You just put the last period on the first draft of your manuscript. Now what? Resist the urge to go back to page 1 to start editing. You’ll get lost in details. Instead, edit with a plan that will guide you from fixing big picture issues like structure...

Literary agents don’t have time to read every manuscript sent their way. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. So how do they find the next great novel or universally loved memoir? Enter the query letter. Next to your manuscript, the query letter...

I always tell people it’s much better to be pleasant than unpleasant in a relationship, and what you, as an author, have with an agent is a relationship. So how would you treat somebody in a relationship? If you’re going out with a guy, you don’t want...

Author John Locke is arguably one of the most successful independently published authors to date. He is a New York Times best-selling author ( Saving Rachel ) and has written eleven books across three genres (titles include V egas Moon, Wish List, A...

I want to share what I’ve learned over the past few years about what it takes to get published. Authors are an elite few. Why is that? Having an idea for a book is pretty easy. Starting a book is even easy. But writing to the finish is a difficult task...

You’ve done the tough work of writing your first draft, and now it’s time to go back and edit or re-write it. It can be tempting to dive right in, start fixing little mistakes here and there, and consider your manuscript complete. But that would be a...

Before you publish your book or submit your manuscript to an agent, use beta readers to receive feedback on your manuscript. As the author, it's easy to overlook errors or weak points in your story. By allowing beta readers to provide an outside perspective...

Once you have written a book and you have made it as strong as you can, you are ready to submit the manuscript to agents. You may know you book is fabulous. Every agent out there wants it. Right? You find literary agents on the Internet and send - a...

When you are researching your book it can often be very beneficial to speak with experts. This is true whether you are writing a crime novel or a gardening book or anything in between. Most experts are easily accessible by email or phone, and may even...