Beagle Books.
Mainstream/Literary Fiction susanpogorzelski.com.

FIRST PLACE
First, You Swallow the Moon Nonfiction
BY KIPP WESSEL ($21.95) radialGRAIN.
FIRST PLACE
kippwessel.com.
Tiller’s Guide to Indian Country, Third
Edition BY VERONICA E. VELARDE TILLER
HONORABLE MENTIONS ($325) BowArrow Publishing Company.
A Painted Lily BY ANGELA HOKE ($12.99) veronicatiller.com.
CreateSpace. angelahokeauthor.com.

Beneath a Shooting Star HONORABLE MENTIONS

BY SUSAN HARRISON RASHID ($17.99) Mill City Press Inc. Collect Value Divest: The Savvy Appraiser
beneathashootingstar.com. BY DR. ELIZABETH STEWART ($19.95) Flandricka House
Press. elizabethappraisals.com.
Brought to Our Senses
BY KATHLEEN H. WHEELER ($16) Attunement Publishing. Toxic Food Nation BY DR. GEORGE BURNELL ($31.95)
authorkathleenhwheeler.com. Outskirts Press.

London Belongs to Me Poetry

BY JACQUELYN MIDDLETON ($14.95) Kirkwall Books.
jacquelynmiddleton.com. FIRST PLACE
Where Desire Settles BY KAREN SCHULTE
Ocean Echoes BY SHEILA HURST ($12.95) ($15) You-Pub Books. allbook-books.com/
Soliton Publications. sheilahurst.wordpress.com. html/_where_desire_settles_.htm.

The Last Cruz BY CAITLIN AVERY ($14.92)

SDP Publishing. caitlinavery.com. HONORABLE MENTIONS

Unregistered BY NELLIE K. ($7) Kartoglu. Five O’Clock BY JOE MONTAÑO III ($11.95) Outskirts Press.
What She Inherits BY DIANE V. MULLIGAN ($14.99) Imperfect Echoes BY CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON ($9.95)
CreateSpace. CreateSpace. WD

Karen Krumpak is the assistant editor of Writer’s Digest.

WritersDigest.com I 49
 FUNNY YOU
SHOULDASK
A literary agent’s mostly serious answers to your mostly serious questions.
BY BARBARA POELLE

Dear FYSA,
I heard you speak at the
Writer’s Digest Conference and you
said you only respond to unsolicited
queries if you’re interested in seeing
more. But then you added that
you might respond—if you felt
the manuscript was of high quality
but not for you—with a referral to
another agent in your agency (or
even a peer outside your agency)
who might be a better match. I don’t
understand: If you think something
is good enough to sell, why not just
sign it?
Sincerely,
Flummoxed in Phoenix
Dear Flummoxed,
This one time in my early 20s,
I was single and at a party, and
there was this guy who was funny
and outgoing and charming
and good-looking and I could
tell he was dropping a hook in
the water to see if I was interest-
ed. Instead, I reached out and
crooked my arm through my
roommate’s elbow, pulling her
into our conversation.
Two years later, I was the maid
of honor in their wedding.
Publishing is like dating in
that way. If I can see that a man-
uscript is saying and doing all
the right things, but I don’t feel
that oh-so-necessary spark, why
wouldn’t I pass it along to some-
one who might feel it? My taste
is not the only taste allowed in
publishing. (What? I know, it’s
like someone else wrote that.)
I have oftentimes pointed out that
one woman’s bestseller is another
woman’s kindling. Subjectivity
plays such a huge role in what
an individual agent is signing,
it only helps publishing to pass
along material that deserves a
place at the table.
There are other reasons I might
escort you along in-house (or to
another agent) as well, including:
I HAVE SOMETHING SIMILAR ON MY
LIST ALREADY. For example, if you
sent me a young adult piece redo-
lent of Mulan, I would feel that I
already have the strongest interpre-
tation of that via my author Renee
Ahdieh’s Flame in the Mist. But
since I know agent Victoria Marini
crushes it in YA fantasy, I would
send you her way.
I CAN’T HANG WITH THE SUBJECT
MATTER. When Rebecca Drake
queried me with Only Ever You, I
could tell she was a spectacular
suspense writer … but there are
certain subjects that make me hide
under my desk and rock back and
forth moaning in terror, so I passed
her along to agent Rachel Ekstrom,
who signed her and sold the novel
to St. Martin’s.
THE SUBGENRE MIGHT BE ONE I REP-
RESENT, BUT I CURRENTLY HAVE TOO
MUCH OF IT ON MY LIST, AND AM
FEELING FATIGUED. Even a pastry
chef has to put down the donut
sometimes. I think Irene Goodman
and I have the lowest occurrence of
referring each other materials, but
the highest rate of signing those
referred materials. We represent sim-
ilar genres—and we just get the other
person and their taste so often.
Regardless, I connect authors
with other agents because I want
authors to succeed, even if the
nickels don’t land in my own bank
account. You and your book des-
erve someone who is a fierce and
tireless advocate for your work, not
someone who is out for a money
grab. So a referral from me isn’t
done lightly, nor is it done without
conscious thought.
Oh, and that couple from the
party? Still married 17 years later.
#PoelleReferralForTheWin
Dear FYSA,
If a publisher makes an offer
to me directly before I’m
agented, how big does it have to be to
interest you?
Signed,
Offer-In-Hand
PHOTO © TRAVIS POELLE

ASK FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK! Submit your own questions on the writing life, publishing or anything in between to writers.digest@
fwmedia.com with “Funny You Should Ask” in the subject line. Select questions (which may be edited for space or clarity) will be
answered in future columns, and may appear on WritersDigest.com and in other WD publications.

50 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

 love the book, because either way

Subjectivity plays such a huge

I am going to do whatever I can
to make sure that it is indeed the
role in what an individual agent is best offer we can shake out—
for the book and for your career.
signing, it only helps publishing to There might be further editorial
work needed to take it to the next
pass along material that deserves level, or there may be an editor at
a place at the table. another house that I know would
love this book and be willing
to throw some serious effort at
acquiring and building your career
under her imprint instead. Either
Dear In-Hand, truly interest me, it has to depend way, the main factor is that I have
If you are going to call or email on three factors: to read and connect with the mate-
me to loop me in on an offer, you 1. Do I love the book? rial. Then you put the offer in my
will want to tell me the publishing 2. Do I love the book? hand, baton-style, and let me run
imprint, the editor and the details 3. Do I love the book? with it. WD
of the offer. (Help yourself out by Okay, fine, it kind of depends on
Barbara Poelle is vice president at Irene
making sure that the publishing the offering house and what terms Goodman Literary Agency (irenegoodman.
house is reputable, even if an indie are on the table, but it won’t matter com), where she specializes in adult and
imprint.) But really, in order to if it is $1,500 or $1.5 million if I young adult fiction.

