At the Muse and the Marketplace conference a few days ago, someone said American publishers were looking for stories not filtered through the American lens. I almost laughed out loud. Well said, but it was a false statement. I wasn’t…
A quick glance at the praise on Mira T. Lee’s website tells the story. Her debut novel, Everything Here Is Beautiful, was deemed a top fiction pick for 2018 by Amazon, Goodreads, Reader’s Digest, Real Simple, and O, The Oprah…
Every querying writer knows (or should know) that once a literary agent rejects a query or a manuscript, that agent’s door closes. Often, the door to the entire agency slams shut. Of course, there are exceptions. Sometimes agents will reconsider…
November 24 is Small Business Saturday. In honor of the event, we talked with our favorite small businesses…independent bookstores. Of course, publishers, publicity agents, reviews, Goodreads, and Amazon all play an important role in promoting debut authors and driving sales….
We all know that unrepentantly evil characters are the most fun to write. But how do you make a psychopath memorable, and more than just the tired one-dimensional shock value trope of airport novels? Make them a literary psychopath: a…
To say that Ladee Hubbard has an original imagination is an understatement. Her inventive debut novel, The Talented Ribkins (Melville House, 2017) is wild ride—part superhero quest, part thriller, part, well…you’ll see. The book tells the story of Johnny Ribkins,…