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 Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita 

Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First-Century Life

(Nonfiction, November, Avid Reader Press)

“ An infectiously edifying, not-so-saintly self-help book that dives into the wild, wise, and unconventional lives of 16th- and 17th-century nuns, offering advice for our modern age and proving one thing: no matter the century, nuns know best.”

Writes from: Halfway between Madrid (Spain) and New York.

Pre-Convent: We like to think that the seed of Convent Wisdom was planted the night we first met in August 2016. We weren’t the only prospective graduate students visiting Brown University that summer, but we were the only two ones matching our very specific freak: a passion for the lives and texts of 16^th– and 17^th-century nuns. That night, we knew that we would spend years of sleepless nights trying to reduce our fascination for nuns to the rigid formulas of academic writing.

What we didn’t know was that, four years later, in 2020, we’d decide to take our nuns out of dusty archives and aseptic academic journals and bring them to more playful realms. “Las hijas de Felipe,” our podcast devoted to unearthing hidden stories from the 16^th– and 17^th-century stories, confirmed what we already suspected: 16^th– and 17^th-century nuns were refreshingly relatable today. By the time we embarked on Convent Wisdom, we were used to spending most of our days writing—whether our PhD dissertations, academic papers, or podcast scripts—but this book demanded something new. It required us to craft a new voice—the two of us merged in one—and a new genre—rigorous academic research turned into a playful self-help guide.

Time frame: Once we started writing, we finished Convent Wisdom in about a year. But we had been researching, first separately and then together, for more than a decade.

Enter the agent: Our agent found us! She had been listening to our podcast for a while, and she had the feeling that we might have an idea for a book. In fact, when she approached us, we were already conceiving the general idea for the book with our Spanish editor.

Biggest surprise: When we received all the offers at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2023—nine countries plus an auction between seven U.S. publishing houses—we were shocked. It was both a huge surprise and a well-deserved confirmation that our intuition was right: in the crumbling 21^st century we live in, we all need a portable convent to find solace. It was comforting to see that, after all the years spent in libraries and archives, we had found a way to share the stories of those nuns who had captivated us and helped us survive throughout the most challenging moments of our lives.

What I did right: We were not in a hurry to publish, and that helped. Well before the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair, we were approached by a couple of publishers, but we decided not to go ahead with them. We felt it was hasty at that point, and that their aim was to make a hurried and shallow translation of our podcast into a book. Instead, we decided to wait until we had reached a more elaborate and nuanced idea of the book.

What I would have done differently: We had no idea how to navigate those situations, but somehow our intuition was right. However, we would happily erase all the anxiety and the self-doubt that we went through.

Platform: Our podcast and our social media are great platforms, but only for Spanish-speaking audiences. We’ll have to work on English content to try and gain new international readership

Advice for writers: You don’t have to write on your own. Sometimes, it can be so much better with friends. It worked for us, and it worked for many of our nuns.

Next up: We’re working on a historical audio fiction. We’d also love to launch some episodes of our podcast in English.

Website: LasHijasDeFelipe.com

Mia Jay Boulton and Laurel Boulton 

Of Swamp & Sea 

(Romantasy graphic novel, November, 23^rd Street)

“A woman possessed by a monster must embark on a dangerous and magical journey, accompanied by a monster hunter who could be friend, foe, or lover.”

Writes from: Gulf Shores, Ala.

Pre-Swamp: We’ve really been building the bones of this story since 2014 (the year we got married), and back then, it was almost unrecognizable aside from the characters’ names. It really evolved and transmuted throughout the decade as we worked on the story back and forth alongside our other projects. Of Swamp & Sea began in prose form, as all our work does, before making the leap to an illustrated comic in 2019. We finally wrapped up the art for it earlier this year, meaning it took us around six years to write, illustrate, and color close to 5,000 individual panels. But it only took us less than a year to format them into a five-novel series, the first of which is coming out this November.

Time frame: When we first went searching for an agent, there were still very few Webtoon properties that had made the leap to print—we think the industry was still really figuring out how that could work. We searched high and low through online databases like Manuscript Wish List, looking for someone with a mind for art, romance, and the supernatural. We were so happy when our agent, Lane Clarke, decided to hear us out.

Enter the agent: We were surprised by just how difficult it could be to take a vertical-scrolling comic and reimagine it for print format. Every new page felt like a puzzle to solve and an exercise in problem-solving. The goal was always to have the art look as natural as possible, like it was born for the printed page. We really do think we accomplished that goal, and we’re looking forward to current and new readers discovering the story of Mercy and Jonah in a whole new format.

Biggest surprise: Measured persistence has really been one of the keys to getting this far. Every step of the way from creating to publishing has felt like a new obstacle course to learn to navigate and overcome, but we never let a failure steep for too long before trying again. However, we also didn’t let an output goal control our lives, and we still made time for the things we love, for our hobbies, and for each other. It’s important to never give up, while never letting it burn your candle down entirely.

What I did right: I joined a writers’ group. I’ve been in my writers’ group now for over seven years, and I’ve learned so much and grown so much from being in that group. When we started, none of us had books published, and most of us didn’t have agents yet. Now, everyone has at least one book published. Seeing my friends in the group go through that process taught me a lot about what publishing is like and what to expect. So actually, not a lot of things were a surprise to me about the publishing process because I’d already seen how everything plays out through my writers’ group.

What I would have done differently: We do plan on doing it all again, because we want to keep creating forever. Next time, we’ll put more of a focus on future-proofing our projects, mainly through the way we’ll keep our files organized and prepared for both digital and print outcomes.

Platform: Our platform of readers on WEBTOON has followed us through the whole Of Swamp & Sea saga, and we’re endlessly grateful for their loyalty. We hope that many of them will pick up its first print installment for their shelves when it hits storefronts, as a print edition has been much requested since the very earliest days. Of course, we also want to bring the story to the eyes of a new audience, which we’re working on building via social media with the help of our publisher, 23^rd Street.

Advice for writers: Never stop loving what you do: people change, and it’s okay for their stories to change with them. You can’t let the fear of losing what you already have in a project stop you from exploring what it could be. In the end, your finished work is always going to look different than how it started, and that’s a good thing. You just have to see it through to find out what your story becomes.

Next up: After book one, we’ve got four more Of Swamp & Sea volumes on the way. After that? We want to write more adventures about love and magic, and continue telling stories through art. 

Website: Linktr.ee/ofswampandsea

Marco Anderson

This Book Is About Nothing

(Children’s picture book, November, Moon + Bird)

“A hilarious and colourful picture book about a child’s unique journey to making new friends.”

Writes from: London.

Pre-Book: I wrote this book coming out of COVID lockdown. I had not written a book before, so when I had the idea, I definitely did not think that it would get published. But, as the idea kept growing, I became more and more confident in this idea and the reality of it actually being published. 

Time frame: I originally wrote this in a PowerPoint, and we developed the story into what it is now over the next couple of years. I had this idea back in spring of 2021, and we just got the ideas out into a basic PowerPoint presentation. About a month or two later, I first met with the publishing team and showed them my concept. We continued working together over the next four years and turned the idea into a real book.

Enter the agent: I do not have an agent. After coming up with the concept, I was introduced to Etan and the team at Moon + Bird. They helped me do this, and I worked with my dad on this book as well.

Biggest surprise: One of the things that surprised me most was simply how long it takes to get a book published. I originally had the idea in 2021, and now four years later, it’s about to get published.

What I did right: I was really lucky because I didn’t know what I was doing and the team at Moon + Bird was really amazing at guiding me through the process.

What I would have done differently: I really don’t think that there’s anything that I would have done differently with this book, but there are a lot of skills that I learned over the process of creating this book, which I would apply to future books.

Platform: No, I don’t currently have a platform because I’m too busy with my middle school studies.

Advice for writers: The best piece of advice that I can give you is to just keep on going and trying to make what you want a reality.

Next up: Honestly, I have too much homework right now to think that far into the future.

The post Breaking In: November/December 2025 appeared first on Writer's Digest.

(4 Ways to Write Hooks for Books.)

One, I’d never written a novel before. Didn’t even know where to start. And two, I was building a photography business, working full time in the corporate world, and co-parenting two rambunctious toddlers. I had enough on my plate. The novel would have to wait.

Spoiler alert: That novel, Soulmatch, publishes July 29th with Simon & Schuster. So, how’d I get from there to here? Photography made me do it.

In 2013, three years after my lightbulb moment, I left my corporate job and became a full-time photographer. I specialize solely in portraiture, which may sound strange coming from someone who self-identifies as an introvert. But I love meeting people, hearing their stories, and looking through the lens to capture the very essence of who they are…their souls, if you will.

My business grew and prospered. I won awards and was fully booked six-to-eight months in advance. Then, as was the fate of most small business owners, it all came to a screeching halt in March 2020. Photography is not an essential business, but it was essential to me. I went from spending 12 hours a day taking and editing photos, emailing clients, marketing, and keeping my business running to doing absolutely nothing. The jarring change was enough to bring about my first-ever panic attacks.

My kids were twelve and fourteen and didn’t need or want constant supervision. My husband was on back-to-back Zoom calls, and I could only make so much bread. Lying in bed one night, discussing our fears and brainstorming ideas, I blurted out, “Well, I always said I’d write that novel if I had the time.” I said it as a joke, but the next day, halfway through a Photoshop workshop on CreativeLive.com, I hit pause, took a deep breath, and searched their site for “how to write a novel.”

The only result was a three-day workshop called “Wired for Story: How to Become A Story Genius,” led by Lisa Cron. Sounded perfect. I pulled out a notepad and clicked “Buy.” By the end of the exercises, I had a rough outline for a character-driven novel and held the reins to a dystopian world I could bend to my will. Turns out that was the perfect remedy for someone struggling to comprehend their dystopian reality. 

My work ethic took over. The hours I used to devote to taking and editing photos were spent typing and editing words. I shared each new chapter with my husband and best friend the way I shared galleries with clients, reveling in their encouraging compliments. Two months later, I had a first draft and was obsessed with it. I was humble enough to know the story needed work, but I also felt deep in my bones that Soulmatch would be published someday. I just needed to figure out how.

Launching my photography business required years of research, trial and error, sleepless nights, and dog-headed determination. But I’d accomplished a lofty goal once. I could do it again.

I contacted a published friend for a primer in the industry, another for help with my query letter. I joined the once-flourishing writing community on Twitter. And revised, revised, revised. The rejections kept mounting (whew, that was tough), but fortified by the support of friends and family, I pushed on. Maybe next time. Maybe this pitch. Maybe this revision.