VA N Q U I S H Your
WRITING DOUBTS
& O B S TA C L E S

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you unlock your potential—guiding you to
overcome every hesitation, obstacle, form of
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own writing life. Discover your path toward
more fruitful writing in this new release.

Available at WritersDigestShop.com, Amazon,

Barnes & Noble and other fine book retailers.

WritersDigest.com I 51
YOURSTORY
Familiar Words
THE CHALLENGE: Write a short story of 700 words or fewer based on the photo prompt below.
Out of more than 180 entries, Writer’s Digest editors and forum members chose this
winner, submitted by Valerie Testa Almquist of West Caldwell, N.J.
O
n Wednesday afternoon,
a handsome, wealthy
attorney renowned
for handling affluent
clients came into the restaurant. At
least that’s how Lawrence described
himself to me in his intro. He was
dressed in a sharp navy suit, white
shirt and silk tie. He asked, “How
long have you been waiting tables?”
Jokingly, I replied, “I’m new, so for-
give me if your meal lands on your lap.”
He replied, quite sternly, “Don’t
make excuses for your mistakes.” I
thought he was joking, but his face
lacked even the hint of a smile. In
the same tone, he said, “Come to
dinner with me Saturday night.”
I ignored his invitation, which
seemed more like a demand, and
asked, “How long have you been
an attorney?”
“As long as I’ve wanted.”
Confused and curious, I prodded:
“What kind of answer is that?”
“The only one you’re going to get.”
Lawrence placed his order: filet
mignon, green beans instead of
broccoli. Staring at me straight-
faced, he added, “I’ll have bottled
water. Tap is for the waitstaff.”
As soon as I brought his food
to the table, he took his fork and
inspected the filet. “Saturday night
I’ll take you to a restaurant that
makes this one look like fast food.”
“I enjoy fast food; it’s unpreten-
tious,” I responded. “Besides, I
52 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
haven’t agreed to any date.”
After he asked for the bill, I care-
fully removed his glass, plate and
utensils, trying not to drop anything
on him or the floor. As I cleared the
table, he asked, “So, are we on for
this weekend?”
Something about him was
intriguing. So as not to appear too
eager, I replied with a tentative, “I
guess so.”
Phone in hand, he asked, “What’s
your name and number? I’ll call for
your address.”
I took out my phone and said,
“First, you tell me yours.”
He paid with cash, and instead
of a tip, left a note stating he would
make it up to me on Saturday night.
He waited until Saturday morn-
ing before calling to ask for my
address. I told him to park in the
upper tier of the parking garage
next to my apartment building.
“Why can’t I just pick you up at your
apartment?” he asked.
“I don’t know you well enough for
that. Is that a problem?”
“No, but it’s weird.”
“Not to me.”
“OK, I’ll meet you there. Do you
have any nice clothes to wear?”
“Lawrence, you better shape up
before tonight, or this date isn’t going
to take off. I look good in anything.”
“OK, OK, calm down.”
I arrived early, and the adrenaline
was rushing through my veins as I
CONTEST #85
waited for Lawrence in the parking
garage. The minutes passed slowly
until I heard the sound of a car
engine approaching from below.
Lawrence had arrived in a black
stretch limousine.
Waiting for Lawrence were three
FBI agents—colleagues of mine—
with cameras. Lawrence wasn’t an
attorney; he was an unemployed
jewelry store employee who stole
hundreds of thousands of dollars in
merchandise. His ex-fiancée went
to the police after he broke off their
engagement. But her story hadn’t
been enough; we needed evidence.
I ran the prints from Lawrence’s
glass and utensils—they matched
perfectly with the ones found in the
store’s safe. In the trunk of the limo,
Lawrence had suitcases packed for
a getaway. Hidden inside one was a
small sack of jewels: rubies, diamonds,
pearls, sapphires and emeralds.
As I walked towards the limo, I
heard Lawrence pleading, “Please, I
needed the money to pay bills!”
I yelled back, “Don’t make
excuses for your mistakes!”
 ENTERYOURSTORY

WRITE A SHORT STORY of 650 words or fewer based on the prompt below. You can be poignant, funny, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story.

TO ENTER: Send your story via the online

submission form at writersdigest.com/

89
CONTEST #89
your-story-competition or via email to
yourstorycontest@fwmedia.com (entries
must be pasted directly into the body of
the email; attachments will not be opened).

NOTE: WD editors select the top five

entries and post them on our website
IMAGE © GETTY IMAGES: CHRISTOPHER BELLAMY

(writersdigest.com/your-story-competition).
Join us online in April when readers will
vote to help rank the winners!

The winner will be published in a future issue of Writer’s Digest.

DON’T FORGET: Your name and mailing address. One entry per person.
DEADLINE: April 10, 2018.

GET

DIGITALLY!

