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In Substack We Trust: Navigating the Tension Between Powerful Tools and Platform Dependency
Publishing industry expert Jane Friedman interviewed several successful Substack newsletter authors at a June 2025 panel at NonFictionNow about the pros and cons of the platform, how and whether to monetize your newsletter audience, and barriers to discoverability of lesser-known writers. Panelists were book critic Ann Kjellberg, novelist Amran Gowani, and political journalist Noah Berlatsky. This transcript is hosted on Berlatsky's Patreon.
After
By Diane Elayne Dees
After you've hired the trainer,
changed your hairstyle, painted
the walls, bought a new wardrobe,
rearranged the furniture—
after you've risked new nail colors,
bought new shoes, discarded the mattress,
sold your jewelry, met with your bankers,
purchased better bras, changed the dinnerwear—
you luxuriate in the mauves and orchids
and teals and brightness of it all.
You are a new woman. The problem
is that the former woman—the younger,
broken one—is still there, admiring your
pencil skirts while mocking you
for thinking you could ever leave her
behind. She covets your freedom,
you desire her youth. The cleverly colored
house isn't big enough for the both of you;
you bump into each other at every turn.
Will she ever move out, you wonder,
or—after you've cried all your tears
and exhausted all your rage, after
you've stopped cursing reality—
will you just forgive her and let her be?
new words {press}
new words {press} publishes trans* and gender-expansive poets. They appreciate hybrid and experimental work, as well as more traditional forms and free verse. "We want to see how queerness is influencing process, diction, syntax, and craft." They publish chapbooks and a thrice-yearly literary journal. See their website for special anthology calls and submission period dates.
Write More Than One Book—Your Current Draft Will Thank You
Want to improve your current manuscript? Picture yourself writing more than one book.
Annie Mydla, Managing Editor
I have a question for first-time authors:
Have you thought about writing more than one book?
This question might sound silly if your first work-in-progress is still...in progress. But I put it to you that "I can write multiple books" is one of the most powerful ideas an author can have.
Why? Because it frees us to do what's right for this book.
I've critiqued over 600 full-length books and manuscripts, and their number-one problem is having too much stuff. Understandably so. Cutting things back can feel like a betrayal of our precious creations.
But what if we imagine writing more than one book? All of a sudden, the need to smush all our best ideas into one volume goes away. If we have favorite parts that are starting to compete with the book's bigger picture, we don't have to kill them. We can pluck them out and transplant them where they have the freedom to grow.
Have a supporting character you can't stop writing about? Are they starting to take over your main plotline? Maybe you've just found the protagonist of your next book.
Writing in one genre, but keep gravitating towards another that doesn't fit the plot? Give that genre full play in a future project, with a plot tailor-made to show it off.
Is there a subplot that keeps creeping into your dreams, that you can't stop developing, even though it's leading your story on a tangent? What if it's the basis for your next novel? Or short story? Or a subplot in a future book that you haven't even imagined yet?
Feel tempted to follow every subplot in your manuscript to its full potential? You could have a series on your hands. With a series, you'll have a chance to fully explore and resolve every one of those plots. Just release them from their competition with the original premise and watch as they blossom.
Genre fiction, literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoir all benefit from this approach. It also works with children's picture books. Think about Clifford the Big Red Dog. Instead of giving Clifford a new job, having him celebrate by going to the circus, and then sending him to join his friends for trick-or-treating, all in one day, Norman Bridwell channels the events into three separate books: Clifford Gets a Job, Clifford at the Circus, and Clifford's Halloween. Sequels free us to explore each premise the way it deserves.
The Hunger Games series is another excellent example of how to spread material over multiple books. The series as a whole follows three main events: Katniss's first Hunger Games, the rebellion against the Capitol, and the ultimate downfall of the Games. A relationship arc between Katniss and her friend Peeta is a strong B plot throughout. An inexperienced writer might try to pack all of these things between two covers. Instead, Suzanne Collins allows the plotlines to grow over three different books, which all have their own climax and resolution dealing with Katness's first Games, the rebellion, and the Games' downfall, respectively. Importantly, Collins also holds off on backstory about secondary elements, like the origin of the Games and the past life of Katniss's mentor, Haymitch. These topics form the basis for two separate prequels. The result? A triumph of commercial YA.
Even poetry collections can get stronger when split into more than one book. Long collections with multiple focuses aren't likely to gain favor with publishers or contest judges. A shorter collection with a tighter focus is likelier to get attention. The other poems aren't thrown away—they form the basis of new collections.
Successful editing can be yours with this one small change in perspective. What if, instead of thinking of excisions as tree branches bound for the woodchipper, we think of them as seeds for future projects? If we cultivate them in their own beds, they can blossom into their own beautiful books. Meanwhile, we'll be growing our creativity, our artistic satisfaction...and, of course, our body of work.
So. Have you thought about writing more than one book?
Sontag Mag
Launched in 2023, Sontag Mag is a thrice-yearly online poetry journal that publishes both original English-language writing and translations. If submitting a translation, include the source poem and permission from the author. Submission periods are January to March, May to July, and September to November.
Knees
By E. Laura Golberg
In the engagement photo, my father looks taller
than my mother in her war-time dress.
She had two inches on him.
She told me, "I bent my knees."
You can just see, if you look carefully,
two bulges of knee half-way down her skirt.
That's why he married her. She knew
what mattered to him, how she could mend things.
In the photo forty years later, when he receives
his honorary doctorate, he stands in his red robe,
orange sash. She's next to him again, wearing
her silk suit. Her legs are straight this time.
Stone Butch Blues
By Leslie Feinberg. This 1993 autobiographical novel is a radical queer classic. Jess, a factory worker in Buffalo in the 1960s and 70s, endures family rejection and police violence as a butch lesbian. Black-market medical treatment allows Jess to live as a man for awhile, affording them some safety but alienating them from their lesbian community and history. The choice to revert to a gender-nonconforming appearance feels authentic yet dangerous. Meanwhile, they're attempting to build solidarity in the workers' movement without exposing themselves to anti-queer attacks, a path that culminates in activism in 1980s New York City alongside their trans femme lover. In keeping with Feinberg's Communist philosophy, the book is free to download from their website, or available from Lulu.com in hard copy for the cost of printing and shipping.
The Best of Michael Swanwick
By Michael Swanwick. This first volume in a career retrospective of the award-winning speculative fiction author spans over 25 years of creative tales about planetary consciousness, time travel, steampunk con artists, dinosaur tourist attractions, and what would be gained and lost if we could re-engineer the human brain.
State of Grass
By Janet MacFadyen. This poetry collection brings the topic of family trauma out of the merely confessional and into the mythic. On retreat in Ireland after her father's death, an older woman recovers her incest memories, the lineaments of her story emerging like a preserved bog body or the archaeological traces of a famine-destroyed village. The land's stark beauty and endurance create a space for her to hold her personal recovery in historical perspective, creating a fellowship with her wounded ancestors.
Enter Ghost
By Isabella Hammad. A troupe of Palestinian actors navigate obstacles to stage an Arabic-language adaptation of Hamlet in the West Bank, angering the Israeli government with their implied critique of an illegitimate ruler. This subtle and thought-provoking literary novel is narrated by Sonia, an expat with British citizenship who returns to her family home to find direction in life when her acting career stalls. Her journey from spectator to activist mirrors Hamlet's emergence from passivity. The story explores what it means to engage in political resistance as an artist in our current moment: Hammad neither overstates the power of protest theater, nor succumbs to crude materialist dismissal of art as a luxury or distraction.
Invisible Histories
Invisible Histories locates, collects, researches, and creates community-based, educational programming around LGBTQ history in the Deep South. Their site includes oral histories, a guide to making and archiving zines, digitized queer newspapers and photographs, and materials from their past educational exhibits in galleries and universities.
Marketing Basics on a Budget: An Interview with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of The Frugal Book Promoter
Indie authors often assume that marketing will cost an arm and a leg. Or they're embarrassed to promote themselves at all. Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of The Frugal Book Promoter, shares advice for bold and effective marketing on a budget.
Annie Mydla, Managing Editor
Book marketing is among the top stressors for many of our North Street Book Prize entrants. Enter Carolyn Howard-Johnson, book promotion expert, marketing coach, and North Street co-sponsor. Her forthcoming new edition of How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically will show authors how to leverage "forever reviews" to keep books selling far into the future. This interview covers her effective (and frugal) approach to marketing, how to choose your marketing strategies, forever reviews, and more.
ANNIE MYDLA: Many authors assume that promoting their own books will be expensive. Meanwhile, you're an expert on marketing frugally. What in our culture is perpetuating the idea that marketing must cost an arm and a leg? And what makes your approach so effective?
CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON: Culturally? It's evident most every day on the web. You may recognize the frequent re-occurrence of promotions that claim to be "shameless!" The subtext of that, of course, is there is something to be ashamed of, which for starters makes it ineffective. The second thing that occurs to me is that this approach never seems to occur when the item being advertised or promoted is blatantly commercial like a luxury car or satin pillowcases. We creatives are more prone to be infected with a notion that somehow what we do is head-and-shoulders above the occupations of others, more desirable or ethical, et cetera. My biggest challenge is somehow breaking puritanical misconceptions.
After that, I need to convince my readers, students, clients that the "same old" methods used since Steinbeck's time and the invention of the Gutenberg press still work, but need to be updated. The web can change gears in any given moment. Even the Big Five publishers have different expectations than before. Their budgets are slimmer! I can quote my own amazing agent, Terrie Wolf, ad infinitum on that. Publishers expect authors to have great "platforms" that display both know-how and a willingness to participate.
So, what is the main driver behind these changes in recent times? It wasn't until the dawn of this millennium that the advent of the web and the increasing independence of authors began to be more inclusive and make us all more knowledgeable, more in control of our own destinies. Frankly, that made my job easier. Authors—indies or traditionally published—generally have an independent streak of their own. Maybe even a frugal streak fostered by parents and grandparents who lived through the Great Depression.
AM: Working in the Winning Writers critique service, I often come across authors who aren't sure whether they'll self-publish or try for traditional publishing. Are there any differences between marketing a manuscript to an agent or publisher, and marketing a self-published book directly to readers? How can authors decide which is best for them?
CHJ: Fewer differences all the time. And it never hurts to emulate success. The industry still operates on the mechanics of query letters, reviews, ARCs. The differences are in the details. Someone in the process of writing a book—their first book—should spend some time learning not only the basics the industry expects from a query letter, but how to tailor it for different occasions, and when it might work in their favor to break the rules.