Finally, I signed with an agent. Hoorah! Surely a book deal was close behind!

Ha. Did I mention I‘d written a YA dystopian novel? In Soulmatch, teens report to the government on their 18th birthdays to learn about their past lives and if they have a soulmate. Because I’m fascinated by stories where a new world order emerges from advancements in existing technology, the method for identifying souls stems from improved photo resolution. Perhaps someday we’ll be able to zoom in enough to see the unique markers of someone’s soul. Believable… and terrifying if the government holds souls accountable for past crimes. They could literally capture souls.

But in 2021, YA dystopian was not selling.

Nor was it in 2022.

In March 2023, I pulled up Publisher’s Marketplace, saw an announcement for Jill Tew’s The Dividing Sky, and sat upright. Though her debut was described as “sci-fi romance,” I saw it for what it was. Futuristic Boston? Memory dealer? Corrupt government? Oh yeah, dystopian all the way. Hope blossomed once again. (Side note: The Dividing Sky is incredible. Highly recommend.)

Around the same time, my agent asked if I wanted to try another round of submissions with Soulmatch or begin submitting my next manuscript. I sent her Jill’s announcement and said I wasn’t ready to give up. We had a book deal a month later.

I’ve often claimed Soulmatch’s main character is nothing like me. But I take it back. She gets repeatedly knocked down, her plans subverted, her heart broken; but her tenacity, family, and friends keep her going until she finally attains her happily ever after. If I knew from the outset five years would pass before Soulmatch hit the shelves, I’m not sure I would’ve stuck with it. Coincidentally, it also took five years of blood, sweat, and tears to become a full-time photographer. Now that I’m on the other side of both, I don’t regret the pursuit of either.

As a photographer, I have the honor of capturing the beauty of my clients’ souls. I’ve poured my own into pages you’ll soon be able to hold in your hands. May the story elicit the same emotions as a meticulously crafted portrait, and may it help you see the world through a new lens. But if you’re simply pleased with the final product, I’ve done my job.

Check out Rebecca Danzenbaker’s Soulmatch here:

Bookshop | Amazon

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The post Capturing Souls: How My Photography Career Helped Me Publish a YA Dystopian Romance Novel appeared first on Writer's Digest.

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Jared Lemus

Guatemalan Rhapsody

(Literary fiction/short stories, March, Ecco Press)

“Guatemalan Rhapsody tells the stories of saints and sinners, holy men and vagabonds, and holds the country of Guatemala up to the light so that it may shine to the point of synesthesia—a place so real you can taste and hear the music.”

Writes from: Most of the collection was written in Pittsburgh, where I did my MFA. Currently writing from North Carolina, where I am teaching a 1/1 as the 2024-2025 Kenan Visiting Writer at UNC-Chapel Hill, as well as applying for tenure track positions. I have no idea where I will be writing from next year.

Pre-Rhapsody: Leading up to this, I was writing stories that appeared in Joyland, Story, Cleaver, Kweli, The Porter House Review, The Pinch, and other literary journals, with the “biggest” publication being a non-fiction piece in The Kenyon Review Online. I also wrote a novel for my MFA thesis, which I shopped around a bit. As far as first attempts go, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t publishable either, so it was left to rot in the sun and is now being picked apart by my fingers—the talons of a vulture—searching for scraps and remains of meat to be used in my current project.

Time frame: It took me five years to write this book. I am a very slow writer and I edit as I go; I write one sentence, then I rewrite it, then I do it again, and one final time for good measure (maybe even a few more, because why not?). Afterward, I move on to the next sentence and do the same thing, but I also have to make sure the rhythm of the sentence that came before works with the new one. It’s tedious, but I’d like to think my editors appreciate it.

Enter the agent: I found my agent, Eric Simonoff—heavyweight champion of the publishing world (at least I think so; quote me!)—using the 100^th-anniversary edition of the Writer’s Market. It lists agents and agencies and the type of work each is looking for. It also teaches you how to write a good query letter.

Biggest surprise: My biggest surprise was finding out just how long it takes for a book to go from being sold to a publishing house to being sold on bookshelves. Eric Simonoff sold Guatemalan Rhapsody to Sarah Birmingham and Gabriella Doob at Ecco in the Spring of 2023, and it’s being published in the Spring of 2025. Talk about anticipation. I think another thing that surprised me was how many people it takes to make a book happen. It’s like raising a child—it takes a village.

What I did right: I think the one thing I did right was failing and learning how to fail better. I know that sounds weird, but I wrote failed stories, failed novels, failed poems, failed articles, even failed grocery lists. The thing is, with each of those failures, I learned something new—pieces of craft, like, how to write a believable character, what good setting can do, how to manipulate points of view, etc. But, the thing I failed into the best was finding my voice. I think that if I hadn’t failed time after time, I would have never found that unteachable thing—my voice. Each time I wrote something, I got closer and closer to finding it—this ephemeral thing all writers talk about. With each word, sentence, paragraph, I was training my ear to listen for that cadence and rhythm that makes writers stand out to those in the industry and readers alike.

What I would have done differently: I have been fortunate enough to be accepted or invited to writing conferences, including The Tin House Summer Workshop, where I was a scholar, the Colgate Writers Conference, The Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and multiple AWPs. How many invaluable and famous contacts did I make along the way, you ask? Zero. Up until a year ago, I suffered from debilitating anxiety that I quelled with imbibements. So, I was either sober and too anxious or too inebriated to interact and make meaningful connections with anyone. I met people like Melissa Febos, Tim O’Brien, Omar El Akkad, and Ingrid Rojas Contreras, to name a few, who have no idea who I am because I said or slurred “Hello,” and ran away. So, if I could do it all again, I would apologize to them from here and introduce myself anew.

Platform: The only platform I’ve had for a while now is Instagram, with, like, 60 followers. But, as I published, I would find people in the same issue or on the masthead of previous issues of that journal and add them. A lot of them added me back. Of course, I also followed big names in the publishing and movie industry, but they typically don’t accept your friend request or reciprocate (still waiting for that follow-back, Oscar Isaac—fellow Guatemalan! Just kidding. He doesn’t have an IG. I checked). I also built a website the year before I graduated from my MFA after seeing that others in my cohort had them. I didn’t blog or anything, but it was there, and I’m glad I did it when I did because, well, once you make a website and show your friends, you’d better fake it ‘til you make it or they’ll disown you.

Advice for writers: Everyone says read and write a lot, which is true; even I said it under the “things you [did] right” section of this interview. If I could expand on that, I would say read craft books; just like actors, painters, musicians, and any other artist needs to understand method acting, color theory, music theory, and other fundamentals, so do we as writers need to understand the building blocks of scenes, pacing, and, well, writing. I would also encourage people to read things they don’t like. I know: why? Well, sometimes you learn even more valuable lessons from things you don’t like. Why? Because you pick apart what’s “wrong” or “not working” for you as a reader. From that, you learn what you would do differently or how you would change things; in essence, you’re learning your craft by other’s “mistakes.” For instance, after I read Moby Dick, I learned I would never write about whales. I also learned how to bore my readers to death—write 300 pages about whale blubber, ambergris, and the whaling industry. Thank you, Melville!

Next up: I am currently working on my first novel. Here’s the working tagline: When the fictional town of Huecotenango, Guatemala, a location you don’t end up in by choice, is threatened by two brothers with a new vision for the place the residents reluctantly call home, they divide into two groups: those who want to take the chance on something that might improve their lives and those who know that it’s better to have a little than it is to have nothing. Along with this, I really want to work on a book that takes place in Central America; by which I mean a work ranging from Panama to Guatemala. I read The Motorcycle Diaries in high school and again not long ago, and I still feel the pull to do something—a fictionalized version—along the lines of what Che Guevera did for South America in Central America. I still don’t know what shape this would take—a classic or episodic novel; short or connected short stories; diary entries or a non-fictional account, but I do hope that with some funding or advance, I’ll be able to make something like this happen.

Website: JaredLemus.com

Victoria Hutchins

Make Believe: Poems for Hoping Again

(Poetry, March, Convergent Books) 

“The poems in Make Believe are an invitation to return to childlike joy, wielding nostalgia and memory as lenses to explore reconnection to our bodies, our past, our desires, and our wonder.”

Writes from: Houston! When I’m writing casually, I write at home. But I wrote a lot of Make Believe at this coffee shop in Houston, Agora. It’s open until 2 A.M., which is nice when you’re on a deadline. I also travel often and love to write on planes and at airports. I do my best thinking in the most inopportune moments—like at the airport gate when my laptop has 3 percent battery, and my flight is boarding.

Pre-Believe: I wrote very few poems and drafted lots of contracts. I was a corporate attorney who did not consider myself a creative person, let alone a writer. I’ve always loved writing, but lost that part of myself in my twenties in a fog of burnout. It’s been very tender to watch creativity take root in my life again. I feel like a little kid again.

Time frame: It felt like 30 years, but also 30 seconds. The deal for Make Believe closed in September 2023 and the manuscript has been (mostly) finished since October 2024. Make Believe was announced the day after I left my job as an attorney. I wrote the proposal during the summer of 2023 while still practicing law full-time. All summer, I drafted contracts by day and frantically wrote poems late into the night.

Enter the agent: My friend Brianna Pastor introduced me to my wonderful agent Steven Harris. At that time, I was starting to hear from publishers who had seen my social media. I did not know up from down in the publishing world. I reached out to Brianna—who is an incredible poet and had just announced the forthcoming publication of an expanded edition of her poetry collection Good Grief with HarperOne—and she helped me find my way. I’m forever grateful.

Biggest surprise: I did not realize how deeply a book changes during the editing process. I’m so glad it did. Without my editor, Leita Williams, Make Believe would be a shell of itself.

What I did right: Putting myself out there. It can feel so embarrassing to shout into the void of the Internet. Especially before anyone is talking back. My biggest fear was people from work finding my social media. But embarrassment is par for the course of changing your life. And people will surprise you! On the last day of my job as an attorney, my boss gave me a crystal butterfly. The subtext was, Go spread your wings. I wept.

What I would have done differently: I waited too long to ask for help. When I first started hearing from publishers, I did not have an agent and knew nothing about publishing. I was so far out of my depth. I knew almost no writers at that time, and none well. I wanted advice. I wanted writer friends. But I was afraid that if I reached out to the few writers I did vaguely know, they would be annoyed by me or think I just wanted to extract information from them. As a rule, people are far more generous than anxiety tells you they are.

