by @RamonaRichards So . . . it’s Thanksgiving . . . with all those expectations of joy and family and love. And many folks will experience just that—a time of celebration and hope. But not everyone. So . . . our 2020 delayed conference ended last week on a high…

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills ’Tis the season of the turkey. If you enjoy eating the Thanksgiving bird, then you love the season. If you’re the turkey, well not so much. You’ve probably spent the past year hatching ways to disguise yourself. For the turkey, I commend his ingenuity. For the turkey-writer,…

By W. Terry Whalin @terrywhalin At every writer’s conference or group of writers, there is buzz around the word “platform.” Editors and literary agents are searching for authors with a platform or a personal connection to their readers. What’s that about? Many authors believe their task is to write an excellent…

By Aaron Gansky @ADGansky I noticed something interesting when I worked as an editor for The Citron Review, the literary journal I founded in 2009. Here’s a quick glimpse of notes I often made to the other editors: Story 1: Sure! But it needs a new title. Story 2: Yes, but it…

By James Hannibal @jamesrhannibal Here we stand on our drop cloth, brushes ready, half-way through the process of touching up your manuscript the way we might touch up a room after painting. Last month, we looked at the first four steps. This month we finish with six more, starting with…

by Lindsey Brackett @LindsBrac Like many of you, concentration has been difficult lately. So has joy. There are simply times when your creative well runs dry—and that’s not even taking all the extenuating circumstances of this year into account.  One of the best habits I’ve set for myself during this…