As a new author, even though I had a background in journalism, retailing (bookstores are retailers!), marketing (USC, public relations) and New York jobs in fashion publicity and magazine editorial, I made the awful mistake of not understanding the basics—such as getting query letters (requests) out to media influencers before their hard-to-fathom-but-reasonable deadlines. I mean, these are the supermedia that influence other media on down the line. Naturally, I'm covering this in great detail in my soon-to-be-published book on getting ethical reviews. And all my how-to books include sample query letters in their appendices.
My agent offers her authors—both the experienced ones and the newbies—monthly Zoom sessions in both marketing—especially generally frugal online marketing—and in building those platforms that make it easier for her to interest publishers worldwide in translation and distribution rights at the international book fairs and tradeshows she attends. She has also been known to give copies of the third edition of my book The Frugal Book Promoter to her clients, so they can understand how to help her close those deals.
AM: Your upcoming book discusses some very new concepts, like the "forever review". What is a forever review, and how can authors take advantage of it?
CHJ: The second edition of How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically will probably be released before the holidays this year or early in 2026 by Modern History Press. I originally self-published it because I recognized early on when I was still teaching classes for UCLA Extension's world-renowned writers' department, that reviews are the driving force behind great book marketing campaigns and the advent of the web was going to increase the "forever" aspect of their value. Trouble is, nearly a quarter century after acceptance of alternative ways to publish began to flourish, most indie authors and publishers aren't using them effectively to meet these magical opportunities head-on. Reviews can be used by a publisher or author to extend the life of a book, even to revive titles with sales that have lagged. Even to qualify them for new awards like the Eric Hoffer Legacy Award!
It is my belief that many authors’ publishing dates miss arbitrary release date windows. These deadlines exclude talented authors whose books deserve the attention that contests like #NorthStreetBookPrize offer their winners. [Editor's note: The North Street Book Prize from Winning Writers accepts books published in any year, even from decades ago.] Everyone who wins your contest also receives an assortment of benefits from this prize’s sponsors, including me.
AM: As a key co-sponsor of the North Street Book Prize, you give an hour-long marketing consultation to each of our Grand Prize and First Prize winners annually. You also work with clients on a private basis. Has there ever been a particular insight you've offered that clients have been surprised to hear?
CHJ: Most of these authors—all of them accomplished!—are surprised that their book—especially now that it is a prize winner!—appeals to demographics far beyond the genre or topic they write in. I hope any author lucky enough to read this article, Annie, will reread their own book with that in mind, including these:
The different settings (towns, states, regions) in each scene.
The professions of all the characters.
Are there any animals, pets, environmental issues involved?
Any specific religions.
Does the book cross genres in some way? For instance, a romance set in Wyoming can easily be marketed to libraries in Wyoming—maybe the entire Intermountain West.
AM: What advice would you give to an author who's on the fence about whether to promote their own book?
CHJ: Plan on promoting it—as partners with your publisher or without. But be aware you are not alone. There are experts out there who can help; once you've learned from them and used their resources, you can duplicate that with your next book. Notice, I did not suggest not promoting it. Unless you think of your book as a hobby and intend to give it as gifts, your book must be marketed. Even the gift-giving idea above is a kind of marketing. And while we're at it, a big percentage of those books will never be read. Your book deserves the best from you no matter how you publish.
AM: Where can authors go to learn more about frugal book promotion and your new book?
CHJ: Oh! Annie, you touched on another area where I have to write whole chapters in my book to convince them of the good Amazon can do for their book. Amazon sells 60% of books worldwide. Sure, I have a website. Sure I blog. Sure I speak and present at conferences! (These days I prefer Zoom appearances!)
But Amazon sells books in Mexico, Japan, Europe, UK! I treasure each reader. Even the world's biggest publishers put their books on Amazon. And it's about as frugal as you can get. AND here's one of my #TheFrugalBookPromoterTips. If you write a series, ask Amazon (or your publisher) to get the free series page that Amazon offers. Find my #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers from Modern History Press to see what one looks like, here: Amazon even supplies the triptych at the top of the page! I use mine everywhere!
The Autism Parent Memoir I’d Love to Read
Are you writing a memoir about raising a child with autism? Consider autistic readers' perspectives to avoid stereotypes. Be curious about other ways of processing information, and strengthen your literary craft with introspection about how your own mind works.
Annie Mydla, Managing Editor
Note: In this article, I mention things that "autistic people do" and experience. This can only ever be a figure of speech, because autistic people are so different from each other. As the saying goes, "If you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person."
As an early-round judge in the North Street Book Prize, I see several parent memoirs (or APMs) per year by non-autistic parents raising an autistic child or children, often with common comorbidities like learning disabilities. My autistic profile outwardly differs from the children these memoirs tend to be about—I'm hyperverbal and lack a learning disability. But we share a lot of underlying difficulties in common:
Sensory processing issues
Interoception, receiving and interpreting physical cues from inside the body. The problem can be receiving too much or too little. I receive too much.
Proprioception, the sense of where the body is in space. I receive too much information.
Difficulty interpreting and acting on social cues in real time
A bottom-up processing style
Intense interests in some areas and none at all in many common ones
Monotropism, the tendency to deeply engage with only one thing at a time, leading to challenges with switching tasks and tasks with multiple steps.
Holotropism, having "wide open sensory gates". Body, mind, surroundings, and other people seem more like one thing than separate things.
I tend to identify with these kids a lot.
For this reason, I read autism stories very, very carefully. I'm looking for The One. The APM that inspires me and makes me happy. And you know what? I've been looking for a while.
Maybe if I write a blog post about it, my dream APM will come to me. So here's a list of the top 7 things I'd like to see in an Autism Parent Memoir.
1. The memoirist knows what they don't know
A big dream of mine is to read an APM where the non-autistic narrator fully recognizes they have no idea what it's like to be autistic. Such an APM could start with a look at the double empathy problem and how it works in the life of a non-autistic parent of an autistic child.
Often, autistic people are described as "not having empathy". But the double empathy problem posits that while autistic people do not always automatically understand where non-autistic people are coming from, the problem is just as great with the non-autistic in not automatically understanding where we are coming from.
Here's a practical demonstration of how the double empathy problem can come into play in an APM. I encountered a memoir in which a mom was frustrated that her child "continued to test his boundaries" by going on "unsanctioned explorations" into other rooms, the yard, or any other place his parents didn't wish him to be at the moment. The parents were continually creating barriers with furniture, brooms, and other household objects, which the child would dismantle before leaving the room. This happened frequently despite all the times the parents explained the rules and punished him for breaking them.
To the narrator, the child was obviously "testing his boundaries". There were no other interpretations offered. But the phrase "testing boundaries" shows assumptions. It implies that a) the child is intentionally breaking the boundaries the parent has set up and b) the child knows he is disobeying the parents.
But is "intentional disobedience" the only interpretation? I don't think so. An autistic reader could think of a number of autism-related motivations for the child's behavior. He might be...
Seeking to escape overstimulation in the household or environment
Seeking solitude (often comfortable for autistic people, to varying degrees depending on the person)
Honoring internal demand avoidance. This is different from disobedience because it is not based on the child's desire to thwart the parent's authority. Demand avoidance is an internal need that occurs with no regard to the nature of the demand itself or who/what is making it.
Another possibility is what I think of as "circuit joy". Some autistic children and adults take pleasure in loops and circuits. Given the fact that the parents keep creating barriers out of household items, the child's behavior could be interpreted as showing evidence of pursuing a complete circuit. The parents create a puzzle with their interesting barrier, the child solves the puzzle, and then the parents have their familiar reaction (in this case yelling, scolding, begging, punishing). For an autistic child enjoying the circuit, the reaction of the parents is part of the reward of completion, even when the parents think that their reaction ought to be interpreted by the child as a deterrent.
Am I insisting that any of these motivations were the actual cause of the child's behavior in that memoir? No. And am I saying that as an autistic person, I would know the child better than his parents do? Again, no. But the fact is that there are many motivations which to an autistic person may be very pressing and/or rewarding, but of which a non-autistic parent might be unaware. It would be wonderful to read an APM that resists projecting assumptions on autistic children's behavior in situations where there are other possibilities.
2. The memoirist relates their understanding of their child's inner experience to their own lives
Something I have never seen in an APM, but would seriously love to, is a plotline in which the parent strives to relate to the child on their own terms. Eventually, the parent becomes able to see their own self-identified non-autistic lives through autistic lenses. This happens quite a bit in real life, sometimes to the point where a parent seeks autism screening for themselves. But I've yet to encounter it in an APM.
In that ideal memoir, we might see the parent asking themselves questions like:
My autistic child has sensory needs. But what are my sensory needs as an adult, self-identified non-autistic person? How do light, sound, movement, texture, temperature, and more impact my mood? My ability to focus, switch tasks, complete steps?
Answering questions like this, the parent may realize that they can't stand the breeze generated by their ceiling fan, they dislike working in their office while the neighbor is mowing the lawn, or they become unduly irritated when other drivers leave their high beams on at night. I could imagine an APM in which the parent avoids these sources of aggravation or changes their reaction to them, in the meantime learning how to help their autistic child to avoid their own sensory stressors. It also becomes easier for the parent to write their memoir due to the lack of sensory irritation—and to weave tension and relief through their narrative by using sensory triggers in some scenes.
How are my interoception and proprioception? How do they impact my experience of the world and of myself? Are they making my experience different from other people's, or different than what I'd have liked?
Perhaps the narrator thinks back to gym class in middle school and how they were embarrassed by never being able to catch the ball, or how they still sometimes put both feet into one pant leg even when they are paying attention (proprioceptive issues). Or if they get sick, they can't tell right away, so they always end up leaving work in the middle of the day rather than staying home to begin with (an interoceptive issue). These realizations help them empathize with some of the things their own child has trouble with and also leads them to forgive themselves for their "non-optimal" behavior. The end-of-day headache they've been attributing to working too much on their memoir, they now realize, is actually due to hunger. Their hypo-ability in that interoceptive arena makes them forget to eat. They start using a snack timer while writing and end the day in a much better mood.
What is my level of verbal processing and production on any given day? When I am tired, stressed, or overwhelmed, versus when I am relaxed?