Platform: Make Believe would not exist without my social media community. In 2022, I started sharing on TikTok. I have been a yoga practitioner for years and a registered yoga teacher since 2018. So, at first, I mostly used social media to share about my yoga practice. At some point, I bought a wireless microphone, intending to use it to teach online yoga classes. Instead, I used it to talk. I talked about love, hope, friendship, childhood, purpose—whatever was on my mind. People watching those posts started calling them poetry long before I did. Most of the poems in Make Believe are completely new, but it also has expanded versions of previously shared community favorites.

Advice for writers: Unfortunately, I think consistency is huge. There’s no secret sauce. I love how Mary Oliver describes the creative spark as a cautious lover that waits to see if you will prove your devotion to it by showing up when you say you will. If you do, it starts to show up frequently too. If you don’t, it rarely appears either. In A Poetry Handbook, she says, “Why should it? It can wait. It can stay silent a lifetime.” As someone who kept her creativity locked up in a dusty corner of her soul for a decade, that remark gave me chills.

Next up: I am currently working up the courage to admit to myself that I want to write another book.

Instagram: @thedailyvictorian

Roanne Lau

The Serpent Called Mercy

(Fantasy, March, Daw Books)

“A sentimental book thief and a religious ex-brawler join an illegal monster-fighting arena for some fast coin to pay off debt but quickly discover the most dangerous beasts are outside the ring as they get embroiled in a game of politics orchestrated by a cunning match-master.”

Writes from: Malaysia.

Pre-Mercy: I’ve been writing for fun since I was a kid, drafting some deeply embarrassing things that will never see the light of day. I also started building a paracosm back then, a fictional world for my stories to be set in. I’d toy with various plotlines set in it, exploring different characters and ideas. The Serpent Called Mercy was the first story in this world that I actually finished though.

Time frame: I started my first draft all the way back in 2015—a decade ago (always terrifying realising how much time has flown!). I drafted it fairly quickly, whacking out the words in about two months—but even I could tell they were pretty rubbish words. So over the years, I rewrote it countless times, fleshing out different aspects of the book, refining my prose, tightening my character arcs, homing in on what exactly was the story I wanted to tell and the themes I wanted to explore.

Enter the agent: I did attempt querying the traditional way a few times over the years, usually firing off a few queries and getting a couple of full requests that would ultimately end in an “I enjoyed this but I don’t think I’m the right agent for this” rejection. I’d then hit the pause button on querying to try to figure out what exactly was the X factor I was missing, launching yet another rewrite of the book to experiment with another angle.

Then in 2021, the Pitch Wars mentorship program opened for applications, and I decided to toss my hat into the ring. The brilliant Saara El-Arifi, author of The Ending Fire Trilogy, plucked me out of her slush pile and chose me as her mentee, helping me polish my book up in time for the agent showcase at the end of the program. Thankfully, I did wind up signing with an agent through the showcase! Alas, just a few months later, she wound up leaving the agenting world before we could even begin actually working on the manuscript together, but I then moved over to another agent, who’s been brilliant to work with since.

Biggest surprise: How non-linear the journey can be. From the outside, it always seemed fairly straightforward: write a book, get an agent, get a book deal, book gets published, rinse and repeat. But now that I’m going through my first bout of publishing, there’ve been a lot more bumps in the road than I expected: getting an agent, then losing the agent, getting a book deal, then losing the editor who offered the book deal—various unexpected hiccups and setbacks along the way. But all those lows are balanced out by the highs—getting the news from my second agent that my book was going to auction, getting my first glowing review from Publishers Weekly, getting my first DM from a reader saying my book had restored her love for fantasy novels, etc. The rollercoaster ride never ends!

Another surprise? How chaotic my email inbox would become, with emails from my agent, editors, publicists, interviewers, and more flying in willy-nilly, new deadlines appearing left, right, and centre. Still struggling to stay on top of it and not let things slip through!

What I did right: Letting myself take breaks whenever I needed it, but never fully giving up on my book. Throughout the years, I hit several periods of frustration and resignation as I racked up rejection after rejection, thinking that traditional publication might not be in the cards for me. But whenever I came close to burnout, I’d put my book aside, and either swap to another project or just take a break from writing entirely. I think that was integral for me to maintain the motivation to keep trying. Because eventually, once I was rested and my creative well had been refilled, I’d be drawn back to The Serpent Called Mercy, ready to tackle it from another angle and see if I could crack the code this time. So to anyone who’s getting tired of their book and starting to lose hope in it: chill for a moment, put your book aside, and do whatever makes you happy. When the time’s right, you’ll come back to your book

What I would have done differently: I don’t regret anything, to be honest. I imagine everything I’ve done so far—the good, the bad, and the ugly—has led me to this point. Even my mistakes were necessary lessons for me to learn from via first-hand experience. If I really had to give an answer, then I suppose I’ll say I would’ve prioritised protecting my joy throughout the years, rather than letting it be occasionally extinguished by anxiety or frustration at the publishing process. But hey, I’ve always managed to find my way back to joy, so no (permanent) harm done!

Platform: Nada. When I got my book deal, all I had was my Twitter account with barely 100 followers (90 percent friends made through Pitch Wars, 10 percent spam bots with suspiciously attractive profile pictures), and an Instagram account with a grand total of 1 follower (that being my agent, hah!). During contract negotiations, my agent fought on my behalf to get social media expectations for me whittled down to the bare minimum. At one point, she said to them something like, “You can’t expect her to have any impact with social media, she doesn’t even have any followers!” which I found hilariously blunt.

I am trying to be a little more active on social media now because I do think it can be a fun way to engage with readers. But honestly, trying to learn all the newfangled features and idiosyncrasies of each app makes me feel like a cavewoman discovering modern society for the first time.

Advice for writers: Follow your heart and write what is authentic to you, regardless of how it’ll be received. There were periods where I’d try to understand the publishing industry better by reading all the recently published books in my genre, studying market trends, absorbing books on the craft of writing, imitating the techniques of others, and trying to figure out how to make my book palatable to a wider audience.

It was good and necessary for me to do all this to improve my craft in the early stages—but trying to forecast trends and obey every publishing rule out there just led to me feeling deeply unhappy with my book and writing itself, cheapening an act of creativity and authentic expression into an act of conformity. It felt like I was squeezing my brain into the confines of someone else’s skull.

So at a certain point, I decided to just trust my instincts as a writer and lean harder into my idiosyncrasies to write a book that would truly hew to what I liked to write—a story that maps the patterns of my brain and what I’ve always wanted to read but couldn’t find out there.

I imagine following this advice runs the risk of writing a largely alienating book—but the readers who’ll love your weird book will absolutely love it, because there’s nothing else like it out there. Authenticity seems a better thing to strive for than acceptance.

Next up: I’m working on the second book in my contract, which is also in the fantasy genre. I’m not allowed to say anything about it. Top secret. My publisher will send hitmen after me if I leak too much information. There’s a red laser dot appearing on my forehead as I type this. Send help!

Website: RoanneLau.com

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Tara Tai

Single Player

(Sapphic rom-com, January, Alcove Press)

“When romance-loving Cat Li and no-nonsense Andi Zhang are forced to work together to add love interests to the video game they’re developing, tensions run high, proving the biggest fights—and best love stories—happen out-of-game.”

Writes from: Boston, MA.

Pre-Player: What led up to this book: playing an absurd number of video games during the pandemic. I became really interested in the medium in 2021 and how singularly immersive it is, and wanted to write a novel about a protagonist who lets that immersion seep into her real life when she tries to apply video game logic to her relationships.

Time frame: Even though I’m not usually a fast drafter, I wrote Single Player back in 2022 over the course of three months or so.

Enter the agent: My agent is the fantastic Abby Saul of the Lark Group, who plucked me out of the obscurity that is the slush pile.

Biggest surprise: I’m the type of person who will sweat the small stuff and let it ruin an entire day of writing. Does that comma belong there? Yes? No? Until I figure out the right answer, I can’t possibly write the next sentence. But going through the process of getting Single Player out into the world has taught me that publishing can be supportive without being punitive and that other people will catch and fix those kinds of details. They’ll let me know that all my angsting over commas was for naught since I got it wrong anyway. Hopefully, moving forward, I can let go a bit more and increase the velocity with which I write.

What I did right: The only thing I can confidently say I did right was to keep writing. So much of this industry is about timing and luck, and so many incredible stories will never see the light of traditional publishing’s day because of factors that can’t be controlled. The only thing we writers can do is write, and also remember that if we “succeed,” it’s at least partially because we (or our words) were in the right place at the right time.

What I would have done differently: There was a while when it was tough for me to consume any piece of media—books, music, movies TV shows, and, of course, video games—and enjoy it without thinking about how I could learn from it to better myself as a storyteller. I get really obsessive when I’m working on a manuscript, and it’s hard not to treat reading other authors’ works as a form of study as opposed to a form of relaxation. Looking back, I would’ve tried to do a better job of separating my writer’s brain from my audience member’s brain. How, though, remains a mystery.

Platform: I didn’t have much of a social media presence before my deal and still don’t. Largely, I post things that make me happy and reflect my real-life interests—usually bad pictures of good food and snippets of nerdy people playing nerdy games. As a result, I have a pretty uncurated and scattershot (but authentic!) feed.

Advice for writers: Intuit what advice to ignore. When I first started writing again in my late twenties after a long hiatus, I learned about avoiding adverbs and the words “just” and “that” and utilizing no more than one flashback every five chapters. The “feedback” drove me bonkers and really slowed down my writing in the early years, along with making me feel like a massive imposter.

Advice is situational. It doesn’t apply to everyone or every piece of writing. I still remember my elementary school teacher informing me I should “Never start a sentence with the word but.” That rule I break with abandon these days.

Next up: Getting the next novel out. The world still needs more sapphic rom-coms featuring POC leads and love interests.

Website: TaraTai.com

Maria Zoccola

Helen of Troy, 1993: Poems

(Poetry, January, Scribner)

“Part myth retelling, part character study, Helen of Troy, 1993 reimagines the Homeric Helen as a dissatisfied housewife in 1990s small-town Tennessee, exploring questions of social rigidity, isolation, and claiming and retaining agency over your own choices and your own narrative.”

Writes from: Memphis, T.N.

