November 2016

Candy Schulman

Producing manuscripts in sensible shoes

By Candy Schulman

Sometimes parents are thrilled when their children want to become writers. Others are less enthusiastic.

Features

A website of one's own

By Donna Talarico

In a world of social media and digital “platform,” do you still need an author’s website? Absolutely.

Take a bite out of food writing

By Julia Rappaport

Food journalism has never been hotter. How can new writers find a place at the table?

The writing that eats away at you

By Megan Kaplon

Everyone told Elissa Altman no one would read long-form food narratives online.
Two memoirs and a James Beard Award later, Altman can finally say: Everyone was wrong.

Ctrl + alt + del

By Triona Guidry

Don’t lose your novel to a computer crash. Here’s a plan for a technical emergency.

Seriously single

By Sue Hertz

Kate Bolick challenges the spinster stereotype as well as the boundaries of first-person narratives.

Departments

Off the Cuff

Love story

By By Julia Rappaport

Good journalism skills can pay off in the unlikeliest of settings – including online dating.

Breakthrough

Pitchophobia

By Susan Ito

How one writer overcame her fear of querying – and ended up in the pages of our magazine.

Writer at Work

A book by its cover

By Rebecca Strong

What to do when your book cover comes back from the designer . . . and you hate it.

Market Focus

Speaking volumes

By Ryan G. Van Cleave

A writer’s guide to crafting a salable anthology proposal.

Class Action

The tangled web

By Jeff Tamarkin

Writing for blogs and social media is a whole different animal than print. Here’s what you need to know.

Conference Insider

San Fran-tastic

By Melissa Hart

Meet agents, talk shop, and do “real work” at the San Francisco Writers Conference.

Literary Spotlight

Mother of invention

By Melissa Hart

Motherwell explores the modern perils – and joys – of parenting.

Also in Every Issue

From the Editor

Take Note

Candy Schulman, Liz Moore, and more.

Markets

How I Write

Regina Brooks: “Sometimes authors try so hard to ‘show, not tell’ that they wind up over-describing and writing really long, unwieldy sentences.”