I picture an arc in which the parent often yells at their children in the mornings before school. However, due to learning more about autism, they realize that their own verbal processing needs extra time to "wake up" in the morning. The parent then realizes that they were becoming upset by the noise and demand to respond in the morning—and that starting to yell at everyone was making it worse. Steps could be taken to make the morning routine calmer and quieter for everyone's benefit—especially the autistic child, who also needs a verbal warmup time each day. Later, the parent found that the quiet time in the morning made it easier to transition into whatever they were doing next, like doing their job or working on their memoir.
Do I have a bottom-up processing style, where I see details first and then the big picture, or a top-down processing style, where I see the big picture first and then zoom in on details?
Maybe the parent has always had clashes with their parents, teachers, co-workers, and bosses due to asking too many "nit-picky" questions. The parent learns that they have a bottom-up processing style thanks to researching their child's autism and is more aware of why they need so much information before starting a project. They become more strategic in how they ask questions and also use a broader range of resources to get the answers they need. This experience helps them to replace irritation at their child's probing questions with a sense of the child's desire to please them by really getting things right. The parent also identifies that their detail-loving disposition has been slowing down their memoir-writing process, though it has been a significant strength in writing immersive scenes.
What is my executive functioning like day to day? Do I ever have trouble making or keeping plans, focusing on a single task, or completing tasks? Do I procrastinate (either naturally or to avoid coming up against other executive functioning problems)?
A parent who has always deplored their own inability to concentrate learns about monotropism, and through that, polytropism—the need for a wider variety of topics and tasks in order to maintain their mood and productivity. The parent can then forgive themselves and focus on arranging their lifestyle to fit their needs. It also strengthens a sense of solidarity with their child. They both struggle with executive functioning—just from different ends. And now the parent can reconsider whether they really need to be so down on themselves for having a stop-and-start pattern in writing their memoir.
Do I ever experience black-and-white thinking, difficulties putting information and priorities into a hierarchy, or demand avoidance?
Autism parents often have to deal with stigma and ignorance in other people's reactions to autism. The parent in question has had some negative interactions with fellow parents, leading them to reject the social scene in their neighborhood. But now the parent has learned about black-and-white thinking—the knee-jerk reaction that something is all one way or all another. That leads them to reflect that the neighborhood parents have had a range of reactions, not all of them bad. The parent is now more equipped to interact with the neighbors on a case-by-case basis and be more aware of black-and-white thinking traps in the future, including with their own child and in the process of writing their memoir.
Is changing plans uncomfortable for me? Do I need a certain amount of time to process plan changes? Is my experience different depending on whether it is me changing the plan, or I am subjected to someone else's change of plan?
Let's say the author's family moved to a new house six months ago. The parent hasn't worked on the memoir a single time since, even though everything has been unpacked for at least three months. In the past the parent would have scolded themselves for being lazy. But learning more about the child's autism has given them the awareness that their own brains can take time and bandwidth to process change. A month or so later, they've processed the change and are working on their memoir again.
The questions above, and many others related to autism, affect every human to various degrees. But for autistic people, they and others define our lives, shape our experiences, and inform our priorities, personalities and actions. I'd love to read an APM that has the protagonist transforming their own vision of how their brain works based on what they learn about autistic people's inner experiences.
3. The narrator takes responsibility for the situations they put their child into and what happens next
Memoirs need empathy for their subjects. They need to show curiosity. A memoir is not just a record—it is an exploration. The memoirist takes responsibility for their own point of view and questions it, looking at it from a variety of angles. If the parent-memoirist isn't doing that, then the APM is not a memoir. It is an exercise in venting, self-justification, and editorializing. And no memoir is going to win the North Street Book Prize like that, autism or no autism!
The APMs we receive could do more to zero in on that explorative element, deeply reflecting on what happened and the author's part in it.
For example, I read an APM once in which the parent takes their child to the zoo. Soon, the child begins to chew on their fingers and refuses to budge from the middle of a crowded walkway. The parent tries to get them to stop chewing on their fingers and move along. The child is unwilling and starts to cry. The parent insists, lowers the child's hand away from their mouth, and tries to gently lead them off the path. The child breaks down. People stare and the parent feels judged. The narrator's conclusion to the episode expressed that: My child is such a riddle. Autism makes them act erratically. Fortunately, I'm a patient and caring person.
They may well be a patient and caring person in general. But that doesn't change the fact that they've brought their child to a loud, bright, movement-filled place without any form of protection (ear protection, sunglasses). The environment may be new for the child, which is another hardship for those of us with difficulties with change and hyperawareness of spatiality. These factors inevitably lead to the agony of overwhelm, which we observe in how the child reacts.
I see scenes like this in APMs all the time and always have trouble accepting how the narrator makes the child responsible for what happened, rather than rethinking their own actions: bringing the child to an overwhelming spot without giving them sensory protection or other accommodations. The child has been set up not just for failure, but for physical and mental pain and humiliation. Ultimately, such episodes are stories of a power struggle between the parent and the child, in which the child always loses.
It would be wonderful to see an APM from a parent who was fully aware of these dynamics and took personal responsibility for the situations they put their child into, and what happened next—treating the memoir as an opportunity to investigate rather than simply to vent or editorialize.
4. The memoirist acknowledges the parent-child power imbalance and is careful not to abuse it in their book
Speaking of power dynamics, I would treasure the chance to read an APM in which the memoirist shows awareness of the power imbalance in the parent-child relationship—especially while writing the memoir. As described above, the parent has power over the child's physical experiences. But the parent also has control as a writer, deciding:
How to describe the child inside and out ("Good"? "Bad"? "Sick"? "Inspiring"?)
How to characterize autism (A "battle"? A "superpower"? A lifelong neurobiological condition?)
How to interpret the situations in the book ("My child behaved badly at the zoo" versus "I put my child in a challenging situation, and it was too much")
I'd be so glad to read an APM that examines the author-to-subject power imbalance alongside that of the parent and child.
5. The memoirist demonstrates awareness that actual autistic people might read their book
APMs are often a way for the memoirist to vent and connect with other autism parents. That's wonderful—parents of autistic children need and deserve validation and solidarity.
On the other hand, writing exclusively for other non-autistic parents of autistic children can lead memoirists to write as though no autistic person will ever read their book. As a result of this, the content and language can become exploitative and dehumanizing without the non-autistic writer even realizing what's going on. Autistic readers, though, will pick up on these things immediately.
When I say "exploitative," I mean material that puts the child's most vulnerable moments in the world for all to see. Some exploitative scenes I've read in APMs include depicting the child:
Having a meltdown in a public place
Opening their own diaper and throwing feces around the living room
Fighting (verbally or physically) with teachers, doctors, or other authority figures
Wetting the bed longer into their childhood than their peers
Banging their head on a table or wall
Non-autistic autism parents may relate to these scenes, but is it worth it? The child's privacy has been violated, and any autistic reader who comes across the book will be horrified. Does any child deserve to have these private moments of vulnerability, fear, pain, and overstimulation exposed on Amazon? And what does it say about the parent's feelings about their own child that they would allow that to happen? In contrast, I'd like to read an APM that honor the child's privacy and dignity and shows the parent's solidarity with the child.
APMs that don't anticipate autistic readers can also be prone to using dehumanizing language. For example, I read a book this year where the memoirist called her son a "monster child" and compared him to "the worst situations in life." I respect the author's personal experience of raising their child. Maybe to her, it really did seem like he was a monster. But to go from that internal experience, to publishing a book that characterizes an autistic child as a monster and of autism as a monster inside, is troubling. I could tell that the book was not meant for autistic eyes.
I read too many APMs that characterize autism as something other than a neurobiological condition—for example, "monster". Other phrases put a supernatural spin on autism, calling it a "superpower" or a "curse". A classic is when autism parents are called "warriors" who "fight to rescue" the child (autism is not a war or a case of kidnapping!)
The internal experience of autism is more complex than "fighting" or being a "superhero". Nothing about autism is all one way or all the other, and every autistic person has different struggles and strengths in different parts of life. That's why, when I see this kind of language in a memoir, it's a red flag. I'd love to see an APM that dissects these terms and how they're normally used in memoirs. Meanwhile, there are good resources out there for researching how to use more supportive and understanding language that won't shut out autistic readers:
https://www.amaze.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Talking-about-autism-a-media-resource.pdf
https://www.autism.org.uk/contact-us/media-enquiries/how-to-talk-and-write-about-autism
Any APMs that care to critique, satirize, or subvert these labels are so much more than welcome in my life and on my bookshelf!
6. The book calls out ignorance, unfairness, and bigotry in individuals and society
I haven't given up on APMs. In fact, I've seen some good stuff. One of my favorite things to find in an APM is when the author pushes back against all the ways autistic people are misunderstood, belittled, and othered. For example, I've seen memoirs where:
The parent stands up to a therapist who kept referring to autistic children as burdens.
The narrator, a special education teacher of autistic children, corrects a child's homeroom teacher whose beliefs about autism are outdated and prejudiced.
The father of an autistic child confronts a GP who won't let his child wear light-protective headwear in the examination room.
When these episodes happen in APMs, I want to stand up and cheer. They make me feel that the parent might be on my side if I was in such a situation. Which leads me to...
7. The memoir shows solidarity with autistic people
As I look back at this long list, what it really amounts to is a desire for autism parent memoirs to show solidarity with autistic people. It would be wonderful to see narratives by parents who are going the extra mile to be not only autism parents, but autism allies.
And by autism allies, I don't just mean wearing blue on Autism Awareness Day, or having a puzzle piece pin on your hat. I mean letting autistic ways of life start to inform your way of life. Don't take it for granted that it's your right to lead, explain, define. Go our way for a while, and let it change you—and what you write in your memoir.
One personal anecdote before I close. I have a severe light sensitivity and often have to wear sunglasses inside. I'll never forget the joy I felt when, during a Zoom consultation on a crime novel, the critique client put their own sunglasses on in solidarity. I asked him, what inspired you to do that?
Turns out he was an autism parent.
nighthawks
By Tobey Kaplan
four people in the window corner diner
woman examines a piece of paper in her hand
while a young guy washes dishes
the man she knows smokes a cigarette barely touches her fingers
his right her left
he might want her to meet his mother
he wants to kiss her
the soda jerk tidying up is telling jokes
everything closed the light and air ash
golden glare from the window
one other man wears a darker fedora his back to us
she's looking at the paper in her hand
a green tab scribble indicating how much is owed for coffee
a ticket to the movie down the street torn in half after she entered
the check for the meal paid for by that man
who is afraid to look at her he might be
her estranged lover her mystery father a respected former teacher
who recognized her gifts
or what's on that paper is
the cure for cancer or its unmentionable diagnosis
a misplaced laundry ticket a receipt for luggage long gone
a fortune cookie she found in her pocket telling her that luck comes
to those who have an open heart while everything's closed
on that paper she's staring at
you can find bits and pieces
everything you need to know about
this poem I'm writing
Tertulia
Tertulia is a no-frills website builder for authors who don't want to tinker with complex software programs. They have a library of website templates designed to showcase books, and an email capture tool that integrates with popular newsletter programs like Mailchimp. Pricing is under $10/month.
