Top Ten Writing Mistakes Made By New Children’s Writers
By Suzanne Lieurance Okay. So I’m not David Letterman. But I doubt if he’d know much about the top 10 mistakes made by new children’s writers anyway. I, on the other hand, read from 10 to 20 manuscripts for children every week (I’m not bragging — I’m just an instructor with the Institute of Children’s … Read more
It’s Banned Books Week!
You can read more about it here. In the meantime, what’s on the ALA banned and challenged list that you’ve read and loved? The books on this list are books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century that have been the target of ban attempts. F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great … Read more
Building a Better Biography
By Ami Hendrickson Whether you are a beginning writer or an established byline, it behooves you to construct a biography as a means of introducing yourself to those who haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading your work. Bios are more important than you might think. They give the reader a quick overview of your … Read more
Writing a Synopsis: Overcome your Fear
By Vicki M. Taylor If you noticed, I didn’t title this article “Overcoming YOUR Fear of Writing a Synopsis.” I don’t think you own the fear anymore than I do or any other writer. We all share a common emotion, one that can be summed up in one word: Formidable. What is it about this … Read more
Calling Authors
So I’ve had a fabulous email exchange this week with writer Elizabeth West, who has recently started running the author-advertiser program for The-Cheap.net. I asked her to send me a release about a holiday promotion they’re doing, because I thought it might be of interest to a number of you AWers out there looking for … Read more
10 Ways to Annoy a Newspaper Editor
By Joni Hubred-Golden Almost 20 years ago, I broke into journalism by walking, wide-eyed with fear, into a tiny newspaper office and asking whether the editor would accept a freelance submission. Since I hadn’t thought ahead far enough to consider a topic, he gave me the name of an artist who made rugs. That’s just … Read more
Review: The Writer’s Idea Book by Jack Heffron
Jack Heffron. The Writer’s Idea Book. Writer’s Digest Books Review by Mridu Khullar Jack Heffron’s The Writer’s Idea Book is a unique experience. He’ll have you sitting on your desk with a paper and pen in your hand like your high school English teacher did. But unlike Mrs. Matthews, who had huge glasses and a mole on her … Read more
Analyze Your Writing Market for Optimum Success
By Annette Young Check out the latest issue of the Writers & Artists Yearbook and you can find information on a multitude of magazines that accept submissions from freelance writers. But is the information they provide enough? The brief description can indicate whether the publication may be the type of magazine you wish to write … Read more
So — You Think You Want to Be a Freelance Proofreader?
By Jan K., The Proofer How many times have you thought to yourself that you would be a good proofreader? You have a decent working vocabulary, you are able to construct a well-turned phrase, and you know when to hyphenate a compound noun (or maybe you don’t, but you could take a good guess!). You’ve … Read more