Paying to enter
mmegi.bw – Friday June 23, 2017
Years ago, before internet, if you wanted to submit a story or a poem to a literary magazine or to a writing contest, you needed to print it out, put it an envelope and send it off.
Sometimes even, you had to include inside another envelope with your address on it, and with enough postage for it to travel back to you so that the editor could post your submission back if it got a rejection. All of that was costly to writers and time-consuming. With the rise of the internet, that system has mostly fallen away. Now it is as simple as pressing a button to send your submission off.
That simplicity has increased submissions, especially ill-matched and inappropriate submissions, likely a hundred-fold. For a small literary magazine or writing contest that can be daunting. Because of this, some of them have begun to charge a fee to enter.

How Do You Become A Literary Agent? Joanna Volpe Of New Leaf Literary & Media Has Some Words Of Wisdom
bustle.com – Saturday June 17, 2017

It's not uncommon for book lovers to take an interest in literary careers. From authors to editors, publicists to agents, it seems like there are countless dream jobs all to to do with books... but securing one of those jobs can feel like a sheer impossibility. With so many prospective literary career seekers flooding the market, and so few coveted positions to go around, the job search can be equal parts frustrating, time-consuming, and soul crushing. But, maybe it doesn't have to be that way. There are, after all, lots of people who do succeed in finding their ways into the book world. Joanna Volpe, president and literary agent at New Leaf Literary & Media (she represents some of the biggest authors in the game, including Veronica Roth, Leigh Bardugo, Gabby Rivera, Holly Black, Susan Dennard, Danielle Paige, and others) is one of them, and she didn't get there by accident.

Top Tips for Writing a Killer Proposal
foyles.co.uk – Friday June 16, 2017

Writing a dazzling nonfiction proposal that will attract publishers is an art. As an agent I spend a lot of timing honing nonfiction proposals with authors. Here are ten top tips that all budding authors should bear in mind when putting together a killer proposal.

Get a Crash Course in Writing from 20 Journalists
lifehacker.com – Wednesday June 14, 2017

I only remember one practical writing lesson from my three years as an English major: Whenever you can, put the best bits at the end of the sentence. Put the next-best bits at the beginning, and put the rest in the middle. This trick works in every kind of writing, and I wish I’d spent my college years learning more tricks like it, instead of pretending to read The Brothers Karamazov.

Got Writer’s Block? This Best-selling Author Tells You How To Beat It
fastcompany.com – Monday June 12, 2017

There’s no one way to write a novel. There are, however, a million ways to screw up a book—or worse, start one and never finish it. If you’re looking for tips on how to keep the scribbling of your first tome on course, we’re betting that having the advice of a successful author might be a smart place to start.

Andrea Mara on having the confidence to write a novel
irishexaminer.com – Friday June 2, 2017

THIS time three years ago, I got up, put on a dress and heels, and drove to my office in Dublin’s Financial Services Centre to look at my long to-do list.
I know this not because it stands out in any way, but because back then it’s what I did every day.
Today, I’m sitting at my kitchen table in jeans and flats, looking at an equally long but very different to-do list, and getting set to launch my first book, a psychological thriller about a woman who sees something strange in her next-door neighbour’s garden.

Stuck While Writing? Try This Brilliant Advice
themarysue.com – Wednesday May 31, 2017

Every writer knows that while there are the blessed moments where words seem to pour forth in a magical river, sometimes the act of writing is like pulling teeth. Actually, pulling teeth sounds a lot easier than attempting to write when you’re blocked. The following approaches to getting unstuck could prove extremely helpful—I know they’ve helped me.

20 Writing Prompts To Jumpstart Your Summer Writing
bustle.com – Monday May 29, 2017

Summer is prime time for creative writing. With school on break and the sun shining, it's the perfect opportunity to get outside and put pen to paper. Maybe this summer you can finally buckle down on a big project, or perhaps you want to take it easy with some fun experiments.
When I was in school, I would always kick off every summer vacation by heading to my favorite coffee shop for a blissful night of writing for me. Summer means you can really have some freedom with your writing. This summer, challenge yourself not to hold anything back.
But even as exciting as summer writing is, I know that sometimes writing can seem impossible. We all have those days when nothing can come out. With hope, these writing prompts will get your pen moving and spark some ideas for your summer projects. And remember, just getting something (anything!) down on the page is already a huge accomplishment.
Poetry? Short stories? Maybe even a novel? No matter what kind of writing you prefer to do, these writing prompts are sure to get your creative juices flowing. Of course, feel free to adapt them in whatever way best springboards your creativity. Happy writing!

Micro fiction: The new-age writing fad
freepressjournal.in – Sunday May 28, 2017

Whether it is for an enhanced taste for socio-culturally relatable writing, the growing preference for succinctness in narration or the rapidly plummeting attention spans of readers, micro fiction seems like the order of the day. For the uninitiated, flash or micro fiction is a condensed form of story telling, typically involving 300-400 words, or as few as 20-30 words.

How Eleanor Oliphant changed a writer's life, and set the publishing world ablaze: an interview with Gail Honeyman
heraldscotland.com – Saturday May 27, 2017

GAIL Honeyman shakes her head, as if to shrug off the shades of a dazzling but unbelievable dream.
We are meeting in a cafe bar in the west end of Glasgow, where her debut novel, the source of that sense of slight but delighted bewilderment, is also largely set. Her book is entitled Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. It is a moving, funny, and by the end, devastating novel, and also a rare thing: a debut novel from Scotland which pitched the literary world into a kind of delirium. Ms Honeyman, 45, wrote the novel while she worked at Glasgow University - she created it, as many aspiring writers do, in snatched parcels of precious time - in the morning, in the evening, on holiday. But when it was complete, and in the hands of her agent, it ignited the publishing world. "It was a massive shock," she says.
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