Book Covers, Marketing, and Authenticity: An Interview with Laura Duffy of Laura Duffy Design
A handsome book cover that's right for your genre can increase sales by a factor of two or more. But does working with a professional have to feel like a trust fall? Designer Laura Duffy doesn't think so.
Annie Mydla, Managing Editor
This year, Laura Duffy Design is providing free benefits to all entrants and winners of the North Street Book Prize. All entrants receive a detailed PDF about book cover design, and winners receive customized book design and marketing services.
Laura Duffy here joins Winning Writers managing editor Annie Mydla to talk about helping indie authors get the most out of her services, from the cover to essential marketing elements like metadata, Amazon keywords, and copy.
Watch the entire interview with Laura or read this lightly edited transcript.
Key moments (links lead to the YouTube video):
0:55 Why do authors settle for a subpar cover?
2:34 Why working with a professional can feel like a trust fall
3:54 Why self-publishing is even more crucial in today's world. "That's what I want to be part of."
5:33 "This cover is gonna be strong, because this is a badass book": Honoring authors' authenticity
6:21 Book cover design is not one-size-fits-all. It's personal
8:05 "We're all creatives, just in different lanes": Designers and authors working together
9:16 Why improving a book cover improves sales
10:03 Why a good cover increases marketing opportunities, like merchandise
10:30 How Laura raises sales with SEO, Amazon keywords, and more
11:43 Expressing our truth vs selling books? It's a balance
13:23 Laura's free customized services for North Street Book Prize winners
14:33 How merchandise increases authors' exposure
15:38 Considering a cover now? This message is for you
Introduction
ANNIE MYDLA: Hello, everybody, and thank you for tuning in. I'm Annie Mydla, managing editor of Winning Writers. Joining me today is Laura Duffy, former art director for Simon & Schuster and Random House, now independent book cover creator and North Street Book Prize co-sponsor. Laura, thank you so much for being our co-sponsor, and thank you for talking with me about all the ways that book cover design can be important for a book's success.
LAURA DUFFY: Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here.
Before we begin, I'd just like to point out to everybody that Laura Duffy Design is providing a free detailed PDF guide about the book cover design process to all North Street entrants in 2025. She's also providing free merchandising and book cover design services for winners, as well as some other things which we'll talk about in a little bit. So let's just dive into the interview.
0:55 Why do authors settle for a subpar cover?
We receive many books in the North Street Book Prize each year. Now, of course, we don't judge a book solely by its cover, but it does make an impact on the book's competitiveness with other submissions. Why do you think authors settle? What are some of the mental stumbling blocks that keep authors from striving for better covers?
Perhaps it's just that they don't know how to find a designer, or they don't know they need a designer. Perhaps they've designed their own cover, and they don't want to be told that it's not good enough.
But I think that they also need to be shown. They have their ideas. And I say, "Yeah, I'm going to do your idea. But then I'm going to show you my idea, because that's what you're hiring me for." And then they have that, "Ohhh, okay, I get it," whether it's a really impactful design, or it's the details on the back, or on the spine, or in the interior. It becomes this, like, "Okay."
And perhaps it's budget, finances, and stuff like that. In that case, they could maybe try to learn from other designs, or designers, or what they see. But I think that, like any other trade or business when somebody's been doing it for a long time, you want to really rely on their expertise. Especially with a book cover. You know, it's interesting, because it's artistic, it's art, it's creativity, and we've got artists here, but it's also a business thing, a marketing tool. There's a lot of technical things going on. You have to find the right combination.
2:34 Why working with a professional can feel like a trust fall
Sometimes I get the impression while working with people who are self-publishing, they have to do so much of it by themselves. When they meet a professional, especially a relatively affordable professional like yourself who does such a good job and has so much background and experience, it can almost feel like doing a trust fall. It's the first time that they've been able to put their work in the hands of another person. And they don't really know how it's going to come out. They've had experiences that burned them in the past, maybe.
Well, that's a good point, too. I do get a lot of clients who've come to me after working with an agency. I don't want to badmouth anybody, but there are lots of places out there that, for instance, don't read the book, don't really want it. They just want to produce a cover. And that's not how I work. I don't know how I'd get my ideas if I didn't read as much as I could of an author's work. So yeah, it's all about trust.
I know that you probably don't feel comfortable saying this about yourself, but it's not just your expertise and your experience and your skill. It's also that you're a very warm and lovely person. So I think if somebody needs to learn to trust, you're probably a good place to go.
I know what you mean, because there are a lot of companies that are very slick. You don't know who's behind it. Is this one person? Is this a team? Is this a group? And I'm one person, although I'm branching out, and I've got people who are helping me out. But people are reacting to my site because it looks like I'm a human being.
Because this is such an incredibly personal thing that these people are doing. Maybe they're sharing in a memoir some of their most personal details. For them, it's a huge thing, finally publishing this book. It's just really intimidating in a lot of ways. And I think what I'm realizing is that they appreciate my patience.
3:54 Why self-publishing is even more crucial in today's world. "That's what I want to be part of."
And I feel personally, with the way the world is, especially in the United States, I'm starting to really appreciate the role I'm playing, the role we're playing, in helping people get their stories out. Because I know that there's a lot of fear everywhere. So that leads to even more gatekeepers, more people saying, "I don't want to publish this book. We're not talking about this anymore." But you can do it. Yes, you can talk about it. And how incredibly important that is. I'm working on several books right now that I know are topics that are just really, it's really important for people to get their voices out.
People have been telling them all their lives, you can't do this, you can't do that. And now it seems like society is telling people more and more, you can't do this, you can't do that.
I feel like people are being a lot more authentic, whether it's because we came through a pandemic…People are looking for places to rest, be creative, or have support. You know, we've just got so much coming at us.
5:33 "This cover is gonna be strong, because this is a badass book": Honoring authors' authenticity
And I mean, I think that's the positive thing about nowadays: that people are talking about things. We're seeing the underbelly of a lot of things, but those things were always there. They were just hidden. You know, the Me Too movement and all these things. And now it's like, "Okay, I can talk about my family trauma," that before was—you just didn't bring it up.
And so that's another thing. I'm like, "This cover is going to be strong, because this is a badass book." And that's what I want to be part of.
6:21 Book cover design is not one-size-fits-all. It's personal
This is just another reason why you as a book cover designer are, in my opinion, preferable to organizations that are bigger, slicker. Because the bigger the company is, the more standardized things have to be. Somebody who's got so many clients, they don't really necessarily have the time or the emotional bandwidth to engage with people on that level.
There are so many different kinds of self-published authors. They have different needs, different comfort levels, different expectations. It's not a one-size-fits all situation.
How do you think we can get authors to appreciate the value of a good cover and evaluate their cover designs more critically?
I think that, again, it's that seeing is believing. I think that once you show them what can be done, and how others react to their books—you know, once they put it out there on social media and there's oohing and aahing—yeah, you know. That's the fun part.
I think that's also a step towards, "Oh, this is going to be a good experience." I think that fear, that terror of, "Oh my goodness, I'm putting my baby out into the world for the first time," and then it's like, "Oh, no, this is a party." Everybody's chiming in. I think that's when they realize, if they're working with somebody like me, or another professional with a lot of experience, "Okay, we're running with the big guys now. We can hang with the big guys and gals." And it feels good.
8:05 "We're all creatives, just in different lanes": Designers and authors working together
Book covers are one of the most accessible parts of books. People look at that image, and they just get an immediate sense of something about your book, something about you.
Everybody now is exposed to design. Good design, bad design. More and more people, I would say, maybe think they can be designers, and they can be. There are tools, and they might find out that they're very good. It's worth educating yourself and looking around.
But you do want to do something that's really good, whether you're doing it yourself—there are people, there are authors, who've done good stuff, and they've used Canva. It's pretty impressive. They've taught themselves InDesign. And I like that too. I love seeing people expand and discover things about themselves.
Maybe they try it and they find an amazing talent. But do they have the time? Do they have the bandwidth? Do they have the resources? I could make a book cover, but would it have all those really subtle little touches that subconsciously communicate to viewers of that cover, "This is the real thing"?
I think that another thing is, that what an author is doing is very creative, and what I'm doing is very creative. Yeah, we're all working with creatives, but in different ways and different lanes.
9:16 Why improving a book cover improves sales
Can you tell us a little bit about how improving a book cover can improve sales?
Well, that's a good question, because I think that there's a lot that goes into improving sales. The book cover, of course, is important. When you're writing a book, and you're considering the cover, you're stepping into the world of marketing. It's just like any other aspect of the world. If you're looking for a job, and you want to stand out, how do you present yourself? Regardless of how you get to a book, what's going to make you stop, pause, and look at that book and pick it up? On some level, if a book cover is doing its job, especially with a lot of competition, a well-put-together cover represents and indicates a well-written book.
10:03 Why a good cover increases marketing opportunities like merchandise
How can a good cover contribute to marketing opportunities like selling book merch or building an author's web presence?
I think that people like to see good-looking things, right? What's really fun is when you start integrating other elements from the cover onto the website or onto the bookmarks, and it kind of pulls it out—you know, it's all of a piece. And I think people really appreciate that.
10:30 How Laura raises sales with SEO, Amazon keywords, and more
I have a very entrepreneurial mindset, and I love thinking about how to grow a business, how to market. I get very excited about that. And I try to convey that to authors. "Okay, we're going to do this, let's do this." Like, "Who's your target market? Who's your audience?"
What should be done early on is, keep your audience in mind. You know, SEO, search engine optimization, these keywords that help the cream rise to the top are important. The algorithms. It's the game we're playing. And so even early on, making sure that you're using words, whether it's in your book description, whether it's on the back of your book, or that's even in your book, or anywhere, that you're using words that will attract your audience. You know, "You're not using your title enough," or "Let's get these words into the subtitle," or "Let's get these words into a blurb." We've got to do it. We've got to do it if you want to really stand out.
