Writer Unboxed

A friend of mine is working to shorten up her overlong manuscript. She has my empathy. I have yet to learn how to write short, only how to edit more efficiently.
When I was working to tighten my manuscript, I scoured books and online sources for the best tips, then found a way to make […]

Here at WU, we try to be even-handed in the genre fiction we talk about. But one genre that I feel we’ve given less blogtime than others is the mystery genre. And I’m sorry about that. Mysteries are one of the bigger slices of the genre fiction market, and we’ve given it […]

We’re pleased to bring you the last of a two-part interview with New York Times bestselling author Michael Gruber, a pioneer in literate suspense. If you missed part one of our interview, click HERE, then come back. Today we continue our chat about Michael’s latest novel, The Forgery of Venus, discuss risk-taking in genre and […]

After having two starkly different experiences with my first two books, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes a book a smash hit. Mostly, I’ve been thinking about this because I’m struggling to come up with a concept for my third book that will be as well-received as the concept for […]

Today’s guest blogger is author Karin Tabke, who answers a WU Burning Question:
What exactly is a Street Team and how does an author benefit from it?
Thanks so much for being here, Karin. Take it away…
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Thank you, Writer Unboxed, for having me back!
Okay, so, I’ll try to answer as best as I can, […]

My son has had a tortured season of baseball. He loves the game. Loves it. But he wasn’t playing the game as well as he wanted to play it. He’d approach home plate, bat in hand, and hear all of the voices–real and remembered–around him. Stand like this. Hold the bat like that. No, like […]

Of late I’d been hitting the t.v. reality show circuit pretty hard and becoming preoccupied with a couple of them. The Bravo shows are my crack. Top Chef . . . how could Lisa skate by? Again? Step It Up and Dance . . . I don’t […]

Michael Gruber is a New York Times best-selling novelist and master of smart suspense. His latest novel, The Forgery of Venus, explores reality and unreality in various forms, layered atop one another like coats of paint. We’re thrilled he took the time to chat with us about his novel and his process. Enjoy!
Part 1: Interview […]

These days I’m generally able to sell a novel on the basis of a proposal, which means I’ve got into a nice steady pattern of putting forward an idea for a new project, signing a contract, and writing a book. But I remain aware that it only takes one book to fail commercially and the […]

Oh my god, you guys. You have no idea how much I want to tell you my news. But it has to wait until papers are signed, the t’s are crossed and the i’s dotted. Then I’ll spill it.
But I wanted to blog about something we aspiring writers rarely hear. And […]

I can barely believe that a year ago I started to track book and business news via the WU Google Notebook. Since updates take a chunk of time–even if I do enjoy finding them–I really would like to know how many of you visit and utilize the notebook, or whether it should be discontinued. Comment […]

A special announcement from Allison Winn Scotch:
I am THRILLED to announce that we have closed a film deal for my next book, TIME OF MY LIFE! Thus, I am so super-excited to announce that the book has been sold to The Weinstein Company, on behalf of Meryl Poster, the former co-president of Miramax, who […]