WritersDigest.com I 53
 Become a VIP
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 WRI TER’ S
EXERCISES AND TIPS FOR HONING SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF YOUR WRITING
w
PERFECTING YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH
B Y M ATT BI R D
H ow do you boil down your big, beautiful screenplay
to just a few lines? It sounds impossible. In fact, it
sounds insulting! Your story is vast. It contains multi-
tudes! But say you only have 20 seconds to pitch it to
someone. Can you do it? Of course you can. Because every
great story grows from the kernel of one simple idea—the
essential distillation of your plot in its purest form.
To sell that big idea, you need to prepare an elevator
pitch. But don’t just write a one-sentence summary and
assume it’s good enough to rattle off. Before you approach
that producer, consider the following questions:
1. IS YOUR LOGLINE UNIQUELY APPEALING?
The one-sentence version of your story that encapsulates
its distinctly original central idea is called a “logline.” It
will get your foot in the door with agents, managers, pub-
lishers, producers and a host of other gatekeepers.
Here is the standard formula for a successful logline:
A [insert adjective indicating longstanding social problem]
[insert profession or social role] must [insert goal, some-
times including the ticking clock and stakes].
It can convey the unique qualities of many different types
of stories, as seen in the following examples.
• CASABLANCA: An amoral American nightclub owner
must decide between joining the fight against the
Nazis or pursuing his true love.
• IRON MAN: An arrogant arms dealer builds a high-
tech suit of armor to free himself from a warlord,
then uses it to carry out vigilante justice to atone for
his former misdeeds.
• BELOVED: A guilt-wracked ex-slave must confront the
•
vengeful ghost of the daughter she killed.
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: An underestimated FBI
rookie must work with a devious, imprisoned serial
killer to rescue a senator’s daughter.
• GROUNDHOG DAY: A selfish weatherman must repeat
the same day over and over until he achieves per-
sonal growth.
But wait—here are two more examples that don’t exactly
fit the model:
• AN EDUCATION: A clever-but-bored schoolgirl in pre-
Beatles London puts her Oxford dreams on hold when
she meets a devilishly charming older man.
• SIDEWAYS: Two miserable middle-age men romanti-
cally pursue a couple of divorcées during a weeklong
trip to wine country.
Crucially, there’s no “must” in the last two examples,
which inherently makes them a harder sell. Both movies
are wonderfully entertaining, but it’s hard to know that
from the logline. Because there’s no “must,” we fear that
the stories will lack stakes and motivation. Because the
hero is not being literally compelled to enter the world of
the story, we fear that we will not be compelled to, either.
You’re likely to invest time in the first five stories simply
based on those intriguing lines. You’re more likely to check
out the last two only if you’ve read good reviews, or if
you’ve heard positive things about the author of the novel
or the director of the movie. As it happened, both movies
were very well received by critics and so audiences sought
them out, and discovered they were, indeed, compelling.
WritersDigest.com I 55
WRITER’S WORKBOOK
Thus we learn that every great story doesn’t need a
uniquely appealing logline, but it definitely helps—both in
selling your work to a buyer and eventually to an audience.
Publishers and producers hate to say to the public, “I
know it doesn’t sound interesting, but trust us—it’s really
well written.” In order for them to market your work, they
prefer to start with a unique, appealing concept.
A sharp logline also focuses your mind as a writer:
You’re not feeling your way through the shapeless blob of
a half-formed idea; you’re beginning with an innovative,
clever concept that automatically excites both your readers
and yourself. That’s a great creative launchpad.
In honing your story ideas, you’ll come across the term
high concept a lot, without explanation. This term has
changed in meaning over the years. It used to refer to big,
complicated, highly conceptual ideas like 2001: A Space
Odyssey, but now it refers to the opposite: a concept that
is uniquely simple and makes everybody say, “Oooh, that
sounds fun!” High-concept ideas are easy to market. If the
concept is instantly and uniquely appealing, it’s an easy sell.
The film Limitless (and the novel it’s based on, The Dark
Fields) is high concept because you instantly understand
the appeal of the premise: What if a pill could make you
rich and powerful? But it also applies to movies without
any science-fiction elements, like The Hangover: Three
groomsmen can’t remember their wild bachelor party—or
find the missing groom. For that matter, Wedding Crashers
is the ultimate high-concept story because you understood
the unique appeal as soon as you heard the title, no poster
or tagline necessary.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that every story has to
be high concept to work. Let’s look at a movie that has an
unappealing, low-concept logline (even though it does
have a “must” in it). Here’s the one-line summary of The
King’s Speech: “A nervous figurehead must work with a
radical speech therapist to overcome his stutter and give
an inspiring speech as World War II begins.”
The financiers of that movie took a huge risk: Instead of
starting with an asset (an appealing logline), they started
with a huge liability (an unappealing logline). Every step of
the way, they had to explain to potential directors, actors
and distributors, “We know it doesn’t sound very inter-
esting, but if we do a good job we can make it interesting.”
That took a lot of persuasion on the part of the producers.
But somehow, in the end, they did it. They convinced
enough people at every step to take a chance on it, and
56 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
shepherded it all the way to box-office success and a Best
Picture win at the Academy Awards. And guess what? The
final product was a much better movie than any of the
other three I just listed. It can be done.
But if you want to give yourself a big boost, both in
terms of selling your script and in terms of writing it, a
uniquely appealing logline works wonders.
2. DOES THE CONCEPT CONTAIN AN
INTRIGUING, IRONIC CONTRADICTION?
The unique aspect of a story often stems from a surprising
contradiction. In your elevator pitch, you can convey two
types of irony: ironic concept and ironic title. Let’s look at
the ironies contained in those same example stories:
• CASABLANCA: The least patriotic American has to
save the Allied cause.
• IRON MAN: An arms dealer is attacked with his own
weapons and then declares war on arms dealing.
• BELOVED: A mother kills her daughter to ensure
her freedom.
• THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: The only way to catch
one serial killer is to work with another serial killer.
• GROUNDHOG DAY: A man who wants to get his least
favorite day over with has to live it again and again.
• AN EDUCATION: A girl rejects the idea of formally get-
ting “an education,” but is educated through more
worldly means in the process.
• SIDEWAYS: A man helps his friend celebrate his
upcoming wedding by playing wingman for him as
he pursues other women.
This rule is nearly universal, so it’s instructive to look
at an example sapped of its potential by having neither
an ironic concept nor an ironic title. In 2007, Denzel
Washington directed and starred in The Great Debaters, a
fictionalized story based on real events about a debate team
at an allblack college that challenges the Harvard team in
the 1930s. The team gets assigned to defend the proposi-
tion that civil disobedience is good. They make a success-
ful argument and win—which is a good outcome, because
otherwise what would the overall moral be?
This movie commits the cardinal sin of many well-
meaning period pieces: It irons out the irony.
There is a lot of potential irony inherent in the premise,
if the makers of the film had been willing to fictionalize
it a little bit more. Here’s why college debate teams are
 w

