LAURENCE MACNAUGHTON

Tag: how to get published

  • 6 Secrets of Successful Critique Groups

    6 Secrets of Successful Critique Groups

    Critique groups: best thing ever for writers? Or soul-crushing pits of despair? Here are my 6 secrets for spotting a top-notch critique group — or assembling your own. Connect with other writers and get the feedback you need to finish your book, publish it, and write the next one. Everything you need to know from…

  • The Short, Sad Saga of Mississippi Jones

    The Short, Sad Saga of Mississippi Jones

    Some names stick with us. Bridget Jones, Holden Caulfield, Nero Wolfe — these names are all indelibly stamped into our literary consciousness. Those names are evocative. Memorable. Unique. Some writers are incredibly good at coming up with names. I am not one of them.

  • BookGoodies.com: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?

    BookGoodies.com: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?

    I once got to hear Orson Scott Card talk about his writing method. He went on at great length about how the voices of his characters talked to him. The voices told him to do this, he said, the voices told him to do that. As he droned on endlessly, a friend leaned over to…

  • Help Fight Diabetes and Win a Critique!

    That’s right, folks.  You already know you can write a novel — and now’s your chance to prove it.  Thanks to the heroic efforts of Brenda Novak and her elite team of auction experts, you have a chance to help a great cause AND win a personal manuscript critique from Yours Truly.  And of course,…

  • Aspiring Writers, Take Notes!

    You can write a novel that seems absolutely perfect to you: the dialogue is tight, the characters are richly layered and the plot crackles with energy.  But you’ll still get notes, I guarantee it.  And that’s a good thing. Notes, by the way, are the comments you get from decision-makers (mostly literary agents and editors)…

  • Bestselling Authors, Millions of Dollars, and You

    Ebooks have always been a hot-button topic in the publishing business.  And that was before bestselling author Barry Eisler walked away from a half-million-dollar deal in favor of self-publishing his own ebooks. And yes, you read that right: a half a million dollars.  Which, as you’ll see in a moment, might just be chump change…

  • Meet a Literary Agent AND Help Kids Read — No Foolin’!

    Listen up, true believers.  Think you can write a novel good enough to get published?  Find out this Sunday! Literary agent and celebrated book genius Sara Megibow (of the incomparable Nelson Literary Agency) will lead a two-hour writing workshop open to any fiction writer.  (That means you!)  Aspiring writers from all over have benefited from…

  • Nail Your Genre in 3 Easy Steps

    Last week, I talked about how you can write a novel in any genre, as long as you know exactly what that genre is.  And believe me, you desperately need to define your book’s genre. As promised, here’s a nuts and bolts plan that shows you how to do it, in three outrageously simple steps:…

  • Last Chance: Meet a Literary Agent and Help a School

    Just a quick reminder that on Sunday, literary agent extraordinaire Sara Megibow (of the much-esteemed Nelson Literary Agency) is leading a two-hour writing workshop open to any fiction writer.  And don’t think you don’t have what it takes.  If you can write a novel, then you can get it in front of a literary agent…

  • Want to Get Published? Know Your Genre!

    You can write a novel in any genre you want, as long as you know what it is.  To me, a “genre” is anything that comes with a certain set of expectations.  If you tell me your story is a hard-boiled mystery, then I’ll know what to expect.  If you tell me it’s a time-travel…