I think that is a little bit of something, like, you know, that's hard for authors to adjust to. That's where I come in, like, "Okay, no, we're going to do this. You just relax. You wrote your book."
11:43 Expressing our truth vs selling books? It's a balance
We're getting into some core human issues here, with this balance of, "We want to be ourselves. We want to express ourselves. But we also want to get these certain benefits from what we're producing." Sometimes I wonder whether this is one of the things that makes self-publishing difficult for people. This conflict, this tension, between expressing yourself, and getting what you want from other people in terms of their response, in terms of their money, their time, their attention.
It's awesome that you can help them with the covers, which is, in most cases, how people really meet the book, but also that you can work on these behind-the-scenes elements that have to do with marketing on Amazon, keywords, and all the things that we don't really think about.
When I have the discussions, whether I'm giving them my initial pitch or it's during the process, there's a lot more going on than just the talk about the design of the cover. Over and over again, I'm encouraging authors to get out there. I feel that feeling of, "I want everybody to be successful and confident." I think there's a lot of people starting out. I mean, 99% of the authors that I work with are newbies. And "I've never done this before, I don't know what…" "Okay, yeah, you're not alone." I hope that that comforts them, that they don't feel like they're the only author in the world that's starting out and never done this before. I feel like it's a cool place to be, the indie publishing world. It's really neat.
13:23 Laura's free customized services for North Street Book Prize winners
You're a North Street co-sponsor. You're actually working with last year's North Street Book Prize winners at this moment. Can you tell us a little bit about how it's going, the kind of things that you're working on together?
So I've been working with a lot of the first prize winners, right? And I've done work with Angelino Donnachaidh. He wrote Tamiu: A Cat's Tale. And when I spoke to him, you know, he didn't really know what he wanted, how he wanted to utilize my services. He just wanted it to sell more. So what I offered to do was work on his metadata, work on his copy: for his cover, on Amazon, and keywords. So that was an interesting project, and I'm interested in seeing how that does because that's what I've been doing for a lot of my clients nowadays.
And then for Stephen Pollock, I did a bookmark for [his poetry collection, Exits]. And that might also lead to a postcard. And then Bryan Wiggins, who I said, "I think your cover [for The Corpse Bloom] looks great," but he wanted to make some changes to the layout and add all of these wonderful awards he's gotten. So I'm doing that.
14:33 How merchandise increases authors' exposure
Actually, can you tell me some of the other kinds of merch that you provide? Because I'm not sure I know.
So, the bookmarks and the postcards. I've been asked to do tote bags, and t-shirts, and any kind of swag, toys, business cards that are just specifically for the author. More and more people are asking for those stand-up banners that they'll have at a reading, and they retract. I've got a picture of one woman on my website standing next to one, and it's got her cover on it, and it's got the quotes.
You know, a lot of media sheets. I try to encourage people. I say, "If you feel like you're going to go out in the world, and you're going to be hitting people up for podcasts and this and that, you want to put together a media sheet, or a white sheet." People call them all different things. But they don't know that that exists, so I show them examples.
Whatever anybody wants their book cover or anything on, I'll do it. It's just a matter of designing it. There are lots of printers, so it doesn't really cost that much money. And it’s fun.
15:38 Considering a cover now? This message is for you
I was wondering if you have any advice for authors who might be considering the cover for an upcoming book.
I would say, yeah, just write your book and let me read it. I think that if you're working with somebody who's going to read the book, which apparently I feel like I'm one of the few people that do, then you don't have to really do much regarding the cover. When I look through a story, a novel or something, I'm looking for maybe a specific moment. Some kind of tableau, something that might lend itself to color. But yeah, just focus on writing that great book. Hire that developmental editor and let them take their time doing it.
Sometimes I think that books, or the part of books that authors produce, is like the raw material. Like they are creating a raw diamond, or a lump of raw gold, or something like that. Alchemists are real if you're a self-published author. You do produce the gold. You do produce the diamonds. But then, you're the alchemist. You're not a blacksmith. You're not, like, a goldsmith, or a diamond cutter. There are other people who do that stuff to turn it from that really valuable, rare raw material to the finished product.
Let the creative people that you've hired do their job. Because they're coming at it from many different vantage points. I've rarely been able to say to an author, "You're just too close to this" and "Just back off." But, you know, sometimes, yeah, I'll be able to say that, and they'll get it, and they'll be like, "Okay, yeah, I'll talk to you when you're done. You just do your thing." And I'm like, "Yeah, I love you."
Laura Duffy, thank you so much for sharing your book cover and marketing insights with us today. And thank you so much for providing these excellent benefits for North Street Book Prize entrance and winners.
Well, it is my pleasure. I love working with you and this has been a really great experience. I hope that people find these helpful.
Writing Co-Lab: 100 Days of Creative Resistance
Writing Co-Lab is a teaching cooperative that offers online creative writing workshops. Their project "100 Days of Creative Resistance" delivers a free daily email of encouragement, opposition, and commiseration for each of the first 100 days of the 47th president's regime, beginning on January 20, 2025. These brief essays are archived on their website. Participating authors include R.O. Kwon, Denne Michele Norris, Edgar Gomez, Tenim Fruchter, and Robert Jones, Jr.
Finding the best awards for your book: An interview with Book Award Pro founder Hannah Jacobson
"No matter how you decide to publish your book, there are accolades for you"—and Book Award Pro will help you find them.
Annie Mydla, Managing Editor
This year, Book Award Pro is giving three free months of their unique accolades-finding services to all entrants and winners of the North Street Book Prize.
Book Award Pro founder and CEO Hannah Jacobson joins Winning Writers managing editor Annie Mydla to discuss:
- Why book awards are within your reach as an author
- How Book Award Pro finds the best awards for your book from over 11,000 submission opportunities
- How book awards connect your book to new audiences
- How Book Award Pro's in-house-designed AI protects author privacy and intellectual property
- What is included in the 3 free months of Essentials- and Pro-tier services that North Street entrants and winners will receive
Watch the entire interview with Hannah Jacobson or read this lightly edited transcript.
ANNIE: Hello, welcome, thank you for tuning in. I'm Annie Mydla of Winning Writers, and this is my blog. I'm joined today by Hannah Jacobson. She's the founder of our North Street Book Prize co-sponsor, Book Award Pro, a service that connects authors to curated submission opportunities for their books. But how does that connection happen? What is Book Award Pro's evaluation process for the books for the submission opportunities, and why is it helpful for authors to have this narrowed-down, personalized list of places to send their books? Hannah, thank you so much for being with me here today.
HANNAH: Hi, Annie. Thank you so much for inviting me here. And, you know, thank you for the opportunity to be a co-sponsor of the North Street Book Prize. We're really proud to be a co-sponsor.
So first, let's just let people know a little bit about what we're talking about. What is Book Award Pro and how does it help authors?
Validation and credibility are so important in your author career. Validation is just the knowledge that your writing is really resonating with your readers. And credibility is building trust with those readers. And quite frankly, in the book world, there's not a better way to do that than through book awards. Book awards give you a way to build that validation, to build that credibility. And Book Award Pro is a technology platform to help you actually pursue those awards, pursue those accolades, and know what's actually out there for your book.
Yeah, it can be really hard for people to know what the opportunities even are.
And you know, historically in the book world, there hasn't been a lot of great information on when to get awards, how to get awards, what does that look like? And as an author, you're really busy. You're a business owner. There's a lot of things to keep track of. So knowing that there's a service like Book Award Pro that can just handle that for you, that's kind of where we come into the book world.
We always believe in transparency, so directly on our website, we always include our plans, our pricing information about our services. You can go directly to BookAwardPro.com, you can just give us a few details about your book and that helps our system understand, what is your book about? So from there, you choose the best plan for your book from among our three plans, and if you would like to do your own entries or if you would like to have our team perform professional entries for you. Our system gets straight to work on your very first award matches. In fact, our authors have told us that they get their first award matches in moments.
You mentioned these three different plans. Are those different from the kind of pricing levels or subscription levels on the website?
No, those are exactly, those are our subscription levels on the website. We always believe too, again, from the very beginning of Book Award Pro that we wanted to offer a variety of pricing, a variety of plans to suit not only your needs but also your budget as an author. So you can essentially use our services to find what accolades are out there for your book, and then you can decide if you would like us to actually submit those opportunities for you or if you would like to do it yourself.
Can people only submit one book at a time, or can they submit multiple books?
Authors add multiple books all the time. And something we've come to find is that many authors actually not only write and publish a single book, maybe you publish a series, maybe you have multiple series, maybe you have just multiple standalone books. But our services work for every single book, no matter whether it's fiction, nonfiction, part of a series. You can absolutely use our services to find accolades for all of your books.
Do you mind if I ask how many contests roughly or how many, sorry, submission opportunities roughly there are in the Book Award Pro database?
Book Award Pro is really proud to operate the world's largest database of legitimate awards and reviews. And at this time, that's more than 11,000 accolades and counting, every single day.
Oh my gosh, I didn't even know that. That's a lot more than I thought you had. That's amazing.
I love to hear that from you as well because I know you're very well-informed in the awards world. And there are thousands and thousands of awards out there and it can be really frustrating for authors to figure out what's the best fit for my book, what's even out there for my book? And there are so many different data points to consider. We're really proud to really simplify that and make that easy for authors to find, make it accessible.
Do you accept every book that people send to you, or are there some kind of requirements?
Yeah, I love this question, actually. So Book Award Pro, we firmly believe that we're not a gatekeeper. Our purpose, our goal is to show you what opportunities exist for your book. So no matter whether you're unpublished, maybe you haven't published your book yet. If you're independent, if you're self-published, hybrid-published, even traditionally published, we work with authors, thousands of authors every year all around the world. And I can tell you that no matter how you decide to publish, there are accolades for you.
That's awesome. And you know, I can actually imagine a developmental function for Book Award Pro, because a lot of people who are creating manuscripts would really benefit from knowing, where am I trying to send this after it's finished? So if they can get an idea of the kinds of contests that would be available to them given the document that they currently have, it could actually help their editing process and kind of help to work towards something that's more focused, and also more geared towards specific opportunities.
You're really digging into the important questions here because there's so much to consider as an author. We actually do have lots of authors who sign up with us prior to publication. As long as you have a book and it's kind of ready to go, it's ready to present to these readers. Readers are award judges. So a lot of authors find validation in their first kind of, you know, those are those last steps of producing their manuscript, maybe even finding a publisher and even becoming an award-winning author prior to publication. We have authors who work with us all the time who do that.