interesting: You don’t get to choose which side you argue—

it is randomly assigned. So what if the black team had

been assigned the anti-civil rights side of the argument?
The team would balk, but then, after a few stern
speeches from Washington, they would realize this was
their big opportunity. They would have to create devastat-
ing anti-integration arguments, but the more successfully
they proved inequality in theory, the more their eloquence
would prove they were equal in reality!
The whole movie would then come alive because
either side could win. Instead, with the produced version,
we know the whole time that there’s only one way to end
it to avoid an anti-integration message.
Of course, another problem is that The Great Debaters is
a terrible title. It has no irony. A good story needs conflict,
and why not start with the title, which is your first oppor-
tunity to set two incongruous elements against each other?
Just glancing down the list of underrated movies I’ve
recommended on my blog over the years, I see that these
titles are inherently intriguing: Blast of Silence, Dark Days,
Killer’s Kiss, The Little Fugitive, Little Murders, My Favorite
Wife, Safety Last, Unfaithfully Yours and The White Sheik.
The Court Jester, on the other hand, is a great movie,
but it has an inherently weak title because where else
would a jester be? Shoot to Kill could be the title of any
thriller ever made. And Fritz Lang rightly complained
when the studio changed the name of his movie from
the ironic The Human Beast to Human Desire. Lang
demanded to know, “What other kind of desire is there?”
An ironic concept gives your story strength, and an
ironic title is a nice bonus.
3. IS THIS A STORY ANYONE CAN IDENTIFY
WITH, PROJECTED ONTO A BIGGER CANVAS,
WITH HIGHER STAKES?
Step back from the pitch itself. A misconception in the
world of writing is that you want to pitch the most interest-
ing story you can dream up. In fact, you want to pitch the
most interesting story you can personally identify with.
To keep your pitch from feeling hollow, you must
write what you know. It’s a cliché, sure, but “write what
you know” really means you should write the emotions
you know—but putting those emotions into a more
extreme situation with significantly higher stakes.
This is what it means to dramatize. In real life, nobody
wants to suffer through excessive drama, but when it
EXERCISE: ator 
Once you’ve composed your own logline, test its
marketability by asking yourself the questions below.
• Is your logline uniquely appealing in such a way
that it cuts to the heart of your story and compels
your audience to learn more?
• Does the concept contain an alluring
ironic contradiction?
• Is this a story any viewer can relate to, especially
when translated into a more fleshed-out visual
world with heightened stakes?
comes to a story, that’s exactly what you want. The same
types of things that happen to you are happening to your
characters (the same universal emotions, the same
universal dilemmas), but in the fictional version, the
highs are higher, the lows are lower and the potential
consequences are far more life-shattering.
You totally identify with the hero’s situation and emo-
tions, but you get to vicariously experience the thrill of a
much bigger transgression than you would ever actually
commit, followed by the pain of the big consequences
you’ll never have to suffer, followed by the gratification
of a big transformation that is always out of your reach.
And if, along the way, you get to inhabit a glamorous (or
fascinatingly gruesome) world you would never otherwise
get to visit, all the better.
Of course, masterful storytellers can successfully
break this rule. TV shows like The Office and Parks and
Recreation excelled at creating low-stakes, unglamor-
ous worlds in which small interactions and minor com-
plaints became just as compelling as an alien invasion,
no doubt boosted by the dexterous use of humor. Once
again, those shows chose to run uphill, but they prove
that it can be done.
Everything is execution dependent, and concept only
gets you so far. But it’ll be a lot easier to sell your great
idea if it’s instantly appealing. Your audience has plenty
of stories to choose from already. What concept will win
them over despite their apathy? Develop a solid pitch to
draw people in long enough to introduce them to your
wonderful characters.
Excerpted from The Secrets of Story © 2016 by Matt Bird
with permission from Writer’s Digest Books.
WritersDigest.com I 57
 SHAVING YOUR SCENES
TO THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
B Y J E A N NE BO W E R M A N
H ere’s a situation that many screenwriters will find
familiar: Your trusted script consultant, fresh off
reading your most recent screenplay, sends you an email.
You open the message with hope and excitement, only to
read, “Script is great … but cut 25 pages.”
Slashing 25 words is one thing, but cutting 25 pages?
How can you get rid of 25 precious pages—scenes that fur-
ther your plot and develop your characters—just like that?
It’s painful, but you know it’s necessary to make your story
more polished and straightforward. When it’s done, your
script will be free of the excess fat that’s dragging it down.
But deciding what exactly to leave on the cutting
room floor can be onerous. Follow these steps to make
major cuts easier during the later stages of editing:
1. CHECK YOUR SCENES.
Each scene has to be meaningful and serve more than one
purpose. If a scene only provides character depth, it’s not
developed enough and thus not essential to the overall story.
Take each scene, one at a time, and ask yourself:
• Does this advance the story?
• Does this add exposition?
• Does this create a new conflict?
If the answer isn’t “yes” to at least two of those three
questions, delete that darling. If there’s an important
piece of exposition you can’t afford to lose, find a way to
add it to a different scene.
2. LOSE YOUR TRANSITIONS.
Starting amid action or adding abrupt stops can add ten-
sion and movement. Does the scene leave the audience
hanging, needing to know more? It should.
3. GET THINGS MOVING.
Less is more. Challenge each scene to serve its purpose
in fewer words. Strike those adverbs and adjectives and
get to the point, fast. Only write what the audience can
see on-screen. Think cinematically.
4. TALK THE TALK.
Read every piece of dialogue out loud. Most people write
rambling dialogue in early drafts. Make it sound natural,
which may mean keeping it concise. 
5. DIVIDE AND CONQUER.
Read every individual line as a stand-alone to determine
58 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
if it is imperative to either the subplot or the main plot
present in the scene. With a 120-page limit for a screen-
play (some even say 110 is the sweet spot), there’s no
room for fluff. Follow script consultant Marcus Leary’s
advice that screenwriters use the old 140-character
“Twitter Rule” for action and dialogue.
6. GO BACKWARDS.
Screenwriter Holly Nault Pillar recommends reading the
script backwards, one line at a time. You’ll avoid the dis-
tracting pull of the story and be able to focus only on the
words. Seeing each line plucked from its context can make
clear what is crucial and what is just fat.
7. MAKE IT A SILENT FILM.
Remove every single piece of dialogue, then read the action
as if it were a silent movie. This will force you to avoid bor-
ing the audience with exposition conveyed via dialogue.
See what you can remove from speech and replace with
action. Add back only the dialogue the script needs.
8. GRAB A THESAURUS. 
This is the time to change “runs quickly” to “dashes.”
9. BE QUOTABLE.
We’ve all heard Rhett Butler’s “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give
a damn” more times than Scarlett got married. You need
to create that type of iconic line in your own film. At the
height of a moving scene, take out the explanations, the
arguments, the back and forth. Can you replace several
lines with one cutting comment or mic-drop moment?
11. MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION.
The opening lines of your screenplay introduce you as a
professional. That first page should show your voice, talent
and ability to grab a reader. Find the first moment in your
script that truly captures your audience’s attention. If it
isn’t on the first page, why not? See if you can delete any
setup occurring before your hook.
Above all, and before anything else, the first step is to
walk away from your work in progress. You’ll be amazed
at the flaws you find when you come back to the table a
week later.
Jeanne Bowerman (jeannevb.com) is the editor of Script. An
award-winning screenwriter, she adapted the Pultizer Prize–winning
book Slavery by Another Name.
 LEARNING FROM
