Writer Unboxed

Today’s guest is YA author Meredith Zeitlin, whose debut novel, Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters, was just released on March 1st. What’s the book about? Meredith’s book trailer is too good not to share, and does a better job answering that question than we could, so please give it a look: FRESHMAN YEAR AND [...]

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A big thank you to WU contributor Debbie Ohi for today’s custom comic. Therese here. I’m happy to present today’s guest, Ron Hogan. Ron has been a part of the online writing community for a long while now. He launched Beatrice.com in 1995–over a decade before WU was a thought in our minds–as a site [...]

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Therese here. Today’s guest is WU community member, Julia Munroe Martin. Julia is a writer and editor who blogs from one of the best places in the world–the coast of Maine. She has experience as a business and technical writer as well as a journalist, and she is currently, in her own words, “a novelist-in-progress.” [...]

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I recently had the opportunity to read a letter written by an independent bookstore owner about the state of his business. Though it’s not my place to share those details here, I do want to talk about a general sentiment read in that letter that made me feel both sad and frustrated. It went something [...]

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Truth: Writers sit. A lot. We sit and type. We sit and edit. We sit and read. We sit and dream. We sit while sifting through Twitter and Facebook posts, and while digesting blogs. And then we sit and type some more. It probably goes without saying that it’s important to have a decent setup [...]

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Tell a tale to twenty listeners and it becomes twenty different stories. Each listener brings to it his own aspirations, prejudices, fears, hopes, hang-ups and so on. In the time of oral storytelling, when tales were told around the campfire to help make sense of a world that was often dark and daunting, the tribe [...]

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Therese here. Today’s guest is returning author and WU friend Kristina McMorris. Kristina’s second novel, a dramatic WWII tale called Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, released just yesterday to high acclaim. “[Bridge of Scarlet Leaves] gracefully blossoms through swift prose and rich characters…this gripping story about two ‘brothers’ in arms and a young woman caught in [...]

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GIVEAWAY: I am (again) excited to give away a free copy of the 2012 Guide to Literary Agents to a random commenter. Comment within one week; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. Good luck to all! (Update: Kaitlyn B. won.) I’ve never met a single person who liked writing a [...]

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Let’s face it. With the exception of the tiny handful of writers lucky enough to generate handsome earnings from their books or to have the full financial support of a spouse or a trust fund (two things I tend to longingly confuse), nowadays, most of us need some sort of gainful day job. In fact, [...]

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  O! that you were your self; but, love, you are No longer yours, than you your self here live… Sonnet 13   Now, take Joe Cocker. Mr. “You Are So Beautiful” (really high note:) “to me.” Ever heard him talk? Here you go: Terrific interview on NPR – great job by Rachel Martin — [...]

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I rarely teach the basics of online writing to anyone except my university students. At writers conferences, as well as on my own blog, I get so focused on people’s desire to succeed in traditional forms (books, journals, articles, etc) that I don’t consider addressing the craft and technique of online writing. It’s a mistake [...]

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As promised last month, I’m back this month with some strategies and advice for anyone considering the indie publishing route. And a quick update before I begin–I’ve actually had a great month, sales wise. (Thank you to any WU readers who bought copies of my books!) Two of my titles, Susanna and the Spy and [...]

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