Wow. So you're talking about these readers. How does Book Award Pro gauge whether a contest is right for a book? Who's making that decision? What do they kind of think about? What factors do they think about when they're looking at a book?
We actually collect more than 70 unique data points on these awards and reviews. And I tell you that because it's really important to understand. We understand exactly what an award is wanting on a very nuanced level. We heavily research all of these awards and ensure that our database matches your book to the perfect awards, to the right ones for your book. And that is taking into account millions of data points. That's even more than a human being can manage. But our goal is to find kind of the perfectly nuanced award, the award that will bring the most value to your book.
You mentioned these 70 data points. Can you just talk a little bit about them and maybe mention what a few of them are?
Absolutely. Thank you for that clarifying question because there's a lot I'm thinking of: word count, page count, your copyright date, which may be very different from your publication date. How are you published? Are you an independent author? Are you hybrid-published, independent, traditional? Are you unpublished? There are even details such as, how are awards treating authors? First and foremost, are they upholding their promises? Are they delivering value to winners? And like the North Street Book Prize, are they delivering value to entrants as well? Are they doing their best to do well, do right by authors?
So we have all these different kinds of unique data points, not only to find a great fit for your book. Does the copyright date fit? Does the word count fit? But also, does this award hold high value for this book? And then those awards are the ones that are more highly esteemed in our system that do really well for authors. Those will always kind of float to the top and you will see more matches, more submissions to those awards.
You know, those are really great angles to look at, just all of the little nitty-gritty details about the publication, copyright, page number, these things that authors may not actually be thinking about because they're so concerned with what's in the book. But, you know, I'd like to ask you a question and I know this is kind of a delicate topic in the book world right now. Are you guys using machine learning to like kind of look at the PDFs, or are they people, or…?
I love your questions. I'm the founder of Book Award Pro and I got this started. But I have a team of people, software developers and a systems architect, who design our technology to be useful for authors. There are all kinds of different AI, I've come to learn. We create our technology to best serve authors. So all we use our technology for is to understand what your book is about. Our AI is kind of handcrafted at Book Award Pro and we never share those details externally. That's only used for the benefit of providing your service.
That's great to know. That's really valuable. So there's no chance that like Google could end up with your data or Open AI, or it's just all in-house and it just stays there.
That's exactly right. And I think it's really important, like I said, I don't think that I understood a few years ago that there are different kinds of AI. It is important that your information is kept private and purely for the use of providing your service. So that's why we also give authors the option. It's really easiest for them if they upload a PDF book file because it's kept only within Book Award Pro. We don't provide that to any external sources. But for authors who are really, really sensitive about that, you can still use our services. There are still ways to give us information and tell us about your book that wouldn't inhibit your services.
Oh, yeah. So authors don't actually have to send the full text. They can answer these key questions and get all the benefits anyway. That is really good to know.
That's exactly right. The only time that we require a PDF copy of the book is when we're actually submitting it, you know, like digitally submitting it to the North Street Book Prize, to all their awards that are asking for a PDF book copy. But again, that is only ever shared with the awarding entity and never externally, never for the use of other technologies. It's only used to provide your service at Book Award Pro.
It's really great that Book Award Pro thinks so much about people's intellectual property as well as their privacy.
Absolutely. And in fact, one of our key technology executives is actually formerly in information security. So a lot of our background is really strict on privacy, security, keeping things very, very safe. Your book file we only ever share to an award that you have explicitly asked us to submit to. So everything is really kept under lock and key to really protect your information, protect your privacy, protect your book.
That's fascinating. Wow, you know what? Sorry, now I'm talking to you, I'm just like thinking about a lot of stuff. Before I met you, I was just like, oh, yeah, Book Award Pro, they just match up contests, but like…
Thank you for kind of the off-the-cuff conversation. This whole kind of process, there's a lot that goes into it. Book Award Pro, I started by myself in 2019. I actually launched my own services to submit authors to award services. Even at that time, wow, even at that time, Annie, I didn't even do awards submissions yet. I had done them previously with my book publishing background, but my goal was to find awards for authors. So I would maybe serve up to five authors at a time. My authors were really happy and they started telling their friends about my services, and their friends would tell their friends, and quite honestly my journey in awards has really grown, as well.
The technology is changing so fast, but also like, when you scaled up from just you, you just had to evolve so much. Like, can you just tell me a little bit about that process?
So a long time ago, I actually got my start in the book publishing world, working in a university press. And one of my jobs was to find awards for our books. As time passed, and even after I had finished that job, I always wondered what awards are out there for other authors. What awards exist? How can more authors use something like that, have that kind of tool in their toolkit? Because something I've learned is that authors don't know. They don't know, number one, that awards are something to pursue. It sounds like something that's just kind of bestowed upon you, but it's actually a process you have to pursue. In a lot of cases, it's very time-sensitive. There's a lot of information rolled into that. So I happen to really be passionate about awards and kind of finding that connection for authors.
So in 2019, I launched my own services to help match your book to accolades. And over time, that really kind of blew up in how fast that it grew. And at that time I chose to bring on my technology co-founder who has that background in information security. And he actually helped me scale this to actually serve more authors at a time. So instead of only being able to take on five, we could serve more authors, find more accolades for more authors around the world. And that kind of transparency, that kind of research and information has been a backbone of our growing company. That's kind of a long answer, but yeah, we really believe in bringing that information, that power to authors. It shouldn't be so shrouded in mystery.
I think people really don't realize either how many very specific and particular contests there are. I mean, in North Street, we accept a lot of different kinds of material, but some contests are just looking for a very specific subgenre.
There's a book award specifically for books about chess. There are also awards that feature either a feline main character or a canine main character, which I happen to love. And something important about those very specific awards is that they highlight almost this certain part of your book or a certain theme, if you will. And that really helps authors kind of find a new way to market their books, a new way to share it with their readers, a new way to connect with those readers.
In that case, it's not just about kind of getting a stamp on the front of your book saying this book won an award. These contests also have their own constituents, shall we say, readers who just love to read that kind of material. So when you win that kind of award and you get your information on their website, it must open up a whole new readership for this book.
That's exactly right, Annie. And now that we're kind of, we're really, really deep into this, but those are some of the details that we also collect in our system. So we know this award has a really great romance book audience. It's really, you know, maybe they're open to other genres, but they're really looking for romance. Romance books have the, they're held in the highest regard among these readers. That's not something that you can immediately know just from casually browsing a website or just trying to figure out what's out there. But we do a lot of research to understand that nuance and help really connect books with readers. We really, really believe that.
Can you tell me a little bit about the research process? How do you find new contests, for example?
We've got a lot of different sources and different ways that we kind of keep tabs on the awards industry. Once you have a database, it goes stale very quickly. So you have to constantly monitor what that looks like. It's a tremendous ongoing process. So we have a team, we're constantly monitoring awards. Are they continuing to uphold their promises? Are they still, you know, have they fallen off the face of the earth, they're not operating anymore, or are they still continuing to do a really good job for authors? So we don't have a single way that we, you know, like a single way that we research an award or find a new award. We just have so many touchpoints and have such a pulse on awards that we have this information coming in all the time. We're always doing that research and always maintaining it. It's especially kind of technology back-end things.
Wow, that is so fascinating. I freaking love it. And I really love the idea that by using technology, especially technology that keeps things so private for the authors, it's just able to expand the amount of authors that are served, the amount of opportunities that are there for them, and also it's able to allow you guys to maintain the quality of your database by checking up on these contests and accolades opportunities again and again and again. So, I mean, I think this sounds like a really good use of the current technologies, maybe a force for good instead of the evil AI scenario, like apocalyptic stuff.
Our core, our number one value at Book Award Pro is to do great for authors. And we literally build that into our software. We build it into just everything that we do. And I truly believe, especially, you know, and you and I have talked very candidly that I didn't start with any kind of technology background, it was me doing things very manually. Understanding that technology can be used for good, it's the people behind it, it's the heart behind it.
You know, I often reflect on kind of the earlier days of self-publishing. Like in the 90s and the early 2000s. And there were some very predatory services back then—no transparency, hid their fees, told authors that they were a traditional publishing house when actually the authors had to pay for everything out of their own pocket. And I think at least a lot of people who are in the Winning Writers world, I think they're actually traumatized by these times and now they've got this mindset that if they're in a transaction with anybody except like traditional publisher, capital T, capital P, that somebody must be out to get them. Somebody must be out to scam them. But you and I know just how many people are there across the world who just want to help authors, pay authors, honor authors, help authors find readers, and also are subjected to monitoring activity like Book Award Pro performs for their own database.
It's important to understand, where is this award coming from? You know, just because you charge an entry fee, that doesn't mean anything necessarily good or bad. It means that you have a business to run. It's a legitimate business. That money goes to run that. But you do get a good sense, especially just keeping a pulse on awards, who has the author's best interest in mind? What's actually a legitimate opportunity? And there are higher-value opportunities, like Winning Writers. All of your programs really go to serve authors. There are other awards that don't do as much for winners, for entrants. They just don't have as much kind of firepower, if you will. But it doesn't make them less legitimate. And so we always kind of try to put the power in our authors' hands to choose, you know, there are so many other thousands of accolades out there. If you don't like a certain one, move on from it. There are so many other opportunities to pursue. You should never feel locked in.
I think when people started to really explore non-traditional forms of publishing, this industry didn't exist. There wasn't a service like Book Award Pro. And people were really looking for their own ways to get their writing out there rather than just depending on the old traditional methods.
You know, it makes me think like in our history, in our, you know, in the human history, progression of history, whatever, like it's really a time, maybe because of the internet that people are really learning how to be themselves. And not having to, in order to get along in life, feel like they have company, feel like they're not like an outcast. They don't have to conform to the local standards anymore. We can find people who are like us as we already. So I really see Book Award Pro as kind of just extending that really important kind of social progress that we have just to the book world, where people don't have to have these super boxed-in like traditional products. They can really produce the book that they want and be connected with the people who are already looking for that book as it is today.
You know, with self-publishing, it puts the power in your hands. For better and for worse, that means you're managing your own business as an author, but it also means that you get to publish exactly the way you want to. You get to choose your book cover design. You get to choose your story. You can choose what awards, what reviews you want to submit to. But with that does come a lot of, with freedom comes great responsibility, something like that.