Pre-Helen: I’ve been writing poetry for years, publishing individual poems in literary journals and magazines, on themes ranging from religious grief to killer mermaids to reckoning with the South and my place in it. I wasn’t actively trying to write a full-length collection … until Helen of Troy marched onto my page and introduced herself, and all of a sudden I couldn’t stop writing until she’d said her piece.

Time frame: I wrote Helen poems off and on for about 18 months. When Scribner picked up the book, I thought it was complete. How fortunate I was to have a brilliant editor in Emily Polson, who saw the need for a new poetic throughline within the narrative. It was challenging to return to the page after having mentally closed that door, but I ended up adding a sonnet crown (that is, a series of seven interlocked sonnets) that I think gives the book a dimensionality it was missing. Thank God for editors!

Enter the agent: Wonderfully, my agent Kelsey Day of Aragi, Inc. and I were friends prior to their representing me. We first bonded over word choice and craft—Kelsey is also an accomplished poet! I love their work.

Biggest surprise: I think that most poets are fairly accustomed to doing things on our own, cheerleading our own work, and forging our own paths. Even to have one other person take our work as seriously as we take it ourselves is an enormous gift. When I entered the publishing process with Scribner, I was surprised and delighted to discover a whole team of people ready to champion my book, working together with me to bring it into the world and help it find its audience. Agent, editor, marketing specialist, publicist, audio team…the list just keeps going. I feel very fortunate, and maybe a little bit like I need to keep pinching myself.

What I did right: I think “breaking in” is a tricky concept for poets! But I will say that as I was writing and placing these poems in journals and magazines (in the poetry world, we usually publish many or most of our poems this way before they end up in our final books), I had editors tell me over and over again that they loved my Helen poems not only because were they good, but also because they were kind of deliciously bizarre—they were something the editors, who read thousands of poems each year, hadn’t seen before.

What I would have done differently: In my first few years of writing poetry, I felt very isolated in my creative work. I longed for connection to other poets, but I had few local options, and I thought my work too amateurish to reach out to writers online through social media. I wish I had been braver! There are so many poets—actively publishing or just beginning to send work out—who are also looking for community. I cherish the friendships with other poets I have now, but I think forming those kinds of relationships years ago would have been transformational for me.

Platform: The poetry world tends to congregate on X. I’ve really enjoyed following other poets and keeping up with their latest releases, and this is where I also tend to post my news and updates. Being active on social media doesn’t come naturally to me, so it’s been a learning curve.

Advice for writers: Writing should be fun! Or if not fun, precisely, then at least not full of suffering. When I’m struggling in the middle of a poem and getting frustrated, I sometimes have to sit back and ask myself why I’m letting the poem torture me. Writing can be an art, a catharsis, a delight, an exploration, a labor of love—sometimes all of these at once. But when writing feels like sticking myself full of pins, I know I’m doing something wrong.

Next up: I have been having the best time exploring themes and arcs—and genres!—for my next project. More from me soon!

Website: MariaZoccola.com

R. P. O’Donnell

No Comfort for the Dead

(Mystery, February, Crooked Lane)

“After witnessing a murder, a small-town librarian is forced to act when the local police arrest the wrong man.”

Writes from: I wrote this book in a tiny fishing village in West Cork, Ireland—I’ve lived here for nearly a decade.

Pre-Comfort: I’ve been writing since I was a kid, but I’d never considered writing a book, let alone a novel. After I moved to Ireland, I was having some success writing freelance articles for the papers, but I wanted to try something different. I started writing some short stories, peering in the windows of a fictional small village. But I kept coming back to the same characters over and over; I fell in love with them and I just wanted to see what they would do next. What they would do when faced with a concussed hedgehog, for example. And bit by bit, along the way, I found the story.

Time frame: I’ve never been able to wait until the end to edit—editing is my favorite part. I write my first draft by hand, with a ballpoint pen and a yellow legal pad. I have terrible handwriting, so typing the pages is my first round of edits. It took me about five months to get the whole manuscript in shape for submission.

Enter the agent: My research was mainly to read the Acknowledgments pages in the novels I loved. I am very lucky to have found Charlotte Seymour. The road to a deal can be a long process, or at least feel like it, with ups and downs along the way—it’s great to have found someone who really believes in my work and champions.

Biggest surprise: The whole thing! I love books, and I always have, but I’d never thought about just how much goes into creating one. So it’s been a really interesting experience. But probably the main thing is the importance of patience – even if you think you’re prepared for how long the whole process will feel, it will feel much, much longer.

What I did right: For me, finding my agent Charlotte was a big one. I had an agent previously, for a nonfiction work, and it didn’t work out—it happens! And I took my time submitting—in batches of three or four. I was able to learn from the rejections or near misses, rather than blowing through the entire list in one.

What I would have done differently: I would’ve trusted myself to attempt a novel long before I did. I spent a lot of time telling myself I couldn’t do it before I just got down to doing it.

Platform: I work in marketing, so this piece should be much easier than it actually is. It’s much harder to market yourself. But I’ve created a website and joined Goodreads. I’m also planning a Substack.

Advice for writers: Just get yourself in front of the page on a regular basis, and something will come.

If you’re like me, starting is the hardest part. Find any possible way to just get yourself to sit down, that’s 95 percent of it. Trick yourself if you have to.

Next up: I’m currently writing the second book in the series—I’m having a lot of fun getting lost in the winding roads of Castlefreke again

Website: RP-ODonnell.com

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Kristin Graves

The Garlic Companion

(Cooking and Home & Garden, September, Storey Publishing)

“Recipes, crafts, preservation techniques, and simple ways to grow your own garlic!”

Writes from: Alberta, Canada

Pre-Garlic: I am a farmer with a vegetable subscription program that includes weekly newsletters and garden recipes. It has been a great way to connect with my customers, share unique ideas to utilize the ingredients given to them, and offer a glimpse at transparent farming practices. Over time, I began to write articles for magazines with a wide range of topics from growing garlic to promoting women in agriculture. When I started writing my book, I was able to look back over eight years’ worth of my own content for inspiration.

Time frame: It took me 4 months to finish the first draft, it was the perfect winter project! My summers on the farm are quite busy and chaotic, but the winter season is enjoyed at a slower pace. I spent many snowstorms and cold nights cozied up with my laptop, writing to my heart’s content. I had a favourite writing playlist that I would listen to as well. The best part was that, for once, my work could travel so I could easily take it with me wherever I went. I really enjoyed the writing process!

Enter the agent: I received a message on Instagram from an acquisitions editor inquiring whether I would be interested in writing a book about garlic. It is a moment I will never forget! Writing a book has been a life-long dream of mine so I jumped at the opportunity.

Biggest surprise: I didn’t know it at the time, but there are so many things that happen behind the scenes that lead up to publication. I am so grateful for the team I get to work with at Storey who have helped guide me through the process.

What I did right: I think success is best achieved by being authentic to your true self. Whether it is in the pages of this book, or out in the garlic field, I always try to show up as a version of myself that I am proud of.

What I would have done differently: In a perfect world I would never again schedule so many photoshoots during my busiest time of year, however, the timing was so critical to be able to photograph an entire growing season. It happened exactly the way it was meant to, but the process was quite tiring.

Platform: Social media can be a very useful tool and is a great way to connect with fellow growers, and hopefully now prospective readers. I mostly use Instagram as my platform, and try to stay current with the trends to extend my reach. I work with an amazing publicist who has a great marketing plan in place for the rollout of my book.

Advice for writers: Surround yourself with people who support you and cheer you on. It’s easy to get lost in the writing or be overwhelmed by it. You’ll appreciate having them there with you and being able to celebrate your milestones together!

Next up: My dream is to host a garlic farm-to-table dinner on our farm! In terms of writing, I always have new ideas cooking—I hope someday there will be another cookbook!

Website: FifthGenGardens.ca

Andrea Jo DeWerd

What We Sacrifice for Magic

(Fantasy, September, Alcove Press)

“A coming-of-age novel following three generations of witches in Minnesota in the 1960s—featuring the complicated, imperfect women of the Watry-Ridder family, forging one’s path in life for oneself, and a sprinkling of family secrets.”

Writes from: I’m living and writing in downtown Brooklyn, N.Y., but born and raised in Minnesota.

Pre-Magic: Years ago, I started writing a very different book—about my family’s experience with the American Dream, through the lens of my grandfather, the son of a Dutch immigrant. But in the wake of the loss of my beloved Grampy, that book was too hard to write. It’s not my story, and it wasn’t ready for me to tell. In my grief, I was looking for an escape, and the book evolved into something more firmly rooted in fiction—and much more magical. While What We Sacrifice for Magic is no longer strictly based on my own family, there are echoes of my family in the Watry-Ridder family and the setting is very much influenced by my Minnesotan upbringing and places that are meaningful to me and my family.

Time frame: This book will be nearly 8 years old by the time it is published! I started writing the sketches that would become What We Sacrifice for Magic when my nephew was a baby, and he will start second grade just before my pub date. I wrote most of my first draft in the mornings before I would go into my day job, then on the marketing team at Random House. I didn’t tell anyone I was writing because I didn’t want to jinx it or put pressure on myself. But when I finished the first draft, I started telling people and took a few days off work to attend the Southampton Writers Conference. That was my coming out as a writer. (At the conference, I didn’t tell anyone that I worked in publishing. I was like a double agent!)

Enter the agent: After revising on my own for six months, I felt ready to start sending the book out to agents in February 2020. Because of my day job, I had the privilege of being a known quantity, but I didn’t know exactly how much that would help me in my querying journey. I thought at the least, people would recognize my name and open my email. When I started querying, a few agent connections were excited to read the manuscript right away, but I ultimately got back 30+ passes in the first few months.

I did a revise-and-resubmit for one agent, who was very helpful to me in the long run. We had an hour-long phone call to discuss the book and the revisions, and I spent nearly a year on the revision, amongst having COVID twice myself and changing jobs, and other life events in that year. When I finally resubmitted, her priorities had shifted. She needed to give her full attention to the other big authors on her list, who were all turning in books after the Covid lockdown. But the work I did for her ultimately got the book to a much better place.

I kept querying, sending out 5ish at a time. I figured it had to be a numbers game, and I just had to connect with the right reader who would share my vision for the story. But by summer 2021, I was bereft. I got passes back from two of the remaining top five agents on my wishlist, and I was devastated. I was ready to put the book in the proverbial drawer.

