Writer Unboxed

September 16 is an important date by anyone’s reckoning. It’s the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). And in this day in history:

The first game of softball was played in Chicago, Illinois in 1887

The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changed its name to Boston in 1630
Hildegard of Bingen, German magistra and […]

Robert Brewer has been the editor of the Writer’s Market (published by Writer’s Digest Books) for many years now. The Writer’s Market is a meaty, broad resource that not only provides general information about how to write a query letter and how to launch a freelance business, but gives detailed descriptions about where you–the nonfiction […]

Psst…new books & business links are up on the Google Notebook. Check them out HERE. And have you submitted your entry in Writer Unboxed’s CONTEST CONTEST yet? Why not? Time’s running out! Check all the details (and read our hilarious entries) HERE.
Write on, all!

So…I just sold my second novel. Hurrah! Since I’ve already published my first one, it must have been a breeze, right? Er, no. In fact, the book that I anticipated being my follow-up novel was not the one that sold - and I have a theory as to why. Play […]

I was intrigued when Karen Dionne wrote to Writer Unboxed about the upcoming Backspace Agent-Author Seminars: “Two days with 22 top agents on a program of panels
and workshops with plenty of free time to network.” It sounded interesting. So I wrote her back and we decided the best way to get the information out to […]

It’s 9/11.
I vividly recall seeing one of the towers collapse live on CNN this day in 2001. I remember sinking to my knees in shock and horror.
“I can’t believe what just happened,” I said.
My daughter came up behind me. “What’s wrong, Mommy?”
My hand was over my mouth. I told her the […]

Quick reminder: Our latest contest ends Friday, Sept. 14. It’s shaping up to be quite a doozy, too. Don’t miss out!

Madeline L’Engle has died.

Like every American 5th grader, I was forced to read A Wrinkle in Time, and I hated it. Oh sure, the tesseracts–folded time–was cool, but as a dorky 11-year-old […]

Nephele Tempest with The Knight Agency is currently accepting direct queries for completed YA projects on her site HERE. She’s looking for “All types of YA fiction, though I’m particularly in the market for some great urban fantasy.” Nephele is a super nice and uber-competent lady, so don’t hesitate to take advantage of this unique–and […]

M.J. Rose is the internationally best-selling author of 9 novels and is a founding member of International Thriller Writers. She also founded Author Buzz, a marketing service that can help authors publicize their works, and is the blog mama of two popular sites: Buzz, Balls & Hype, and Backstory.
Yes, there’s a lot of buzz over […]

In 2006, we interviewed unboxed epic fantasy author Tricia Bray on the debut of her newest fantasy series, The Chronicles of Josan.  At the time, Bray had just completed her wildly successful Sword of Change series, and she was leaping into a new world rife with new characters and new dangers.
Now with the completion of the Josan trilogy, which generated […]

Who’s the new favorite for the Booker Prize? Who’s going to make newspaper history by using scented print? Who’s experimenting by releasing chapters on Facebook? Check out the latest Books & Business news HERE.
And keep going with those great words! (See the latest additions to the contest and get all the info HERE.)
Write on, all!

Well, well, well. It’s nice to be appreciated. From the NYT:
Bloggers have written about books since, well, the beginning of blogging. But a blog book tour usually requires an author or publicist to take the initiative, reaching out to bloggers as if they were booksellers and asking them to be the host for a […]