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Writer's Digest
October 2019Writer's Digest magazine is a comprehensive source of writing instruction for writers. Each issue provides advice and insider tips on writing and selling fiction, nonfiction, poetry and scripts.
IN THIS ISSUE
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1 Protecting Your Artistic Integrity “Breaking In” (Page 20) author Kira Jane Buxton tells why it’s important to let go of expectations and write the book that you want to write. 2 Modern Myth Maker Read Alice Hoffman’s first WD interview from 2006, where she talks about writing for teens, her battle with breast cancer, how she overcame writer’s block, and more. 3 Unlocking the Door Get the rest of Margaret Atwood’s April 2004 interview with WD, including how she buckles down to write and the journey to finding her unique voice. To find all of the above online companions to this issue in one handy spot, visit writersdigest.com/oct-19. BLOG ILLUSTRATION © FOTOLIA.COM: BLOSSOMSTAR; PHOTO 2 © GETTY IMAGES: FCSCAFEINE; PHOTO 3 © GETTY IMAGES: KRISTI LINTON…
plus: don’t miss these writing tips from writersdigest.com!
GODS WITH A LITTLE G: 8 QUESTIONS WITH AUTHOR TUPELO HASSMAN WD editor-in-chief Ericka McIntyre asked Tupelo Hassman about the importance of knowing your writing process, doing the work, and her forthcoming novel, gods with a little g. bit.ly/TupeloHassman RE-THINKING WRITER’S BLOCK Offering a different perspective on writer’s block, Areas of Fog author Will Dowd suggests re-thinking it as an illness. Can writers become stronger after overcoming it? bit.ly/RethinkingWritersBlock CREEPING COMMON SENSE: LET’S TALK MISTAKES It’s important for new writers to ask the pros about the mistakes they’ve made; successful, well-published writer and WD contributing editor Jeff Somers reveals why. bit.ly/CreepingCommonSense…
the power of storytelling
“If my story isn’t told, it will get lost.” This was part of a conversation the author Alice Hoffman, this month’s WD interview subject, had with a woman she met at a reading (Page 42). That woman had survived the Holocaust and was afraid she wouldn’t be remembered. It set Hoffman down the path to writing her latest novel, The World That We Knew. I had the honor of talking with her about the book, her writing advice, and how critical it is that we tell our stories even when it hurts. Hello once again, dear readers. Welcome to our October issue. This is our annual agents issue, in which we give you a carefully curated list of agents who are seeking new voices and stories (Page 22). Meet the Agent…
writer's digest
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ericka McIntyre SENIOR EDITORS Jeanne Veillette Bowerman, Robert Lee Brewer, Amy Jones ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR Cassandra Lipp ART DIRECTOR Wendy Dunning ILLUSTRATOR Emily Iles EDITORS-AT-LARGE Tyler Moss Jessica Strawser CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jane K. Cleland, David Corbett, Bob Eckstein, Jane Friedman, Steven James, Barbara Poelle, Elizabeth Sims, Jeff Somers, Kara Gebhart Uhl, Don Vaughan PUBLISHER Guy LeCharles Gonzalez F+W, A CONTENT + ECOMMERCE COMPANY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Gregory J. Osberg SVP, GENERAL MANAGER F+W FINE ART, WRITING, OUTDOORS AND SMALL BUSINESS GROUP Ray Chelstowski MANAGING DIRECTOR - F+W INTERNATIONAL James Woollam VP, CONSUMER MARKETING John Phelan VP, DIGITAL Jason Revzon VP, PRODUCT MANAGEMENT Pat Fitzgerald ADVERTISING ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE Jill Ruesch (800)726-9966, ext. 13223; fax: (715)445-4087; jill.ruesch@fwmedia.com…
contributors
JESSICA KAYE is an entertainment and publishing attorney at Kaye & Mills ( KayeMills.com) and a Grammy Award-winning audiobook producer and director of hundreds of audiobooks. She serves on the boards of the Audio Publishers Association and the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Kaye owns Big Happy Family, LLC, an audio-book distributor ( BigHappyFamilyAudio.com). She created and co-edited the anthology Meeting Across the River (BloomsburyUSA, 2005) and contributed a story to Occupied Earth (Polis Books, 2015) as well as to the anthology Culprits (Polis Books, 2018.) She is the author of The Guide to Publishing Audiobooks (WD Books). KARA GEBHART UHL is a contributing editor of WD and managing editor of Lost Art Press. Her work has appeared in numerous consumer, B2B, and alumni publications, HuffPost, TIME Healthland,…
when your agent isn’t a good fit
Finding representation is one of the biggest hurdles in the publishing process. Once you’ve signed with an agent, it’s easy to believe that it will be smooth sailing from there. But this isn’t always the case. Besides the challenge of securing a deal with a publishing house, sometimes writers figure out that their agent is not the best fit for them. Here’s advice from two authors who found themselves in that situation. AMY ROOST Amy Roost produced a podcast about a family secret that was subsequently picked up and retold by The New York Times. After the story went viral, Roost received several inquiries from agents interested in representing her. One of the inquiries came from a powerhouse agent prepared to handle both book and film rights—an attractive offer to Roost. But after…