THE FLAWED TITANIC SCREENPLAY
B Y R O B TO BI N
M any people, including filmmakers, think of screen-
writing as an art, like sculpture or painting.
The truth, however, is that screenwriting is more like
architecture than it is any other medium. Architecture
combines science and art. It deals with rigid structures
and flowing lines, beauty and serviceability, style and
structure. This is exactly what a well-written screenplay
does. If it doesn’t combine these aspects, it is likely a
failed screenplay.
There are a lot of lousy scripts that get made into mov-
ies. Some of these lousy movies do very well, sometimes
even extraordinarily well, at the box office. The 1997 film
Titanic made more than $2 billion worldwide and won 11
Oscars, yet the screenplay itself is so weak that it wasn’t
even nominated. So, here’s a useful exercise—let’s fix it.
A TITANIC UNDERTAKING
I can hear you now: “Is he nuts? He wants to fix one
of the most successful scripts ever written?” Yes, I say.
Because it desperately needs fixing.
Now you may not believe me, and that’s OK. But
after the euphoria of Titanic faded away, more and more
movie industry experts came forward and admitted that
the “greatest movie of all time” was actually not that
great in retrospect.
Time magazine has an extremely well-respected “top
100 films of all time” list. No Titanic to be seen.
The International Movie Data Base (imdb.com) is an
invaluable site for writers, and it lists its top 250 movies.
No Titanic there, either.
The American Film Institute has a top 100 films list
that is perhaps the most respected in the country. You
guessed it: Titanic doesn’t show up until No. 83.
This is not to slam James Cameron, a veteran and
extremely successful writer/director and, by his own
words, “king of the world.” It is rather to point out that
even Titanic, the second most financially successful film
of all time, can stand some fixing.
There are three main story elements in a high-concept
script like that of Titanic:
1. THE HERO: The hero is the person whose personal
story forms the core of the screenplay, set against a larger
background. Who is the hero of Titanic? It’s actually
unclear; it’s either Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jack, or
Kate Winslet’s character, Rose. This makes it difficult to
figure out the flaw, but let’s say for the sake of argument
that the hero is Rose.
2. THE CHARACTER FLAW: All stories are essentially about
a hero who has to overcome her flaw in order to accom-
plish some worthwhile goal. Thus the hero—and the
audience—feels an innate conflict in having to choose
between the flaw that she feels is necessary for her sur-
vival and the worthwhile goal.
Rose’s flaw? Well, here we have another problem,
because she is loaded with flaws. She is spoiled, moody,
immature and whiny, and she allows her mother to
talk her into marrying a man for money rather than
love. However, from the very beginning, Rose defies her
mother, making it clear that she doesn’t want to marry
the rich man. She does everything she can to sabotage
the marriage, yet lacks the maturity or consideration to
be honest with her fiancé. She sneaks around behind his
back, embarrassing him rather than having the courage
to tell him the truth.
Why does having more than one major flaw pose a
problem? Because in a well-written screenplay, the hero’s
flaw forms the basis for the story. How the hero corrects
that flaw or falls fatal victim to it is the story. It takes an
entire screenplay to tell it. So, what happens when you
have several major flaws, as does Rose? You either do not
adequately address or resolve all of them, or you have a
10-hour movie in which you try to deal with all the story-
lines created by them.
3. THE LIFE-CHANGING EVENT: Let’s go on to the third
major element of high concept screenplays: the life-
changing event that forces the hero to choose between
her flaw and an opportunity. The life-changing event
usually occurs at the end of Act 1, forcing the hero to
choose between her flaw and an opportunity presented
by the event.
There are, however, only two major events in the film: 1)
Rose falls in love with Jack and 2) the ship hits an iceberg.
The sinking of the ship doesn’t happen until far too
late in the film to be an effective life-changing event.
WritersDigest.com I 59
WRITER’S WORKBOOK
Also, because it’s unclear what her flaw is, it’s difficult
to know how either the sinking of the ship or falling
in love with Jack can force Rose to choose between her
flaw and some opportunity. It’s also unclear what that
opportunity is.
So, how do we go about fixing these inherent issues?
REWRITING TITANIC
A standard screenplay has seven basic story elements:
1. The Hero
2. The Hero’s Character Flaw
3. Enabling Circumstances
4. The Opponent
5. The Hero’s Ally
6. The Life-Changing Event
7. A Sense of Jeopardy
While the high-concept element of this script—a young
couple falls in love on the maiden voyage of the Titanic—
is strong, several of the major story elements are unclear.
So let’s start from the beginning and rewrite the story by
strengthening those elements.
The Hero, Her Flaw and the Enabling Circumstances
We’ve already made Rose the hero. Her flaw? Let’s make it
that she’s given up on finding her one true love in order to
marry for money. Let’s make it her decision to marry for
money (rather than her mother’s). We’ll be clear that it’s
her flaw, not her mother’s. Instead of trying to sabotage
her engagement to her fiancé, she does everything she
can to convert it into an actual wedding so that she can be
the rich lady of the house rather than the impoverished
spouse of an Irish potato farmer. These are the enabling
circumstances that allow her to maintain her flaw.
The Opponent, The Hero’s Ally and a Sense of Jeopardy
The opponent is someone who stands in the way of the
hero getting what she wants, while the hero’s ally is the
person who helps the hero overcome her flaw.
Who’s the opponent of Rose? It could be the fiancé, I
suppose. Alternatively, we could write a story in which
the opponent and the hero’s ally are the same person—
which often happens in love stories, such as When Harry
Met Sally.
So let’s make Jack both the opponent and the hero’s ally.
He opposes the hero’s desire to sell herself to her rich
fiancé. He is also the one person best suited to helping
60 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
her overcome her flaw, which is greed, born of despera-
tion and poverty.
Now, another problem with Titanic is that the
romance between the two callow youths happens far
too quickly to be believable, especially given their lack
of maturity and experience. Let’s fix that too. Let’s say
that Rose is a tad bit older, perhaps mid-to-late 20s.
She’s engaged to a wealthy American. They board the
Titanic, the rich fiancé intending to bring her home to an
American wedding.
As they board the ship, Rose sees the lower-class pas-
sengers, many of them Irish, being herded aboard like
cattle, and she feels upset and guilty. Then she sees him:
a man her own age, a tall, ruggedly handsome Irishman.
It’s the lover she had abandoned for her rich fiancé—who
has decided to follow her in a last-ditch attempt to get
her back. He is the man she truly loves—with her heart,
rather than with her purse. Now the stage is set. The pas-
sion between Rose and her lover already exists, and we
don’t have to worry about the glaring fact that a few days
aboard the ship isn’t enough time to develop a believable
romance of any depth, especially not a life-or-death love.
So the conflict is between Rose’s passion and her greed.
The other conflict is also already established: In our
new Titanic, Rose isn’t from a family that has fallen on
hard times, but rather from a lower class family like that
of her lover’s.
Now we have a sense of jeopardy; our hero has some-
thing to lose. She has consciously chosen to abandon her
class and the people in it, including her lover. However,
here comes the lover, representing not only the love
she’s abandoned, but also the people, country and
economic and social class she’s rejected in favor of
wealth gotten under the pretense that she loves the man
offering that wealth.
The Life-Changing Event
Now our high-concept element, the Titanic itself, actu-
ally has relevance. You see, in the current Titanic script,
the ship has nothing to do with anything. As previously
noted, the sinking takes place far too late to be an effec-
tive life-changing event. Neither of the main characters
has anything to do with the ship, nor does the hero’s flaw.
However, if the hero’s flaw is clearly greed, which has led
her to abandon her own people, and she boards a ship
that is the ultimate symbol of 20th-century greed in the
face of worldwide poverty, then there is a very strong

