Writer Unboxed

Today we feature another of our fab WU finalists for the Unpubbed Writer position. Kristan Hoffman isn’t just a terrific writer (she was a quarter-finalist for the Amazon Breatkthrough Novel Award), she’s one of our most loyal commenters (TY, Kristan!). We know you’ll enjoy her post about outlines, word counts, momentum, and writerly frustrations. _____ [...]

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So a producer of a very popular television show gives me a call a few weeks back. A fan of my novels, he wanted to know if the film rights to my 7th Son thriller trilogy were available to option for motion picture development. This was an “embarrassment of riches” moment: the trilogy was optioned [...]

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I’m about to dig into the revisions my editor and agent have suggested for my next book, (How To Bake A Perfect Life, out in January). It’s a complex story with a fairly large cast of characters and a complicated time structure. The tale is set in a bakery, more specifically a boulangerie, which is [...]

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Before I forget to mention this, I’ll be presenting a session on “Unboxed Platform” at Grub Street’s The Muse & The Marketplace conference in Boston this coming weekend. If you’re there, stop by and say hey. Also, WU friend Erika Liodice has posted a Q&A with me today on her site, Beyond the Gray–all about [...]

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It’s getting close to Mother’s Day, and while I am a mother and I do enjoy my Special Day, mostly it means that my tight group of writerly friends and I get together for our annual writers retreat. Like NaNoWriMo, the retreat is similar in that we do marathon writing sessions; but we also take time [...]

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At Writer’s Digest, we host an event twice a year called the Writer’s Digest Editors’ Intensives. It is completely staff run and presented, hosted at our headquarters in Cincinnati, and offers an opportunity to get the first 50 pages of your manuscript critiqued. Chuck Sambuchino and I usually serve as the key presenters. After a [...]

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Today’s post comes from guest contributor Erika Robuck. Erika, author of historical novel Receive Me Falling, was one of the finalists for the WU contributor post. Please enjoy her essay, we think it’s fantastic! Imagine you’re heading off to your first day at a new job in sales. For the sake of argument, we’ll call you a pharmaceutical rep. Imagine [...]

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We wannabe authors—“author” meaning published writer—who are on the web are constantly assaulted by reports and opinions on what sells.  We hear that zombies are the new vampires . . . no, wait, angels are the new vampires . . . or are they the new zombies?  Mysteries are up, and so is YA and [...]

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It’s been one of those months. A few weeks ago, my car was hit by another car; mine has been in the body shop ever since. We had water issues in our house this past weekend. I couldn’t sleep last night. The battery in my husband’s car died this morning. You get the picture. So [...]

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How has the recent eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano affected you? Are you stranded in an airport trying to get home? Did you miss an important funeral? Were you planning on going to the Coachella music festival? Talvin Singh, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and Gary Numan won’t be there. They can’t get a flight. WWE Raw Wrestlers [...]

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This time it will be different. I say that to myself every time I start writing a new book. This time, I think, I know exactly what I’m writing about, and I’ll get it right on the first try. This time I’ve got a plan that will be the writerly equivalent of a magic spell [...]

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Paris postcard 3 For writers at the source of the ‘food chain’ of publishing, daily life is often quiet and solitary, tapping away at the computer and mulling over scenes and characters, but it’s good to remember we are part of a vast and busy and lively industry which employs hundreds of thousands of people [...]

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