I took to Twitter spontaneously one morning to lament, posting:

I am querying lit agents with my debut novel: a multi-generational, coming-of-age story about 3 generations of witches in 1968, small-town MN. Early industry friends have called it “Practical Magic* meets Kitchens of the Great Midwest.” Msg me if you’d like to see it!

Well, that did the trick. My followers at the time were mostly other publishing industry people, including some agents, from the projects we had worked on together. I was blown away by the response that I got—20+ requests for partials or full manuscripts, including a message from Kate McKean at Morhaim Literary, who was my dream agent and had been closed to queries for most of Covid. Kate and I connected, she loved the book, and I was on her roster by September 2021.

Biggest surprise: The big thing I am constantly being reminded of as a debut author: man, you really have to set your ego aside in this process, over and over again. I felt that the first time I got notes back from beta readers, and with every pass from agents or editors. As a book marketer, I’ve told other authors for years: DO NOT READ YOUR REVIEWS. And I still accidentally saw my first 1-star Goodreads review when I was logging in to claim my Goodreads Author profile.

I get it now. A bad review can send me into a tailspin, worrying about the life of the book forever. I have had to learn that I can’t control how people will respond to the book, now that it’s out in the world. It’s out of my hands. And if I can’t remember that, I have my agent and my writing group text for support.

What I did right: While not everyone will have the publishing connections that I am so fortunate to have built-in my marketing career, I do think some of what I learned can be universally applied: don’t be afraid to brag about yourself online. If you don’t share what you’re working on, regardless of your connections, you’re missing any possible opportunity to catch the eye of someone who may help you. And by and large, the writing community online wants to lift each other up.

In revisions, I had to learn which feedback to listen to, and which to discard. Sometimes a beta reader would suggest a solution for something in the manuscript that didn’t feel right to me or felt like it was going to take the book into a different place than I intended (making it YA, making it too literary). I learned that it was enough for me to recognize that I had lost them on that page, that scene, that chapter, or that something wasn’t working there. But I didn’t have to take their suggested fix if it didn’t feel right for the book.

What I would have done differently: I have days when I wish I could’ve gotten here faster. I wish my first book was published in my 20s, so that I would have more time in my life to write more books. But I know that’s not possible, and it wasn’t possible with everything going on in my life by the time I started really writing. I was lucky to get 100 words at a time some days, but that first draft came together a few paragraphs at a time. I’ll be 36 when my first novel is published, and I’m proud now that I was able to do this while working full-time, with chronic illness, with major family events and illnesses happening at the same time.

Platform: This question is so loaded for me because I spend my day job, now at the book marketing agency I started in 2022, helping authors build their platforms and find new readers. I have a bit of a platform (a few hundred Instagram followers) built steadily through my work in publishing, and I have all the knowledge needed to grow my platform as an author, but as a small business owner with any semblance of a life, I’m struggling to find the time for my own book marketing—which is so common for so many authors! I’m at a point now where I have to take my own advice and bring on outside help to execute some of my marketing dreams. I just hired someone to help me with Reels and TikTok videos because I can have all the knowledge in the world, but it doesn’t matter if I don’t have the time to actually get it done.

Advice for writers: My writing group loves what we call a “mistress” project: another story, idea, something to work on outside of your main WIP to give yourself a break once in a while. It may feel like you are “cheating” on that novel you are supposed to be writing right now, but sometimes working on something else for a bit can open up new doors for you in your main WIP. When I was revising What We Sacrifice for Magic, I stopped to outline and write a few chapters of my next book, a contemporary Christmas rom-com, also set in Minnesota.

Next up: I’m working on something that I tentatively call Christmas Cookie Miracle. It may be too spicy for Hallmark, but it’s definitely a feel-good, smart, sassy holiday love story. Think The Holidate meets Fitness Junkie by Jo Piazza and Lucy Sykes.

Website: Andrea Jo DeWerd author site: AJDeWerd.com
Book marketing agency: TheFutureOfAgency.com

Kristin Owens

Elizabeth Sails

(Women’s Book Club Fiction, October, Rising Action Publishing Co.)

“The death of an eccentric aunt forces an anxiety-ridden ghostwriter on an unintended voyage of self-discovery.”

Writes from: Sticky Southwest Florida

Pre-Sails: At 47 years old, I started writing beer and wine articles for Colorado magazines. I got free samples and my neighbors adored me. I joined a local writing organization and met some tremendous critique partners who encouraged a sassy novel. Early on at a pitch event, a respected agent declared I had “voice,” which also boosted me onward. I should note, I was a university administrator and professor for two decades. I like schedules, order, and statistics. It turns out publishing has obsolete data points, unexpected pivots, and is as directionless as me in a kitchen.

Time frame: It took six months to write and a year to edit on my own. Then the professionals arrived with something called ‘feedback.’ My agent and publisher tightened and tweaked, but always validated both me and the story. I never thought my first novel would become my debut. If someone had said, “Pumpkin, this outrageousness will take at least eight years,” I could have better managed my expectations and liquor intake (47 + 8 = 55 years old, you’re welcome).

Enter the agent: While querying, I received almost fifty full requests which was both exhilarating and disheartening because no offers came along. Then Madelyn Burt, Stonesong Literary, requested some minor changes and subsequently offered rep. I got more offers but choose Madelyn because she is very editorial and laughs in all the right places.

Biggest surprise: Write about what you love … adore … can’t live without. You’ll never be bored.

What I did right: I kept going. And bought lots of Kleenex. I believe new writers search for validation and spouses/partners can only do so much. Over the years, my mans has learned to say, “It’s the best thing you ever wrote.” I picked me a winner.

What I would have done differently: Leave the laptop at home while on vacation. Which (unfortunately?) is when I do my best writing.

Platform: I figure those who like to read books about a cruise are likely to sail themselves (hey, that PhD does come in handy!) And I’ve finagled a way of sailing more frequently—as an enrichment speaker. I entertain and educate passengers on writing, books, and wine. Yes, it’s a shamefully fun job but I can’t feel too guilty because hey, I’m working, people. It’s also a quintessential writing retreat with tea and scones daily at 3:30 pm.

Advice for writers: Surround yourself with yes people.

Next up: There are always two sides to a story. Beth’s sister, Victoria, needs her own spotlight.

Website: Kristin-Owens.com

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Madeleine Cravens

Pleasure Principle

(Poetry, June, Scribner)

“Pleasure Principle is a series of lyric poems that look at intimate relationships, family history, and urban environments, written from the perspective of a queer woman living in New York.”

Writes from: I wrote most of the book in Brooklyn. I currently live in Oakland, California.

Pre-Pleasure: I moved back home to New York in late 2019, when I was 23, after several years away.

The city went into lockdown a few months later. I became sort of fixated with the strange, horrifying emptiness of public spaces I had known since childhood. Without crowds, the city’s architecture became so clear. So that was the place I began to write from, in my head, running around Prospect Park, or walking across the Manhattan Bridge, trying to stay sane.

Prior to my book getting picked up, I had some publications in journals, and had won a few prizes, but I wasn’t publishing extensively.

Time frame: I wrote most of this book between 2020 and 2022. But some poems contain phrases I wrote far before that, from journals I kept throughout my teens and earlier twenties. In 2022, I moved to California for the Stegner Fellowship, and Louise Glück helped me radically revise the manuscript: cutting several poems, rearranging order, writing a handful of new pieces. She also encouraged me to go back to everything I’d ever written to see if anything could be useful. I would bring her pages of random lines written over the course of my life. Then she would tell me what she liked and what she didn’t.

Biggest surprise: I had more time between when the collection was acquired and when the final pass was due than I had anticipated. It was almost a year. I feel grateful for that space.

What I did right: I’m not sure if I’ve “broken in” yet: I still feel very much at the beginning of things. If I’ve done anything right, though, it’s been to write constantly while also giving myself permission to be an amateur, to write badly, to need to learn from others. And I read a lot.

What I would have done differently: Professionally, I have regrets about never achieving fluency in another language. I am hugely impressed by translators and envious of their relationship to writing.

Platform: I use Instagram and sometimes post my work on it, but I mostly see it as a personal platform, rather than a professional one.

Advice for writers: I think it’s important to learn to really appreciate and seek out criticism, even if this isn’t in your nature. I have a borderline masochistic love of critique, which has helped me. I enjoy it when someone takes apart a poem I’ve written; I think this is a gift.

Next up: I am tentatively working on a second collection of poems, set in California. The working title is Observatory. More largely, I need to find a job and figure out where to live.

Website: Madeleine-Cravens.com

Asha Thanki

A Thousand Times Before

(Speculative literary fiction, July, Viking)

“Over the course of a night and a day, Ayukta tells her wife why she’s been hesitant to have children: She comes from a lineage with access to ancestral memory, and to pave their path forward together, Ayukta must tell the story of those that came before her.”

Writes from: Brooklyn.

Pre-Thousand: I was publishing short stories and essays, but felt that I needed the support of time and funding to write a longer project. In the meantime, I attended a generative workshop where I wrote what was essentially a 5-page version of this novel. When I later when to my MFA, and when my last surviving grandparent passed early that first semester, I felt this was the novel I needed to write now.

Time frame: I cannot emphasize enough the privilege of funded time. I spent two years on my first draft of the novel, and then the third year of my MFA was spent on revision. I think I revised almost five times.

Enter the agent: I found my incredible agents, Stephanie Delman and Danya Kukafka from Trellis, through AWP Writer to Agent. I tossed my query letter into the submissions almost on a whim—I didn’t even attend the conference—but was timing it alongside my emailed queries. I was instantly won over by Stephanie and Danya’s enthusiasm, care, and deep understanding of this book.

Biggest surprise: I have so much gratitude for how this journey has played out. I think one thing that has really helped is learning to be unafraid to ask any silly question, to speak up with a thought no matter how small, and to remember that, at the end of the day, the words in this book are all that I have control over.

What I did right: Listening to my mentors—especially V. V. Ganeshananthan, who helped me stay grounded and present while revising. She reminded me that I owed it to myself and the book to take my time and make sure I was 100 percent satisfied when I sent this book into the process of publication. That was a blessing.

What I would have done differently: Honestly? I would’ve started the next project sooner.

Platform: I’ve always used my handles socially. Transitioning to posting book content has been exciting but also surreal—people I haven’t met will have feelings about the cover, the story, and more, and I’m adjusting to this.

Advice for writers: “Just do it.” –Nike, and every mentor I’ve had.

