Hi WriteByNighter! First comes business: The business of learning how to market and promote your work! We have a handful of seats left for Saturday's Zoom seminar, "Book Marketing Made Simple." Learn from WBN's staff publishing expert, John Sibley Williams, how to develop a
marketing plan that will not only make readers aware your book exists, but make them want to throw some of their hard-earned money your way. We're knocking $10 off for subscribers! (That's you.) Follow the instructions at the link above, but enter $99 instead of $109. More business: I'm looking for someone to help me design and create a banner ad. If that's you, reply to this message with a sample or two and your rates and let's talk. (And please correct me if "banner ad" is not the right terminology? Because it kinda smells of 1998.) Writing Books About Writing Books I've been reading Steve Almond's new craft book, Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow. I'll write more about it when I'm done, but I'm enjoying it. Among my favorite lines so far, Almond writes that readers are looking for "communion with a wise and dangerous mind." I appreciate that. From the book, I've drawn some inspiration to
sit down with my own book for a few sessions. I kinda feel like that's what I get out of writing guides, craft books, etc. Not necessarily specific advice, tips, and so on, but a sudden and inescapable impulse to write. As I type this, Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird stares at me from the shelf, where it's sat untouched for years decades. Maybe I'll try it next. What are some of your favorite books about writing? What do you get out of reading them? If you were to write your own, what would you want the reader to get out of reading it? Those of you who pay attention to such things know that Paul Auster died a few weeks
ago. I've had mixed experience reading Auster's work, but I still remember fondly my introduction to it. Back in 2006-2007, many of my MFA classmates gushed over a 20-year-old book called City of Glass, a postmodern/metafictional mystery novel I'd never even heard of. One day, I borrowed a copy from one of
my roommates (and fellow Yak Baby), dipped out of our Cambridge apartment, and sat myself down at the counter of the Mass Ave Diner and began to read. I read through the lunch rush. I read through the post-lunch rush cleanup. I read through the... Actually, that's it. That place closes at 3, so I read until they told me they were
closing, and I said "You close at 3? That's insane. Don't you care that I'm lost deep in the folds of this wild and awesome book that's kind of unlike anything I've read?" After that, my memory grows foggy. I know I sat in Harvard Yard with it for a while. I don't remember if I finished it that day or if it spilled into the following
day. But it was a cool experience. I'm about 60 pages into a reread of it. It holds up. New Book From WriteByNighter Virginia! The heist of a 400-year-old painting from a London gallery leads to all sorts of creepy -- but also fun and romantic -- thrills in Chicagoland. This book has some wild twists and turns; see if you can keep up! Speaking of twists and turns, Virginia has had a long and winding path to publication. Despite some bad breaks along the way, she stayed true to her vision and never threw in the towel, and we couldn't be happier for her. Visit Virginia's website to learn more about her writing, about The Trouble with Chance, and about her next book, Mrs. Gray's Secret. Promotion: Your Submission Package Our April May special is still running: Receive two in-depth rounds of assistance with your agent/publisher submission materials for only $350. First, you and I will do a deep dive into your query letter, expanding or tightening as needed and working out the kinks graf by graf. Then the WriteByNight writing/publishing expert of your choice will read your new-and-improved query letter, along with the first 10 double-spaced pages of
your book -- i.e., the materials most agents ask for initially -- and then he/she will meet with you for 60 minutes to offer feedback and answer questions. You should come away from that discussion with a fresh understanding of your agent/publisher package and how to improve it. If you're almost ready to send your work to agents and indie presses but need one last look, click the button below to get started. My 10 Favorite Novels Since 2014 Next week I'll continue with my 10 favorite novels published from 2014 to 2024. (With only one rule: no WriteByNight staff or clients, and no friends.) The list so far: 11 (tie). Growing Up Dead in Texas, Stephen Graham
Jones 11 (tie). The Yellow House, Sarah Broom (not fiction!) 10. Women Talking, Miriam Toews 9. The Warehouse, Rob Hart 8. Fever Dream, Samantha Schweblin 7. Ohio/The Deluge, Stephen Markley 6. The Idiot, Elif Batuman 5. Swing Time, Zadie Smith Are you a fellow fan of any of the books I'm talking about? Let me know, and let's gush over them together. What Am I Reading? Am I Writing? Nothing aside from the Almond
craft book and the Auster novel. I have written a little since last time. I keep moving backwards in this novel; I write Chapter 1, and then Chapter 1 turns into Chapter 2 because I write a new Chapter 1, and then so on, until the original first chapter is now the fourth chapter. It's not intentional, but I'll take
it. What are you writing? What are you reading? Writerly Quote of the Week “The best [novel] openings induce [a] feeling: as if the author is merely standing by the door of a gleaming vehicle, with a ribbon of road leading toward some dark territory of revelation, shaking her head at the notion that I would miss out on the trip." -- Steve Almond Happy writing! David Duhr
Co-founder, WriteByNight
P.S. If you know someone who might benefit from today's message, please feel free to forward this email along. Go on, help a writer out. Resources Find a home for your creative work Carve out writing time from your busy schedule |
|
|
