Please welcome into the world, folks, my first book in fourteen years: The Art & Craft of Fiction: A Practitioner’s Manual. Pretty much everything that went into the first eight months of this blog is here, organized, edited, and shaped into a single all-encompassing volume on creating this wonderful thing… Read more“THE ART & CRAFT OF FICTION:<br>A PRACTITIONER’S MANUAL”
Tag: Fiction Writing Advice
THE ART & CRAFT OF FICTION:
Almost publishing
We are hustling like crazy to get the ebook of THE ART & CRAFT OF FICTION: A PRACTITIONER’S MANUAL released tomorrow. Will we make it? What do you think? I’m taking bets.
Drawing an analogy between writing and art
I’m going to draw an analogy for you all today. Bear with me. We spent yesterday creating a logo for the publishing house we’re inventing to publish my book. At first we were going to call it the Ammonite Press because I have that lovely violet ammonite logo, which is… Read more“Drawing an analogy between writing and art”
Clarifying and not clarifying in exposition
Let’s address an issue today that a lot of aspiring writers run into with their critiquers: “I don’t get what’s going on here.” I did a Copy & Line Edit on the opening pages of a very beautiful novel this past week. I did a Developmental Edit—along with a Copy… Read more“Clarifying and not clarifying in exposition”
Returning from the Dead, on She Writes
It’s the week before I’m scheduled to release THE ART & CRAFT OF FICTION: A PRACTITIONER’S MANUAL in e-version, and my head is exploding. I blogged about it today on She Writes, along with an excerpt from my book, which some of you might recognize from last year as the… Read more“Returning from the Dead, on She Writes”
Following the publishing industry online
Jason Pinter’s talking today over on the Huffington Post about publishing and social media. He’s saying that’s where the industry is going on now: on Twitter, especially, where agents, acquisitions editors, and publishers can talk either one-on-one or en masse to readers and authors, bringing the audience down out of… Read more“Following the publishing industry online”
Swinging between Amazon and Apple with the ebook publishers
You’ve got to give Jeff Bezos credit for cojones, if not business savvy. The guy still hasn’t learned to stay off the trapeze without a net. Motoko Rich of the NY Times and Christina Warren of Mashable both report this week that Amazon is back to swinging wildly from the… Read more“Swinging between Amazon and Apple with the ebook publishers”
Exposing, summarizing, illuminating
We’re talking about exposition today on the magazine. Not till the knife of love gained sufficient edge could he cut out her figure from its surroundings. —Elizabeth Bowen, “Ivy Gripped the Steps” Exposition: the necessity for it to be sharp and succinct ties it intimately to line editing. . .yet… Read more“Exposing, summarizing, illuminating”
Announcing the book cover winner
For those of you waiting for the winner of the vote on my book cover: it’s #4. This wasn’t a democratic decision. You guys were all over the place, making me feel quite clever for not coming up with a single dud (yes, in spite of Kathryn messing with me… Read more“Announcing the book cover winner”
Pricing ebooks for the reader, the writer, or the publisher?
Kathryn sent in this NPR piece by Lynn Neary on ebook pricing, which references this even more detailed and in-depth NY Times piece by Jason Epstein. I’ve been looking into ebook pricing. Kindle, of course, is racking up “best sellers” that turn out to sell for $.99 or even go… Read more“Pricing ebooks for the reader, the writer, or the publisher?”