But also, there’s no one way to do this. You might write every day, or not; you might pour yourself into a day job, or not. Whatever works for you is what works for you. Be unabashed.

Next up: Celebrating this moment with my community, and then pulling my laptop out so I can scribble my way through another novel.

Website: AshaThanki.com

MJ Wassmer

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend

(Speculative satire, August, Sourcebooks Landmark)

“A young couple is vacationing on a remote island in the Bahamas when the sun explodes, causing temperatures to drop and class tension to rise.”

Writes from: Memphis, Tenn.

Pre-Zero: My mom would tell you I was published in Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul at 15, but I try to forget that. I spent my 20s cubicle-surfing in various corporate communication roles. When I turned 30, I started my own business so I’d have more time to write. That’s when Zero Stars was born.

Time frame: The majority of the first draft was written during COVID lockdowns, so a lot of that existential dread—and gallows humor—made it onto the page.

Enter the agent: You merely adopted the slush pile. I was born in it, molded by it. After a failed first manuscript and about a year of pitching this one, I was lucky enough to catch the attention of the very charming Brady McReynolds at JABberwocky Literary.

Biggest surprise: The support of fellow authors! I think people assume that creatives in the same field all secretly (or not so secretly …) hate each other, but the vast majority of authors I’ve interacted with so far have been incredibly kind and helpful. Funny, too—that helps. Shoutout to the 2024 debut Slack group.

What I did right: I didn’t give up. Well, OK—my wife didn’t let me give up.

What I would have done differently: I would’ve written more in my 20s. I wasted a whole decade chasing paychecks when I should’ve been chasing word counts. I’m not sure I regret it, I met some great people, but I wish I hadn’t disregarded my passion for so long.

Platform: Does a Wordle group chat count as a platform? I’m terrible at social media. Thankfully, my wife’s a whiz. Together, we started an Instagram account to promote Zero Stars, connect with readers, and goof off. If anyone wants to shoot us a question about the publishing journey or watch me dance off rhythm, check out @wassmerwrites.

Advice for writers: “I’m singing for the love of it—have mercy on the man who sings to be adored.” That’s a Josh Ritter lyric I think about often. Write for yourself, write what brings you joy, what makes you laugh, cry, whatever. The second you start writing for anyone else, you’re cooked.

Next up: I’m currently working on my second novel, which I’m grateful has sold to Sourcebooks in the U.S. and Bonnier in the U.K. There’s an animatronic Benjamin Franklin in it.

Website: MJWassmer.com

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Ishi Robinson

Sweetness in the Skin

(Literary fiction, April, HarperCollins)

“Sweetness in the Skin is about a Jamaican girl named Pumkin, struggling with her identity, and trying to find her place in the world, who is determined to bake her way into the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Writes from: Berlin, Germany (in the guest room, on the couch, or in a coffee shop).

Pre-Sweetness: I started off writing short stories as a child, a couple of which got published, then as a teenager, I wrote a weekly opinion column on teenage life in Kingston, Jamaica for the national newspaper. In Rome, I wrote a weekly opinion column on life as an expat for a now-defunct e-zine. I got back into fiction writing in Berlin: I wrote short stories, a number of which were published in online magazines and one in an anthology. Sweetness in the Skin is my first attempt at writing long-form (well, if you discount the novel I was writing when I was 12—it was a fantasy novel that I abandoned halfway through once I started talking to boys on the phone! My one regret …).

Time frame: I started writing it in the month of my 40^th birthday, which is significant for me because I just don’t think I could have written this book when I was younger. I started out with NaNoWriMo and finished it in about two years, although I took a few months off writing during the pandemic. You would have thought there would have been more time to write then, but the fear and chaos just erased my creativity. I have a day job, so I would wake up early to write every morning and spend a big chunk of every Sunday writing.

Enter the agent: I’ve been a member of a writing organization, The Reader Berlin, for about a decade. The founder, Victoria Gosling (a fantastic author!), read my draft and asked me if she could send it to my now agent, Jenny Hewson from Lutyens & Rubenstein, because she thought it was right up her alley. I researched Jenny before we met and knew, unequivocally, she was The One, but I had to play it cool when we met virtually. Luckily she loved the draft and offered me representation, and the rest is history!

Biggest surprise: Hilariously, when I got my book deals in September, I thought the book would be published by that same December, three months later. I was horrified to learn it would take almost 2 years! I have no patience whatsoever, but I certainly had to develop some. My parents refused to accept this at first and wanted to know “who they could speak to” to get this expedited.

What I did right: So much is about being in the right place at the right time, which isn’t in anyone’s control, so I don’t think it’s about doing anything “right” or “wrong.” What helped me, and what were the only things I could control, were: 1) always, always, always writing. There’s a reason it’s called a writing practice; and 2) finding community. The Reader Berlin introduced me to my group of writing friends, who are now like family to me. We helped each other write more and write better. I wouldn’t have written this book or felt it was good enough for publication without this community of writers.

What I would have done differently: Not one thing.

Did you have a platform in place?: Not at all! My Instagram was private until just a few weeks ago. Right now, I’m trying to engage with other authors on my socials, as well as with bookstagrammers, which honestly is just fun. I love engaging with people who love books as much as I do, although now my TBR list is out of control! I’m also sharing the books I love on those platforms as a way to connect with other readers. Honestly, I’m not the best at social media and don’t think I’ll ever have A Platform, as such, but it can be a good way to reach likeminded people

Advice for writers: Take it one line at a time: sometimes trying to see the whole picture can get so overwhelming, but just taking one step after another will get you where you need to go.

Take your writing seriously: don’t “try and squeeze it in” for when it’s convenient or when inspiration hits. Be consistent and carve out time to hone your craft, whether or not you think anybody will ever read it.

If you’re blocked and you just can’t think what else to write for your story, just write literally anything else! Write 750 words of stream of consciousness, write about how you can’t write today, find a random writing prompt, and write about that. Give it at least 10 minutes. And sometimes, at a certain point, just throw your character in there and see what happens. You’d be surprised how those ramblings can sometimes turn into your best chapters.

Next up: I’m working on a second novel, which is completely independent from this one. But no one told me at the start that writing the second one is harder than the first! Please, send help…

Website: IshiRobinson.com

John Cochran

Breaking Into Sunlight

(MG realistic fiction, June, Algonquin Young Readers)

“A boy whose family is torn apart by his father’s opioid addiction learns the power of friendship and community to help him step out of the shadow of his father’s disease and live joyfully despite his pain and loss.”

Writes from: Washington, D.C.

Pre-Sunlight: I was a journalist for years, covering everything from crime and local government to state and national politics. I came to D.C. to write about Congress for Congressional Quarterly. When my kids were small, I decided to leave journalism to be home with them and also try my hand at writing novels, which was a long-deferred ambition.

Time frame: It took me a bit less than a year to write a decent complete first draft of this book, but some pieces of it are older—repurposed scenes and characters from things I had written earlier that didn’t get off the ground. One writer who critiqued an early draft of Breaking into Sunlight told me it didn’t read to her like a novice work of fiction, and in a sense, it really wasn’t: I had been at fiction-writing for quite a while on my own, writing and revising and trying to make a manuscript work before finally showing this one around.

Enter the agent: My agent is the wonderful Isabelle Bleecker of Nordlyset Literary Agency. I found her through Writer’s Digest! I put together a lucky Google search, with some search terms relating to my book and genre, and it turned up a “new literary agency alert” in Writer’s Digest from a few years before, featuring Isabelle and her partner, Jennifer Thompson. I emailed Isabelle a query letter and sample of the manuscript, and she liked it enough to ask for a full manuscript. We connected by Zoom after she’d read it, and I felt instantly comfortable with her. In writing my query letter, by the way, I followed Jane Friedman’s advice closely: JaneFriedman.com/query-letters.

Biggest surprise: It wasn’t really a surprise, but I did find that my experience as a journalist prepared me well for the editing process on the book. Being edited day after day as a journalist, often under enormous time pressure, teaches you to not cling to anything you’ve written, to never take criticism of your writing personally, to be ruthless in quickly cutting or changing writing that you might love but is ultimately not right for the story. You also learn to value and respect editors. My experience with my editor at Algonquin Young Readers, Cheryl Klein, was among the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve worked with a lot of editors over the years. (Cheryl also has written a terrific book on writing: The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults.)

I was surprised by how emotional I got when I opened the envelope full of galley copies of my novel when it landed on my front porch at home. I had seen my writing for years in newspapers and magazines. But there was something extra special about seeing this story, which had existed as a Word file for such a long time, as a book.

What I did right: First, I persisted with the writing day after day, through dead ends and rejections and many, many revisions. I lost track along the way of how many times I revised what’s now Breaking into Sunlight, but it was a lot. Add to that the time I spent working on other ideas that haven’t seen the light of day but were an important part of learning how to plot a story, develop characters, and write dialogue. Second, even more important, I asked for help from fellow writers. Writing a novel is hard. No one does it alone. We all need help.

What I would have done differently: I would ask for advice and critiques from other writers much sooner than I did. Because I had been a professional writer for so many years, as a journalist, I felt that I ought to be able to do it on my own and that a manuscript needed to be complete and just about perfect before I showed it to anyone. But writing a novel is a whole other challenge, and I had a great deal more to learn than I understood going in. It was when I finally began sharing very rough drafts with fellow writers that I really began that learning process and the manuscript started coming together more quickly. This was also when I felt connected again to a supportive writing community, something I missed after leaving journalism. I can’t overstate the value of that community, both for my work and my mental health: No one else really understands what you’re going through except other writers.

Did you have a platform in place?: When my agent was preparing to send the manuscript out, I put a cheap, bare-bones website in place, so editors could find me and learn a bit about my background. Once the book sold, I put some money into a better website, hiring a talented designer, Jenny Medford of Websy Daisy, who was really great to work with: WebsyDaisy.com/about. I’m also on Instagram and now Threads and Bluesky.

Advice for writers: I’d like to reiterate what I said above, because it’s so crucial and I was too slow to act on it: Find a writing community, even if it’s just one or two other writers, and share your work with them. And don’t take criticism of your writing personally. The best thing in the world for a writer is finding those people who get and value what you are trying to do, have insightful things to say about your writing, and are blunt and unsparing in their criticism when it falls short of what it could be.

Next up: I’m working on another middle-grade novel, also with a boy at the center, set in the Pittsburgh area, where my family is from and where I lived for a time as a boy. Like Breaking into Sunlight, it has a tough issue at the center: homelessness.