connection between her flaw, the ship and her lover. The
ship becomes a symbol.
What is the new life-changing event? The event is dis-
y p
y
covering that her lover is aboard the ship. Why? Because
this event will force her to choose between her greed
and the opportunity of being with the man she really
loves. And the background is now quite powerful: She
has thrown her lot in with the rich and powerful and sits
on the top decks of the most luxurious ship in the world,
while the poor passengers, including her own lover, hud-
dle miserably below decks.
This is a contrast and conflict Cameron has already
created, and it’s a damned good one. The problem is that
Rose makes her choice too early and too easily, jetting
down below decks to dance and party with Jack and the
poor people in steerage.
In our screenplay, the choice is never easy. She fights
to retain her flaw because she believes her life depends on
that flaw. She believes that marrying a rich American will
save her life, or at least save her from a life of hardship on
the rocky, moss-covered farms of the Emerald Isle. Every
minute of the movie becomes Rose’s conscious choice to
abandon her lover, her people, her country and her heart.
Every minute that Rose sees her lover among the
cattle-like lower-class passengers, while she wears beauti-
ful clothes and hobnobs with beautiful people, becomes
an indictment and a challenge to her. Seeing her lover
among the disadvantaged and poorly treated passengers
forces Rose to choose repeatedly between the luxury
symbolized by the Titanic’s first class, and the opportu-
nity of being below decks with the man she loves.
Now that Rose’s object of affection is someone she’s
already felt deeply for, it’s more believable that she would
be this much in love. It is also more believable that she
would feel torn between her lover and the chance of
being a millionaire’s wife. I mean, let’s face it, why the
heck would Rose choose a punky, dirt-poor kid whose
main accomplishment is spitting, rather than the rich,
good-looking social superstar Cal, played by Billy Zane?
In our new version, when Rose finally chooses, it’s
between a deep love and a deep greed, rather than
between a life of luxury and a life with an uncultured
street urchin. In our version, the struggle is also between
Rose’s past and future, her people and her own selfish
desires, the abandonment of her culture, her country, her
family and her true love.
w
EXERCISE: S
Use the prompts below to analyze and learn from
established movies.
1. See It Their Way
Pick a film whose screenplay has won awards or that
critics generally agree is “good.”
• Identify the seven basic story elements.
• How do these elements relate to each other?
• Are there any elements that are weaker than
the others?
2. Write It Your Way
Pick a film that you love, but that critics generally
agree is “bad.”
• Identify the seven basic story elements.
• Are any of the elements ambiguous?
• How can you rewrite the story to strengthen the
story elements?
Compare the following loglines:
An ambitious young Irishwoman who abandoned her
one true love, as well as her family, country and heritage
to marry for money boards a luxury liner with her rich
fiancé, headed for an American wedding, only to dis-
cover that her lover has followed her aboard the Titanic.
A callow young woman who is engaged to a handsome,
wealthy man she does not love takes up with a young
street urchin who teaches her to spit and have sex in the
back seat of a car on the maiden voyage of the Titanic.
Our version has tension, and the story elements
depend upon each other. In the produced version, the
elements are disjointed.
When developing your story, consider: What’s the
life-changing event? What’s the hero’s flaw? Who is
the hero? How do these and the other story elements
relate to each other, cause each other, arise from each
other, magnify each other? Make these elements work
together to ensure your screenplay isn’t passed over by
the Academy. WD
Excerpted from The Screenwriting Formula © 2007 by Rob Tobin
with permission from Writer’s Digest Books.
WritersDigest.com I 61
STANDOUTMARKETS
An exclusive look inside the markets that can help you make your mark. BY BAIHLEY GENTRY AND TYLER MOSS

FOR YOUR SHORT FICTION, ESSAYS AND POETRY:

WHAT STANDS
OUT & WHY:
Billing itself as a
“journal of unpopular discontent,” Contrary provides a
venue for writers with a talent for innovative, original
storytelling. Complete with a sizable circulation, the
publication has featured work from such notable names
as Sherman Alexie, Andrew Coburn, Amy Reed and
Stephanie Johnson—but doesn’t hesitate to acquire
writing from fresh voices that capture the magazine’s
mission. —TM
Contrary Magazine
ABOUT: Contrary publishes fiction, poetry and literary com-
mentary, and prefers work that combines the virtues of all
those categories. “We like work that is not only contrary in
content but contrary in its evasion of the expectations estab-
lished by its genre. Our fiction defies traditional story form.”
FOUNDED: 2003. CIRCULATION: 38,000. PUBLISHES :
Quarterly. READING PERIOD: Year-round. PAYMENT:
“Contrary Magazine pays $20 per author per issue,
regardless of the number of works or nature of the sub-
mission.” LENGTH: Prefers 1,500 words or fewer for fiction
and nonfiction; maximum three poems. HOW TO SUBMIT:
Send in completed work via the online submission
form at contrarymagazine.com. DETAILED GUIDELINES:
contrarymagazine.com/submissions-2.