With great freedom comes great admin! I don't know if the listeners or the viewers know this, but in the past couple of years, Book Award Pro has been very generously supplying our winners with three months of Essentials-level service. But this year, actually, every entrant will be receiving three free months of the Book Award Pro Essentials-level service. So what does that actually include for them?
So our Essentials plan, our authors tell us that it saves them hours of research in trying to figure out exactly what awards are out there for your book. Our service will actually work for you and you can think of it as almost a personal awards researcher. So you actually have access to our research directly within your dashboard and you'll get ongoing award matches specific to your book. So when you see an award match in your account, you can trust that this is a good fit for my book. It's already been completely researched for you.
So that's amazing. You know, we usually get between 1,900 and 2,000 entrants in the North Street Book Prize, and every single one of those entrants is going to be able to have that level of research in over 11,000 other contest opportunities. It's amazing that we can offer that. Like, thank you so much for being a co-sponsor. It's awesome.
Oh, we, I mean, we really love being a North Street co-sponsor. We've enjoyed meeting all kinds of different writers from all around the world. And I can say that no matter how you decide to publish your book, what it's about, what your word count is, your page count, Book Award Pro will go to serve your book. So plug in and get those three free months when you enter the North Street Book Prize.
So the entrants are getting the Essentials tier. The winners this year are getting the Pro tier, three months free of the Pro tier. So what are the differences between the Essentials and the Pro tiers?
Our Pro plan takes things to the next level and our authors have told us that the Pro plan is the way they find the very best awards for their book. So in addition to actually seeing those ongoing matches, those ongoing awards for your book, you'll know exactly which one you should submit to for its high value. You'll also get access to special awards and you'll actually be able to see awards that are for book cover design, illustration, even best editing. There are all kinds of different accolades out there that can celebrate other aspects of your book.
And you'll also get access to editorial reviews. If you're wondering how to maybe increase distribution, get some extra marketing for your book. These awards and reviews connect you to different readers, to different audiences, to different ways that you can market your book. And we even have, separate from that on the Pro plan, you unlock the story marketing feature, which is a really easy way to share your award progress, your review progress with your readers, with your social media followers, your email newsletter. There are all kinds of different ways to use the news that you were doing as an author pursuing these accolades, a way to share that with your readers to entice them and keep them interested in your work.
Thank you so much for all you've told us about Book Award Pro today. And I'm wondering if you have any words of advice for viewers who might be preparing their books for a submission opportunity right now.
First and foremost, feedback that we have seen award judges provide directly to authors is to make sure that you have professional-quality editing for your book. Most of the time you may have a really great story and it's a polished professional book, but without editing, that's a really key way to make your book feel really professional, really polished. But I would also say, just remember that there are thousands of awards out there. You should never feel pressured to pursue a single one. Really focus your time, your effort, your resources, your money on the best fit for your book. And if for any reason you don't really like a particular award, pass on it. There's always a new opportunity around the corner. And just really give your book the chance to shine, to be recognized, and to be awarded for its beauty.
Thank you so much. Beautiful words. Well, we need to be wrapping up right now, but Hannah Jacobson, it's been a pleasure to speak with you about Book Award Pro. I'm so glad that our North Street entrants. not just our winners, but every entrant, is going to be getting the benefit of three months of this amazing service. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Annie, and to everyone watching, thank you so much for tuning in. We would love to be a part of your award-winning journey.
Disclosure: This interview includes affiliate links to Book Award Pro, where Winning Writers receives modest compensation if you purchase from them.
Poems You Need
Poets Melissa Studdard and Kelli Russell Agodon co-host this fun, immersive YouTube video series showcasing two contemporary poets each month. The hosts read the poems aloud and discuss why they work. Featured authors have included Stephanie Burt, Major Jackson, Diane Seuss, and Pamela Uschuk.
How To Submit: Getting Your Writing Published with Literary Magazines and Small Presses
By Dennis James Sweeney. This concise, friendly guide to building a literary career in the small press world is a one-stop shop for all your questions, from the "how" to the "why" to "what next?" Learn about selecting the right journal for your work, the mechanics of the process from both sides of the editor's desk, keeping track of submissions, what happens when your book is published, keeping up faith in your writing, and identifying your deepest personal goals for your work in the world. The focus is on community-building, first and foremost. Think of your publications as part of a conversation rather than a judgment on your worth. Sweeney is an experimental essayist, poet, and teacher at Amherst College and GrubStreet in Boston.
Daniel Lavery’s “The Only Advice I’ll Ever Have for Writers”
Daniel Lavery was the co-founder of the Internet sensation The Toast and an advice columnist for Slate. His books include the novel Women's Hotel and the bestselling humor collection Texts from Jane Eyre. In this 2025 installment of his Substack newsletter The Chatner, he makes an engaging case for keeping your author bios and readings mercifully brief, prioritizing book description over back-cover blurbs, and getting invited to Australia whenever possible.
Convertio
Convert your files to 300+ different formats with Convertio, a subscription-based online tool that starts at $9.99 a month for files up to 500 MB, with higher price tiers for larger files and conversion volume.
Public Domain Image Archive
The Public Domain Review launched this online database in 2025. It features over 10,000 vintage illustrations and photographs that are in the public domain, from medieval times to the early 20th century. Search by artist, century, style, theme, or keyword. This is a great resource for book designers and collage artists
Explore Your Premise
Want to impress agents, publishers, and contest judges? Explore your premise—and only your premise.
Fiction, memoir, poetry, children's books, middle grade, art books, graphic novels…almost any book will fail when it wanders away from its premise. Why does it happen so often? And what are signs to look out for?
Annie Mydla, Managing Editor
I see thousands of books and manuscripts a year, and about 85% of them have the same problem:
They include too much stuff.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen a strong premise get lost under an avalanche of subplots, characters, genre identities, themes, settings, time periods, and background.
An eleventh-century Viking princess is taken back to the early Roman Empire. Wow, I've never heard of a time-travel story where someone from the past goes even further into the past! Genius!
…but the rising action has so many subplots that the main plot is buried. The deeper interest of the premise is never explored, and the climax has to do with a different character.
A witch who is also a lawyer must choose between her friends and a dashing new love interest. I love contemporary romance/magic crossovers! I can't wait to read this book!
…but soon after the inciting incident, the book becomes about an ancient artifact that leads the lawyer and her friends to uncover secrets that could turn deadly. Dang, I guess that's cool, too, but I was really looking forward to the first story?
Agents, publishers, and contest judges know this pain so well. It's what I think of when authors tell me how competitive the market is, when I've just read their manuscript, and it left its premise behind. If an author can choose a good premise and write a book only about that, they will sail past 85% of the competition.
But it can be incredibly hard for emerging authors to stick to their premise.
I have two theories about why. Maybe authors have so many ideas that when they finally start writing, it all pours out together. Once it's on the page it's too hard—whether emotionally or craft-wise—to discern what belongs to the premise, and what doesn't.
Or maybe authors can't trust that one premise is enough. For a book to be unique, memorable, valuable, it must include as wide a variety of things as possible. That's the way to hold interest…right?
These explanations are understandable. The first is a result of passion, intellect, and imagination that have yet to be guided by experience. The second arises from a desire to stand out, leading authors to prioritize the perceived value of "originality" over the quality that agents, publishers, and contest judges are actually looking for: immersivity.
Regardless of the cause, I really want more of these amazing premises to be explored rather than abandoned. So I'm here to outline the most common sources of distraction in each of our eight North Street Book Prize categories.
Does your book have "too much" of any of the following…to the point where it's no longer supporting the book's exploration of the premise? If so, prune back and let your premise take its rightful place.
Genre Fiction
Too many subplots. These side narratives seem to exist for their own sake rather than supporting the main plot. This can make the rising action feel episodic, lacking the rising tension that leads to a climax.
Too many characters. Every event that happens in the book comes with one or two new characters that the reader must remember. Alternatively, secondary characters' storylines grow to where they're competing with, rather than supporting, the main characters' arcs.
Too many genres. Either there are so many genre identities that it's impossible for the reader to form expectations, or the genre identities are not mixed well enough to be immersive, so the reader feels like they must keep switching gears.
Too much worldbuilding. The worldbuilding expands to where it's clearly being valued for its own sake. The rising action gets bogged down in details. Winning Writers editor Jendi Reiter adds, "Too many kinds of magic or futuristic tech in genre fiction starts to feel like the world has too few constraints for meaningful suspense."
Too much background on character or plot. The classic, "but in order to tell you that, I first have to tell you this." In many cases, readers can appreciate the plot or character perfectly well without the extra information, and it only slows things down. Background should be given in cases where it provides essential support to the main plot or character arc.
Too many books in one. The author tries to fit two or three complete narrative arcs in the book, but really, they should each have their own book. This is often the consequence of any of the above conditions. It can also be a pacing issue when the exposition, rising action, or falling action are stretched past their usefulness.
Mainstream/Literary Fiction
In addition to the issues discussed above, authors of Mainstream/Literary Fiction should watch out for:
Too many points of view. The narrative shifts character perspective so many times that it's unclear whose motivations are driving the story, or how all of these characters relate back to the main plotline.
Too many styles. The narration switches literary styles without a clear reason why.
Too much of the first-person narrator. Whether they are chatty, abrasive, or simply observant, they keep telling us things that don't end up building up the main plot or themes. Too much philosophizing/editorializing. This can be related to "too much of the first-person narrator" but also occurs in the third person. The narration is "talking" about so many things that don't end up connecting back to the main plot, themes, or character development.
Collection is too long. The book includes too many short stories (or essays, or poems…) A collection might also feel too long, even if it's not, when pieces are included that don't contribute to the collection's sense of unity.
Middle Grade Fiction
The top issue specific to this genre is:
Too many adults. The main and secondary characters should nearly all be aged 8-12, the group it's marketed to. Giving adults, or even older teens, too much page-time can contribute to a sense of shifting diction, genre, and target audience.
Creative Nonfiction & Memoir
Too many subplots, too many characters, too many genres, too much background on character or plot, too long—see Genre Fiction above.
Too much of the first-person narrator, too much philosophizing, collection too long—see Mainstream/Literary Fiction above.
Scope too wide. The time period and range of ideas exceed what is needed to explore the premise. For example, a doctor writes a memoir of their years working in Intensive Care, but the narrative starts with an account of their grandparents' lives, how their parents met, and what their childhood, teenage, and young adult years were like. This can happen when an author loses sight of the differences between memoir and autobiography.
Poetry
Collection too long—see Mainstream/Literary Fiction above.