Website: JohnCochranAuthor.com

Evan S. Porter

Dad Camp

(Contemporary fiction, June, Dutton)

“A loving dad drags his 11-year-old daughter to ‘father-daughter week’ at a remote summer camp—their last chance to bond before he loses her to teenage girlhood entirely.”

Writes from: Atlanta.

Pre-Camp: Previously, most of my experience writing feature-length fiction was in screenplays. I placed in a big screenwriting contest many years back and had the script sent around Hollywood, which was very exciting! But nothing ever came of it. The thing about writing scripts, though, was that they all eventually went to die in my Google Drive. I wanted to write something that, sold or not, would be a real finished product I could show to people and be proud of. That’s how I decided to try my hand at a novel.

Time frame: I wrote the first draft in about six months. I had a rough outline but was really shooting from the hip for most of it. Then I put it aside for an entire month before re-reading it. At that point I figured, “OK, I got 80,000 words on the page. Now let’s make sure I’m actually doing Storytelling 101 here. Are there goals, stakes, urgency, conflict … How can I ramp those things up as the story goes along?” A lot of the themes and voice and heart was there from the beginning but it needed better scaffolding to hold it all up. That was the focus of my major self-revision before I even thought about showing anyone.

Enter the agent: I had no connections so I learned as much as I could about cold querying and dove right in. My agent is Andrea Blatt at WME and we nearly missed each other—I think she was out sick when my query landed in her inbox and she didn’t see it for a while! That would been tragic because she was the perfect agent for me and for this project.

Biggest surprise: It takes a very, very long time to go from debut book deal to novel on the shelf. I feel like a completely different person than I was when I started writing this book three years ago. So in some ways as an author, you’re disconnected from the thing you’re currently promoting, and you’re working on new projects and really absorbed in those, so it all feels kind of funny in that sense.

What I did right: It’s a cliché, but I wrote the book of my heart. No market trends analysis — I just wrote something that I cared about, something I would want to read, and realized later that it didn’t exactly fit into a neat category. In all honesty I wanted to write something that was similar to my favorite comedies growing up, like Forgetting Sarah Marshall or I Love You, Man. I think if I had tried to write to a trend or jump on the hot genre, it wouldn’t have come across very authentic.

What I would have done differently: I have a lot still to learn about the craft and I’m working hard to try to become a better writer. If I could go back in time I would love to read and write more fiction in my 20s to get a leg up.

Did you have a platform in place?: I have a blog for parents and dads called “Dad Fixes Everything.”

Advice for writers: I sometimes am afraid of my own writing, like if I read it back I’m going to cringe to death. Sadly, the only way around that feeling is through it. You have to open up that doc and put your eyes on the page and fingers on the keys or you’ll never get it done. Done badly is better than not done at all.

Next up: I’m working on my next book. Wish me luck!

Website: WordsByEvanPorter.com

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Yeji Y. Ham

The Invisible Hotel

(Literary horror, March, Zando)

“In the aftermath of the Korean War, a young woman dreams of an abandoned hotel with infinite keys to infinite rooms, waking up to the unsettling truth about her nation’s collective heritage.”

Writes from: Korea

Pre-Hotel: Before writing this book, I had just graduated from my master’s and was wrapping up a short story collection. Despite it being finished, I felt it was incomplete, and there was nothing more I could do, so I decided to set it aside and work on something else. While searching for something new, I found a note from my master’s class, discovering a scatter of random sentences and images—a bathtub of bones, an old man carrying a window and a door on his back, an abandoned hotel, and many more. At first sight, I knew they would come together to create one whole story.

Time frame: The novel took five years to write. It took a year for me to begin understanding how all those random images were coming together to speak about the inescapable, collective space of fear of war in Korea. This realization resonated deeply with me, as I was reminded of my grandfather’s story. He was a North Korean who endured torture and had to escape the North during the war, leaving behind his family whom he never saw again. From then on, it took another four years to write and revise. Only when I finally and fully grasped the story, I was able to finish the book.

Enter the agent: I met my wonderful agent, Danya Kukafka, through AWP’s Writer to Agent program.

Biggest surprise: Writing is revision. The biggest surprise was the numerous edits that the book went through. It involved a continuous back-and-forth with the manuscript, reaching a point where I felt I had done everything I could. I am grateful to have met an agent and three editors who guided me, were open to discussions, and believed in my writing.

What I did right: Being patient—patient to myself and patient to the work—helped me break in. I feel it is important to have faith that time does not pass meaninglessly on the pages. It helps to wait, allowing the right words and sentences to reveal themselves in their own time.

What I would have done differently: The past five years have been a period of growth for me, not just as a writer but also as a person. Looking back, I don’t think I would have done anything differently.

Platform: I did not have a platform in place, and this is an area I hope to learn and work on.

Advice for writers: I would say, don’t throw out any of your writings, no matter how small or hastily scribbled—even those on napkins or receipts. At times, one can become so immersed in their creation that they cannot see the big picture or forget the original spark. Returning to those early writings, no matter how small, can serve as a guiding thread to lead you out of the labyrinth of your own creation.

Next up: I have returned to my short story collection while also brainstorming ideas for my next novel.

Website: YejiHam.com

Gwenna Laithland

Momma Cusses: A Field Guide to Responsive Parenting & Trying Not to Be the Reason Your Kid Needs Therapy

(Nonfiction/parenting, March, St. Martin’s Press)

“The book is a field guide to learning what responsive parenting is, how to raise emotionally aware humans, and trying not to be the reason your kids need therapy.”

Writes from: Noble, Okla.

Pre-Cusses: I started Momma Cusses in 2019 as a publication on the e-zine and essay publication site, Medium. I set out to create the resource that I wish I’d had while navigating parenting in the 21^st century. Instagram, The Mommy Bloggers, and social media on the whole tend to lend an expectation of perfection and I needed advice and resources rooted in reality. Momma Cusses the E-zine morphed into a social media presence of over 6 million followers. From there, it became clear that a smattering of ’60s videos was not enough of the resource I wanted to provide my growing followership. So, a book became the next project: a field guide detailing my “in the trenches” parenting experience.

Time frame: Knowing absolutely nothing about the publishing world, I started a very early draft of the manuscript in the summer of 2021. Shortly after that, my lovely agent, Wendy, reached out to see if I was interested in turning my content into a book. She walked me through how to write a proposal and, thankfully, it was received very well. I opted to work with Eileen and the fantastic editorial and marketing teams at St. Martin’s Press Essential. I dove into the manuscript and it was completed by Christmas of the same year. We were able to make use of 2023 to really refine the idea and put together the resource I’d been craving.

Enter the agent: Wendy found me and reached out. Her assistant, Callie, had been following me on social media and while Callie herself was not a parent, she found that my content appealed to her as she navigated some of the gaps in her own emotional processing. When Callie showed my online work to Wendy, Wendy instantly agreed there was a book in there.

Biggest surprise: Because the process of drafting, editing, polishing, and creating a book takes quite a while, there were large gaps of time wherein I didn’t interact with my own writing for a while. I submitted the first draft around Christmas of 2022 and didn’t see it again for several months while Eileen, my editor, worked her magic and helped refine the work. When she sent it back with changes and improvements to make, I had managed to forget much of the minutiae of what I’d written. Reading it back through the editorial process I more than once forgot that it was my work. I’d read a sentence and think to myself, Oh, that’s good. Who came up with that? And it was me. I came up with that. I found a way to explain that concept in that creative, engaging way. It was sort of surreal. Re-reading my own work felt almost like an out-of-body experience.

What I did right: Honestly, I spent more time than I care to admit fighting back my own imposter syndrome. Finding the right area between ego and pride really enabled me to focus on the meat of the book. This isn’t for attention or fame. This is a resource and my voice is an important addition to the conversation surrounding parenting, child-rearing, and emotional maturity. When I look at other big names in the parenting writer and creator spheres, I want to roll myself back into that imposter syndrome blanket. Finally getting myself OK with the idea that my voice was valid, my views important, and the method by which I communicated those ideas was needed revolutionized how I approached the work itself. When I no longer had to consistently remind myself that there is room for my book right alongside Carla Naumberg, Michaeleen Doucleff, Emily Oster, and the hundreds of other resources that came before, it made everything flow just a little better.

What I would have done differently: One day, I will find a cure for procrastination. I had approximately six months to do the bulk of the manuscript building. I did maybe a third of the work in the first month when the opportunity and process was new and fresh and giving out all the dopamine. Then all those good, fuzzy, warm “I’m gonna be an author” feelings faded, and I didn’t really do more until four–six weeks out from the deadline with this big massive push right up to the wire. I wrote most of the book in about a month of the six months I’d been granted. I’m 100 percent sure Eileen could tell too. There were more notes on the chapters I wrote later in the process than on the earliest bits of writing I’d completed. There was more of a rush as I felt that deadline looming so there were more errors. We worked through those but time management is an absolute beastly part of writing a book.

Platform: I did have a platform in place. Now the biggest challenge I face is showing my book without it looking like a money grab. Any time you’re asking people to place monetary trust in you, it’s a challenge. You can almost hear the murmur of the digital crowd asking, “Is she just chasing more clout or is this book the game-changer I’ve been looking for as a parent?” Of course, I view my work as a resource. Getting it out there isn’t a chance to see my name in lights. It’s a chance to start good conversations about how we, collectively, are raising the next generations to be emotionally cognizant, compassionate, contributing adults. But that’s such a nuanced thing to communicate in 60 seconds or less. Yes, I want you to buy my book, dear followers. But not because I want to be rich and famous. It’s a very nebulous arena to navigate.

Advice for writers: I came up in the world of writing celebrating things like National Novel Writer’s Month (NaNoWriMo). The process of writing a book proved to me one important aspect. You cannot write a good work without a plan. In the NaNoWriMo spheres, there are planners (meticulous outlines, background research, world-building in the case of fictional works) and pansters (throw all caution to the wind and write what comes to you in the moment. No plans, just flying by the seat of your pants … hence … pantser.) I planted my writer’s flag on the pantser hill and vowed that outlines and planning were just not for me. This process taught me that NaNoWriMo lied to me. You might be able to get some good ideas out, but for a good work, an efficiently crafted work, a complete concept, you need to plan. Finding the right mode of planning for you, individually, is vital but planning is a must, I now think.

