“You’ve got to let readers know this story has a happy ending,” line editor Kelly Byrd wrote me in an email after working on my writing coach client Sam Simon‘s manuscript. As it turns out, Sam’s memoir, The Actual Dance, doesn’t just have one happy ending, it has two. Continue Reading
I’ve talked a lot about how writers will never find the time to work on their books. They have to make the time. And I’ve lived by that. But with my new puppy, I’ve realized that sometimes you have to seize the moment the second it presents itself. Continue Reading
Most writers realize that writing dialogue can be a way to show rather than tell a story. Too often, however, they’ll take a long expository passage, put quotes around it and let a character make what amounts to a speech. For starters, that’s not how most of us talk. If we do run across someone… Continue Reading
In Judy Blume’s MasterClass about writing for younger readers, the mega-bestselling children’s book author talks about how she saves news clippings and scribbles ideas for plots, characters and their backstories, snippets of conversation she overhears, and dialogue she imagines in a notebook or an idea box (think of a recipe box with index cards). Each… Continue Reading
“You’d better find a bartending job,” my then-agent told me in 1987 when I left my position as Special Features Editor at the Los Angeles Times Magazine to start freelancing full-time. Not confidence-building and not helpful. I clearly did figure out how to make it as a writer, but I sure wish I’d been able to… Continue Reading
“If you’re a writer, you’re a people watcher,” Judy Blume says in her MasterClass on writing for younger readers. Observations that stem from heightened awareness will generate everything from plot ideas to characters who are real. You also have to create the world those characters are inhabiting. Scrutinizing your surroundings will help you fabricate that… Continue Reading
What’s a super fan and why would I want one? I asked myself as I went through my seemingly never-ending Inbox of writing-related emails. I figured out the answer to my question when I met John Thomas, recently retired Chief of the Department of Public Safety at USC. He didn’t just like my book, Busting… Continue Reading
My writing coach clients ask me all the time how long their books should be. I usually reply that the content dictates the length. In fairness, however, there are some publishing norms regarding word count, which vary depending on genre. So, while I still believe that your book will let you know how long it… Continue Reading
To write a good book, you have to start with a solid idea. Children’s books are no different. The twist with kids’ books is that your storyline has to appeal both to the parent who’s going to buy the book and the child who will read it. And, as with any good book, your theme(s)… Continue Reading
After all the work, you’ve finally launched your book. Now it would help to understand how to track and amplify your Amazon sales. Two days after his book launch, my writing coach client Jeff Hutcheson realized he needed a little help on that front. So, Keri Barnum, who handles distribution and promotion for my self-publishing… Continue Reading
Literary Agent:
Ted Weinstein
Ted Weinstein Literary Management
Mechanics’ Library Building
57 Post Street, Suite 512
San Francisco, CA 94104
tw@twliterary.com
www.twliterary.com