FOR YOUR BOOKS:

WHAT STANDS OUT
& WHY: A long-
standing publisher with
decades of New York Times
bestsellers under its belt,
Chronicle’s books run the
Chronicle Books
ABOUT: “Chronicle Books is an independent publisher based
in San Francisco that has been making things since the
Summer of Love. We are inspired by the enduring magic of
books and by sparking the passions of others.”
FOUNDED: 1967. PUBLISHES: 300 titles per year. ADVANCE:

gamut in terms of category Varies. ROYALTIES: Varies based on retail price. EDITORIAL
and format. Highlights include Me Without You by Lisa INTERESTS: Specializes in “innovative books for adults and

Swerling and Ralph Lazar, the Worst Case Scenario series
by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht, and the Ivy and
Bean series by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall. Say
the editors: “We’re always looking for the new and
unusual.” —TM
children. Our adult titles include bestselling cookbooks;
craft books; fine art; design; photography and architecture;
lifestyle and pop culture; humor; literature; travel; games;
and gift and stationery items. Our children’s titles include
activity books; art books; board books; picture books;
chapter books; young adult; games; and gift and statio-
nery items.” RESPONSE TIME: If interested, will respond
in 3–6 months. HOW TO SUBMIT: Mail submissions to
Chronicle Books, Submissions Editor, 680 Second St.,
San Francisco, CA 94107, or email submissions@
chroniclebooks.com. DETAILED GUIDELINES:
chroniclebooks.com/submissions.

62 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

FOR YOUR FREELANCE WRITING:
Bon Appétit
ABOUT: “Bon Appétit is where food and culture meet. The
award-winning No. 1 food lifestyle brand covers food
through the lens of cooking, fashion, travel, technology,
design and home.”
FOUNDED: 1956. PUBLISHES: Monthly. CIRCULATION: 1.5
million. LENGTH: 150–2,000 words. PAYMENT: Varies;
around 50 cents/word. EDITORIAL INTERESTS: “Writers
must have a good knowledge of food, travel and enter-
taining. A light, lively style is a plus.” HOW TO SUBMIT:
Send queries with résumé and published clips via snail
mail, including a #10 SASE, to Bon Appétit, Condé Nast
Publications Inc., One World Trade Center, New York
NY, 10007.
FOR YOUR WEB-FRIENDLY WRITING:
JSTOR Daily
ABOUT: “Drawing on the richness of JSTOR’s digital library
of more than 2,000 academic journals, JSTOR Daily proudly
publishes articles that are thought-provoking, reader-friendly,
unique and—most importantly—backed by academic integrity
and peer review. Our stories provide background—historical,
scientific, literary, political and otherwise—for understanding
today’s often-confusing world.”
FOUNDED: 2014. TRAFFIC: 138,000 average monthly visi-
tors. LENGTH: Features (1,500–2,000 words) are in greatest
demand, but blog posts (400–500 words) are also sought.
PAYMENT: $50–500. INTERESTS: “We are interested in
timely, engaging and reported stories on scholarly topics,
including interviews with researchers doing cutting-edge
work in their fields. Subjects that are newsworthy, enter-
taining, quirky, surprising and enlightening are right up
our alley.” HOW TO SUBMIT: Your pitch should include
a detailed description of the subject you’d like to write
about, links to your clips or CV, a news peg and a pre-
view of the academic sources from JSTOR you’d like to
reference. Please include the word “submission” in the
subject line of your email to jstordaily_submissions@
jstor.org. DETAILED GUIDELINES: daily.jstor.org/
submission-guidelines/.
WHAT STANDS OUT & WHY:
Arguably one of the top culi-
nary magazines in the country, Bon
Appétit has been turning heads for
A
more than 60 years with its up-to-
the-minute recipes, trendy culinary how-tos and delectable
food photography even non-foodies can’t resist. That’s
no less diminished in recent years, either—since 2012, it’s
garnered 23 nominations for National Magazine Awards,
winning three times, and earning Hottest Food Magazine
and Magazine of the Year from Adweek and Advertising
Age’s A-List, respectively. With 50 percent of their content
provided by freelancers, there’s opportunity for new voices,
and with an audience more than 1 million strong, this is
one outlet your byline bank will love. —BG
WHAT STANDS
OUT & WHY: At
a time when verifiably
reputable sources are in unmistakable demand, JSTOR
Daily delivers hard-hitting content on wide-ranging modern
topics, from the advent of coffee-powered buses to the his-
tory of net neutrality to the connection between technology
and Baby Boomers—all linked back to academic or peer-
reviewed sources. As a boon to freelancers—who provide
90 percent of the site’s content—JSTOR Daily offers free
access to their massive JSTOR library for idea curation,
along with an openness to feature-length pitches for those
wanting to delve into long-form. —BG
Baihley Gentry is the associate editor of Writer’s Digest.
Tyler Moss is the editor of Writer’s Digest.
WritersDigest.com I 63
CONFERENCESCENE
Events to advance your craft, connections and career.
Mid-South
Christian Writers
Conference
Inspirational and mainstream writers
alike will find much to advance
their careers at this Deep South
get-together.
WHEN: March 16–17, 2018. WHERE:
Collierville First Baptist Church,
Collierville, Tenn. PRICE: $80
until February 24, $90 after. Pre-
conference self-publishing workshop
only, $55. See website for early-bird
discounts on weekend events. WHAT
MAKES THE CONFERENCE UNIQUE:
Its small size allows attendees ample
opportunity to network. “We strive
for inclusiveness, hoping everyone
feels welcomed and encouraged,”
Conference Director April Carpenter
says. “Though our conference isn’t
an evangelistic event, we are upfront
about our faith. We welcome both
inspirational and general market
writers who desire to honor God
with their creative gifts.” WHO IT’S
PERFECT FOR: Writers at all levels
seeking inspiration and guidance
in their quest for publication. HOW
MANY ATTEND: 100. FACULTY: Novel-
ists Brandilyn Collins (Plummet),
Hallee Bridgeman (Song of
Suspense series), Johnnie Alexander
(Where Treasure Hides) and Patricia
Bradley (Justice Buried); children’s
author Alice Faye Duncan (Honey
Baby Sugar Child); writing coach
64 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
Tracy Crump; editors Gregg
Bridgeman (Olivia Kimbrell Press),
Tamara Clymer (CrossRiver Media
Group), Kathy Cretsinger (Mantle
Rock Publishing), Gary Fearon
(Southern Writers magazine) and
Jon Woodhams (Guideposts);
agent Julie Gwinn (The Seymour
Agency); and more. HIGHLIGHTS:
Bestselling indie author Bridgeman
kicks off the conference with
Friday’s stand-alone workshop,
Seven Steps to Successful Self-
Publishing. Saturday’s activities
include two keynote addresses
from Collins and nine workshops
over three tracks. IF YOU GO: Add
to your personal library with a
visit to Burke’s Books on South
Cooper Street in nearby Memphis,
an easy half-hour drive. Established
right after the Civil War, the
143-year-old establishment sells
BY DON VAUGHAN
new, used and rare books and
hosts appearances from well-
known authors like John Grisham
and Anne Rice. FOR MORE INFO:
midsouthchristianwriters.com.
The Storymakers
Conference
Embrace the immersive spirit of
this varied conference in the heart
of the Beehive State.
WHEN: May 3–5, 2018. WHERE: Utah
MID-SOUTH CHRISTIAN WRITERS CONFERENCE © TRACY MARTIN
Valley Convention Center, Provo,
Utah. PRICE: $265. Friday only,
$145; Saturday only, $125. Thursday
pre-conference workshops, $35
each. See website for details. WHAT
MAKES THE CONFERENCE UNIQUE:
It’s driven by a sincere desire to help
new writers get their foot in the door.
“We see people sharing tables and
geeking out over shared interests,”