Next up: I have a solid concept, plan, and outline for a second book in the same genre. This one is fashioned as a field guide again but this time a little more focused on a specific stage and age of parenting. (Don’t tell Eileen or she’s going to expect sample chapters. We’ve already discussed my penchant for procrastination.)

Website: MommaCusses.com

Myah Ariel

When I Think of You

(Contemporary romance, April, Berkley)

“The unexpected spark of two former flames may force them to choose between their movie-making dreams and each other.”

Writes from: I’m based in Los Angeles

Pre-Think: With degrees in film studies and arts journalism, I’ve written about creatives and culture for a while. But writing my own fiction didn’t come about until the pandemic. I spent a lot of time escaping into romance novels during lockdown and was inspired to write a book that felt like the Black romances I fell in love with in movies and TV shows from the ’90s and early aughts.

Time frame: I wrote my first draft over the course of six months in the latter half of 2021 and promptly went to prematurely query it in early 2022!

Enter the agent: My agent, Kim Lionetti, represents some of my favorite romance authors. So I knew from the outset that she was at the top of my aspirational query list. I queried her in early January of 2022 and got a full request within a few days! By March that full turned into a rejection—but one that came with brief yet helpful feedback. I then decided to risk it all and ask her if she’d take a second look after I revised. Luckily, she agreed to! Then, I got to work. I applied to a few mentorship programs and was accepted to [now defunct] DV Mentor, which paired me with an author, Sami Ellis, who was farther along in the “journey” than I was. Sami worked with me on revisions and by August, I re-queried Kim and she very quickly offered representation on the new and improved version of the manuscript. We sold the book at auction a few months later.

Biggest surprise: First, it’s vital to get other eyes on your work before you begin to query. This can be fellow writer friends or even just avid readers in your family. But having that quality check from another person is essential. And secondly, since this is a journey that comes with a lot of feedback built in, it’s important to protect yourself. In doing so, I’ve learned to not take criticism too harshly from anyone you wouldn’t seek out for advice in the first place.

What I did right: I did deep dives into the business and processes of publishing. I did so mainly because I’m a nerd and tend to over-research anything I want to pursue. But also, I wanted to know what I should expect before the proverbial cliff dive. So I’ve ingested scores of YouTube videos, Masterclasses, craft books, and X (Twitter) threads pertaining to publishing and all its many idiosyncrasies.

What I would have done differently: I would have started writing creatively years ago!

Platform: The only platform I had built was an X account that served mainly to live tweet “The Bachelor” and tout the lyrical supremacy of Mariah Carey. So, I’ve had to pivot in recent months to book promo and even learn how to use TikTok with a purpose. But in all seriousness, social media has been a vital tool for connecting with other authors, fellow debuts and established ones, from all over the world who are on this wild and wonderful journey I now find myself on too. I’ve also loved seeing readers respond positively to the book as they’ve finished arcs. I think organically supporting other authors and engaging with readers is the best way to grow a platform.

Advice for writers: Read your writing aloud as you draft. I had a grad school writing professor, Tim Page, who instilled this in me. If something sounds off to the ear that’s likely because it wasn’t executed well on the page.

Next up: I’m writing my second book and working on some exciting things for book one, which I can’t quite talk about yet.

Website: MyahAriel.com

The post Breaking In: March/April 2024 appeared first on Writer's Digest.

In this post, Hillary the process of writing her debut novel, Sylvia’s Second Act, her advice for writers, and more!

Name: Hillary Yablon
Literary agent: Erin Malone
Book title: Sylvia’s Second Act
Publisher: Pamela Dorman
Release date: March 12, 2024
Genre/category: Fiction
Elevator pitch: This is a story about a woman who, upon finding out her husband cheated and lost all of their savings, decides this is the time to leave her Florida retirement community and move to Manhattan and restart her life. She does so along with her best friend, another retiree. It’s “Golden Girls” meets “Sex and the City.”

Bookshop | Amazon
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What prompted you to write this book?

I’ve always loved the theme of “it’s never too late.” I also, upon reflection, think I drew inspiration from my mother. Due to her battle with Parkinson’s, which she was diagnosed with in her early 60s, she never got to live the next chapter she had wanted to live.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

I got the original idea back in 2008—it was simply, “A woman decides to leave a retirement home because she does not want to be retired.” I spent the next few years working in the entertainment industry and completing an unrelated screenplay. And then in 2017, I sat down to write something new and remembered this idea. I didn’t want to write a screenplay. I wanted to write a book. But I had never written a book, so I signed up for online fiction courses through UCLA’s Extension Program. I needed the community and the deadlines and the guidance. I took the course over and over as I began to write pages.

The idea evolved as I wrote. I wanted to portray the retirement community as a fun, vibrant place. This isn’t a story about a woman who is with a bunch of old people and doesn’t want to be old. This is a story about a woman who hasn’t been living the life she wants and decides now is the time.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

I learned so much in this process. Working with an editor really helped me see where to cut, where to expand, and where things were working. I learned to take out all of the cartoonish moments and still keep the humor without ever demeaning the characters. That was important to me.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

Oh, for sure! I wasn’t sure what Sylvia’s occupation was until I was thinking one day and rereading the first few chapters and realized that she was a wedding planner. Sylvia’s best friend, Evie, came to me as I wrote. She was so fun to write, and her story was not something I outlined or overthought. It just came out, and I don’t know where it came from but it surprised the heck out of me to realize.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope they will laugh and feel like Sylvia and Evie are real people. They became very real to me, and that was so helpful because when something wasn’t right in the story, I just felt it in a way that was almost visceral. I also hope that people will feel entertained and be rooting for these women on their journey.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Finish. That is the best advice I was ever given. There is nothing more essential to writing than to finish the piece they are working on. 

The post Hillary Yablon: Finish the Piece You’re Working On appeared first on Writer's Digest.

(Write a Short Book Fast.)

Like everyone else, we had to adapt—and quickly. In an inverse of the co-working dream, we agreed to divide our open-plan apartment into separate classroom-offices. Most of the time, this system satisfied our needs, one of us managing to hide from the other’s webcam whenever they were teaching. Never being particularly adept at hide-and-seek, on one occasion my turned back was caught by a young student, who, concerned for my wife’s safety, asked her whether she knew there was a man in her apartment. However, in the main, we knew the boundaries of each other’s work space, and succeeded in creating individual compartments without having to mark them visually using string or tape.

The problem was that sound respects no such boundaries, and as a music teacher with forte projection, my wife’s classes could be noisy. With the loosening of lockdown measures, I decided to take a walk during a particularly spirited class on ‘The Rite of Spring,’ and, being bored, opted for a route unfamiliar to me. It would be rather glib to say that this 30-minute stroll changed my life, but in heightening my dulled senses, it certainly did alter the trajectory of my career to date. Whereas previously my focus might have been on other pedestrians, trying to avoid those awkward moments when you can’t work out which way to pass by, or endeavoring to skip past the yappiest dogs while their owner’s eyes are on their phone, now the streets were nearly empty. 

Instead of worrying about passersby as I walked away from downtown, I began to notice all sorts of subtle features of the city’s landscape: the point at which Chicago’s iconic skyscraper-laden skyline is replaced by low-rises; the sudden tendency for advertisements to be written in Spanish rather than English; the way in which the logo of the Chicago White Sox began to supplant that of the Chicago Cubs on house and car windows alike. A sign in a small park insisted that visitors refrain from playing ball games; a different sign outside a factory was so insistent that would-be visitors avoid coming any closer, a barrier was unnecessary. All the while, I made sure to imagine and respect the six-foot social distancing rule mandated by the city and state governments, and saw that others were doing the same.

Returning to my apartment, I felt rejuvenated. More than just enjoying some fresh air, I realized that my short walk had involved various kinds of dividing lines, none physical, yet all perceptible. My walk also raised some questions. As part of my route, I crossed a main road that in the past, others had advised me against doing, lest I encounter muggers or gangsters whose existence was apparently inconceivable on the ‘right’ side of the street. Notwithstanding the diminished presence of people due to COVID, I had seen no reason to fear this area of the city, compelling me to ask how such stigmatizing hearsay is able to circulate for generations. 

Further, I noticed that the management company in charge of my apartment building had produced posters entreating residents to wear a face mask in communal spaces, yet although this rule was being enforced in the lobby, it did not seem to extend to the mail room or corridors. Like with the city’s land use, its inhabitants’ primary languages, their favorite sports teams, the rules directing where an activity acceptable in one place is forbidden in another, and the common belief that some areas are ‘safe’ whereas others are not, I wondered where the boundary was to be found.

In researching material, first for my classes, and later for fun, I encountered further examples of how humans have long carved up the world in ways beyond more formal borders. Redlining in the past and zoning in the present continue to explain most US cities’ distinctive separation of activities and opportunities. In the United States, people also speak authoritatively of a ‘Bible Belt,’ just as Australians describe an ‘Outback,’ even though the precise boundaries of these regions are abstract, subjective, and fluid. More broadly, it is conventional to speak of ‘the Western world,’ but who gets to define where its eastern frontier is located? Some of the invisible boundaries I came across are natural, such as that dividing ‘Australian’ and ‘Asian’ fauna between Indonesia’s islands. Others were created for a purpose, but have had unanticipated consequences, such as China’s historic policy of providing district heating systems only in the colder north, resulting in much higher levels of air pollution there. 

As I reflected on my own upbringing—on classic English debates about where the North-South divide is to be found, on why in my hometown, there is an abrupt break between residential neighborhoods and countryside, on why I call the second day of the week ‘Chooz-day’ but my wife phrases it ‘Tooz-di’—I realized that our lives on Earth are profoundly shaped by our engagement with unseen boundaries. In fact, by keeping to distinct sections of our apartment, my wife and I had been drawing invisible lines of our own.

A project that started out as a way of coping with COVID-related boredom quickly became a passion. Being accustomed to producing academic works, I relished the excuse to write in a more conversational style, testing out my creativity to fashion something more permanent than sourdough or home brew, even if I did briefly dabble in the latter as well. Eventually, I realized that I wanted to produce a book that I would want to read, one that not only prompts people to view the world in a new way, but that also provides little nuggets of information, interesting factoids, perfect for the insatiably curious. 

Although job hunting is always bound to bring frustrations and the winter will inevitably bring some annoyance, I no longer feel restricted. Instead, through writing, I have come to respect how intricately our planet is divided by subtle boundaries, the Invisible Lines that give my debut book its name.

Check out Maxim Samson’s Invisible Lines here:

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