September 2017

Roy Peter Clark

Finding your voice

By Roy Peter Clark

If I can sing, you can write.

Features

Promotional pitfalls

By Brian Feinblum

Twenty-three mistakes first-time authors must avoid when marketing a book.

When disaster strikes

By Keysha Whitaker

How authors can recover from unexpected publicity disruption.

Balancing books

By Melissa Hart

Authors who own bookstores talk shop.

The art of the sale

By Ryan G. Van Cleave

Best-selling novelist David Hagberg on how to write stories that sell.

Fiction: “The Dance”

By Kate Macnamara

Read the first-place winner of our “Spring Cleaning” short story contest.

Departments

BREAKTHROUGH

Kill book sales with kindness

By Yi Shun Lai

Promoting your novel doesn’t have to be a soulless affair. This debut author hit the best- seller list with gratitude, generosity, and plenty of engagement.

WRITER AT WORK

First impressions

By Sara Hodon

How to stock your writer’s press kit.

Writing Essentials

Build it with hope

By Gail Radley

Structuring a story that will last.

LITERARY SPOTLIGHT

Hotel Amerika

By Melissa Hart

Cross-genre works of all shapes and sizes are welcome in this quirky journal.

CONFERENCE INSIDER

Write-by-the-Lake

By Melissa Hart

Dive deep into craft at this intensive five-day retreat on Lake Mendota.

Also in Every Issue

Take Note

Featuring Roy Peter Clark, Kaitlyn Greenidge, and more.

How I Write

Matthew Norman: “I tend to see the world through a humor lens. I use it as a defense mechanism. That may be a personality aw, but it makes me the writer I am.”