Conference Director Jolene Perry
says, “[Even though some in] the
group began writing for the first time
this year and [others] are bestselling
authors with film adaptation deals.”
WHO IT’S PERFECT FOR: “Writers
who want to find their people,” says
Perry. HOW MANY ATTEND: 850.
FACULTY: Novelists James Dashner
(Maze Runner series), Shannon
Hale (Princess in Black series) and
Sarah Eden (Ashes on the Moor);
agents Tracey Adams (Adams
Literary), Ben Grange (L. Perkins
Agency) and Peter Knapp (Park
Literary & Media); editor Krista
Marino (Delacorte); and many oth-
ers. HIGHLIGHTS: Attendees can
choose from 90 unique classes
covering genre specifics, craft, the
business of writing and specialized
knowledge (including classes taught
by police, doctors and other experts).
IF YOU GO: Visit the Crandall
Historical Printing Museum on East
Center Street to see working replicas
of the Gutenberg Press, English
Common Press and Acorn Hand
Press—the same type of press
that birthed the first Book of
Mormon in 1830. FOR MORE INFO:
storymakersconference.com.
North Words
Writers Symposium
Surround yourself in nature’s
beauty at this boutique conference
in Alaska’s Klondike Gold Rush
National Historic Park.
WHEN: May 30–June 2, 2018.
WHERE: Arctic Brotherhood Hall,
Skagway, Alaska. PRICE: $375. WHAT
MAKES THE CONFERENCE UNIQUE: A
sense of intimacy that encourages
spirited interaction and discussion
between attendees and presenting
authors, Co-Director Jeff Brady says.
QUESTIONS?
WHO IT’S PERFECT FOR: Emerging
FEEDBACK?
writers looking for unique insight WE’RE HERE TO HELP!
into the craft of writing from
established professionals. HOW
MANY ATTEND: 40. FACULTY:
Journalists Susan Orlean (The
Orchid Thief) and Colleen Mondor TWITTER
(The Map of My Dead Pilots); Give us a shout-out
novelist Willy Vlautin (The Free); @WritersDigest, or
short story writer Frank Soos try a specific editor, such
(Unpleasantries); poet Emily Wall as @tjmoss11
(Liveaboard); historians Daniel Lee or @jfarrisknight.
Henry (Across the Shaman’s River)
and Jeff Brady (Skagway: City of the FACEBOOK
New Century); folklorist Buckwheat Look for our fan page
Donahue; and others. HIGHLIGHTS: at facebook.com/
Each day starts with a writing writersdigest,
workshop, followed by a series where conversations
of hour-long panels on essential happen every day.
aspects of writing, including NEWSLETTER
craft, self-promotion and busi- If you don’t receive our
ness. Faculty readings follow in free email newsletter,
the evening. But it’s not all work: you’re missing some great
“We have a lot of fun,” Brady says. curation of our content
Activities include a welcome recep- and community. Sign
tion; a barbecue with music at up at our home page,
the Alderworks Alaska Writers & writersdigest.com.
Artists Retreat in nearby Dyea; a
WP&YR train ride/short hike to a
workshop in a cabin—or a longer
hike to the toe of Laughton Glacier;
and the concluding keynote held
at Poppies Restaurant overlooking
the scenic Jewell Gardens. IF YOU
GO: Ease brain fatigue with a visit
to the Jeff. Smiths Parlor Museum
on Second Avenue. Once a popular
bar owned by a legendary con man,
the site was transformed into a DON’T LET YOUR
museum in 1935 and today houses
QUESTIONS GO
rare photos, one-of-a-kind artifacts,
folk art, strange taxidermy and UNANSWERED.
even animatronic mannequins. FOR
MORE INFO: nwwriterss.com. WD
GET IN
Don Vaughan (donaldvaughan.com)
TOUCH.
is a freelance writer in Raleigh, N.C.,
and founder of Triangle Association
of Freelancers.
WritersDigest.com I 65
C ON FE RE NC E GU IDE
CONFERENCE GUIDE
MARCH/APRIL 2018
• Keep in mind that there may be more
than one workshop in each listing.
• These workshops are listed alphabeti-
cally by state, country or continent.
• Unless otherwise indicated, rates include
tuition (T) only. Sometimes the rates also
include airfare (AF), some or all meals (M),
accommodations (AC), ground transpor-
tation (GT), materials (MT) or fees (F).
• When you find workshops that interest
you, be sure to call, email or check the
website of the instructor or organization
for additional information.
• All listings are paid advertisements.
CALIFORNIA
ANNUAL GREATER LOS ANGELES
WRITERS CONFERENCE, produced
by West Coast Writers Conferences. June
22–24, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA. Writers of
all genres and disciplines benefit from this
popular educational and inspirational three-
day event focused on the craft and business
of writing. Our 20th conference will feature
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66 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018
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WritersDigest.com I 67
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BOOKSTORE
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The word coward comes from the Old French b. UOITMRCE ____________________________________
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72 I WRITER’S DIGEST I March/April 2018

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