Poems are mismatched. The topics, tones, imagery, and word choice of the poems vary too much to give the collection a sense of unity or forward movement. For example, we see many "Collected Works of…" books in the North Street Book Prize that bring together a large body of poems with various subjects. It's harder for such catch-all collections to feel immersive or establish a sense of authority.
Children's Picture Book
The top issue specific to this genre is:
Too many incidents. A well-written picture book will typically explore only one kind of episode at a time. Think of the Clifford series—in one book, it will be Halloween, in another, the first day of school, in another, Clifford's first trip to the dentist.
Many unsuccessful contest entries are multi-episode—"Clifford" experiences Halloween, the first day of school, and his first trip to the dentist all in one book. As Jendi points out, "a picture book is too short for exposition or transitions" of the kind that would be needed for such major plot shifts, making everything feel squished together.
Graphic Novel & Memoir
Too many subplots, too many characters, too many genres—see Genre Fiction above.
Too much of the first-person narrator, too much philosophizing/editorializing—see Mainstream/Literary Fiction above.
Scope too wide—see Creative Nonfiction & Memoir above.
Art Book
Collection too long—see Mainstream/Literary Fiction above.
Presentation too chaotic. Some art books include a lot of images with, as Jendi describes, "no logic to the order in which they're presented," making them feel "random and overstuffed." More editing is needed to let the core concepts show.
Too many styles. I've seen art books in the contest that put together 4-10 different styles of visual expression. Sometimes these submitters are young artists who are still exploring where they might want to go in the future and include everything good that they've done regardless of continuity. But an art book is not the same as a portfolio. I want to be immersed in the potentialities of just one of those styles.
What to do next?
Book creators work so hard. I understand the reluctance to cut back. Responses I've heard include, "I need to express these things," "that aspect means a lot to me," "these ideas are important," "beta readers like that part," "but that character is so good," "I've been working on this for such a long time"—all relatable reactions.
But, if a book is destined to be anything other than a tool for personal processing or personal expression, exploration of the premise must take priority. Not everything can, or should, be expressed in a single volume. There's a reason authors write more than one book. But don't "kill your darlings." Re-home your darlings.
Did a secondary character you love take over your rising action? Maybe they need their own book. Working on a memoir about your early thirties, but can't stop writing about your teens? Excerpt that part. With a few alterations it will make a fine essay. Have a picture book that's three books in one? That's a series. Poetry collection of 200 poems? More like two poetry collections of 50-70 poems each, minus the ones that didn't match. Those can become the seeds of their own collections.
Trust me—your premise is good. Follow it through from exposition, to inciting incident, to rising action, to climax, to falling action, to resolution. The competition is tough, but you'll advance to the top of the heap—and be respected and remembered by the agents, publishers, and contest judges evaluating your book.
Quick Start Guide to Children’s and Young Adult Publishing
This 2024 article on the writing resource site Authors Publish breaks down the different genres of children's and YA literature, from board books to chapter books, with advice on how to research your market and submit the right kind of manuscript to a publisher.
FISH List of Lively Independent Literary Magazines
Author Charlie Fish, editor of the online journal Fiction on the Web, compiled this list of over 1,800 independent literary journals that he recommends based on their longevity, transparency, active readership, and author-friendly submission practices like rapid response time and no fees. Though the list would be more useful if the journal names were hyperlinked, the metrics that he uses are ones that more authors should consider when submitting. As he explains on the Chill Subs blog, "My metrics for the FISH list focus less on awards and prestige, and much more on the features of the magazines themselves. Is there an active community of readers? Do the editors give feedback on submitted stories? Is the magazine going to stick around, or fade away like so many do?...I don’t want to give too much weight to the same-old darlings of the lit mag scene: I want to illuminate the margins."
Georgia Poetry Society
The Georgia Poetry Society is a well-established literary organization with membership in the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS). They host a monthly poetry open mic online (not limited to Georgia authors). Other offerings include poetry contests, website listings for members' books, and online courses on the craft and marketing of writing.
Queer-Owned Bookstores to Love and Support
This 2024 list from Electric Literature features queer-owned independent bookstores to consider for your book tours and purchases, from lesbian-owned Bookends in Florence, MA to outposts in Midwestern and Southern conservative states.
Rebel Ever After
Novelist Ella Dawson, author of the bisexual second-chances romance But How Are You, Really (Dutton, 2024), hosts the podcast Rebel Ever After to interview the authors of newly released romance novels about writing socially responsible love stories. Their lively conversations have much to offer writers in all genres about such topics as revision, marketing, writing for different age groups, and respectful portrayal of different identities.
Is Your First-Person Narrator Hurting Your Story?
Is your first-person narrator hurting your story? Ten traps to watch out for, and resources that can help.
Annie Mydla, Managing Editor
The author wants the reader to feel close to the story, characters, and narrative voice. They believe that first-person narration will make readers experience the story as they do. Why not? The reader will "see" and "feel" everything in the same order, and in the same detail, as the author does in their head. This approach may seem common-sensical, but reader experience doesn't exactly work that way.
Recreating the environment we see and feel in our heads through a first-person narrator rarely achieves the author's intent. It's not artful enough. Good fiction is successful not because it draws from the "common sense" we know from everyday life, but because its author has become an expert at creating an artificially immersive experience for the reader. That takes a whole different set of rules and tools.
From this point of view, first-person narration is like the "hard mode" of fiction writing due to the temptation of using "common sense". It can lead writers to collapse tension, reduce reader investment, and diminish the authority of the storytelling. Read on to ensure your first-person narrator isn't falling into these ten traps.
The narrator is a glove puppet for the plot
An author has come up with an amazing plot, and they want it to stand out. They leave their first-person narrator undefined, or vaguely defined, to allow the maximum number of readers to project themselves into the narrative.
It might feel logical to help one narrative element stand out by toning down another, but watch out. A disembodied "I" immerses readers less than a narrator who feels specific and concrete. That's because a book feels most like "a real book" when all of the ingredients are used in the right balance: Plot, character, setting, theme, mood, tone, atmosphere, motif, and more. Dial any of these down too much, and readers instinctively lose investment.
For more information on what makes a strong first-person narrator, check out these articles from Now Novel and Writing Mastery. The exercises on my blog post about one-dimensional protagonists might also help.
The narrator is all interiority and no material context
You're reading a book with a first-person narrator. After five pages, you realize you still don't know the setting, the time period, the genre, who the narrator is, who the other characters are, what their relationship is, or what kind of plot you can look forward to. The narrative is so far inside the first-person narrator's head that there's little concrete information for the reader to hold on to.
Winning Writers editor and North Street Book Prize judge Jendi Reiter describes the problem this way: "[Some] authors start too soon within the subjective experience, and don't bother with the setting or the material details of who this person is."
While it might seem like good sense to create a feeling of mystery by withholding information from the reader, it can backfire, especially when writing in first person. Readers need a certain amount of information to feel interested. The time for perspective shifts, plot twists, and withholding information is in the rising action, when the reader has already become oriented in the narrative.
Exercise: Read these articles from Writers Helping Readers, Georgina Green, and Reedsy, then look at your exposition. Does it contain answers to the following questions: What, when, where, why, who, how? Is your exposition setting up reader expectations for later? If not, how can your exposition be changed to fulfill those functions while staying immersive?
The narrator is an excuse to "tell" and not "show"
"Writers are at their best not when they tell people what to think, but when they provide a context within which others can think." (from How to Know a Person, by David Brooks)
Writing in first person is like the hard mode of "showing, not telling" due to the dominance of the character's point of view. Yes, it is the privilege of the first-person perspective that more telling feels okay compared to third person, but sometimes authors can take it too far. With unlimited access to the character's thoughts, authors are sometimes tempted to really make sure readers understand what's going on.
This can lead to a flattening of the narrative through redundancy or just plain over-simplicity. Here's an example: ("telling" parts in bold):
I sat miserably in my chair, biting my fingernails. I felt so upset. Rachel had tripped me on my way into the classroom that morning, and her friends had laughed. They were bullying me. I raised my hand in order to get the teacher's attention. The teacher noticed, but didn't call on me. She was ignoring me!
Here, the bolded sentences prioritize plain information over providing an immersive experience. They unnecessarily repeat what the un-bolded sentences have already demonstrated. The paragraph gets stronger when the "telling" language is removed:
I sat miserably in my chair, biting my fingernails. Rachel had tripped me on my way into the classroom that morning, and her friends had laughed. I raised my hand. The teacher noticed, but didn't call on me.
If you'd like to learn more about showing and telling in the first person, these articles from The Habit and Inkthinker can provide some good context.
The narrator is overly observant
Have you ever met someone who had to comment on everything they saw? While this can make a person fun to talk to in real life, it can also make it hard to have a straightforward conversation. And when it's a first-person narrator who's over-commenting, the excess detail can obscure the main plotline.
I mainly find the overly observant narrator in novels with worldbuilding: sci-fi, fantasy, and historical fiction. The author wants to make sure the reader is "seeing" every interesting aspect of the built world. When those details aren't supporting the plot, though, it can lag the pace and make the reader feel less invested.
Exercise: Read this novel excerpt from Roz Morris, then do a line edit for excess detail. For everything the narrator "sees", ask: Does this support the main plot or themes? Does it foreshadow? Is essential characterization provided by the way the narrator thinks about it? Is it contributing to atmosphere or tone? Does it feature in the story later? If the answer is no, that detail might be better left out, or replaced with one that supports other elements in the story.
The narrator is static
Even when the first-person narrator has an interesting character profile, the narrative will likely feel flattened if there's no character growth. "But my book is plot-driven, not character-driven," some authors respond. Fair enough. But even plot-driven novels have character growth—especially high-interiority books, like those with first-person narrators.
The difference between plot-driven and character-driven books comes down to emphasis. In a character-driven book, each plot point supports the character's inner journey of change. In a plot-driven book, the main character still grows, but each stage of character growth supports the forward movement of the plot. Both types of books have plot development and character development—they just perform different functions.
Exercise: Read this article about balancing plot and character development by Jami Gold, then journal on your first-person narrator's growth arc. What about your narrator is different in the falling action than it was in the exposition? When the climax happens, what change in the narrator is it catalyzing? What in the rising action is foreshadowing this change? How is the change reflected in the narrator's attitudes, speech, and behavior toward other characters?
The narrator sounds too old or too young
It's important to get the "age" of a first-person voice right, or risk losing believability. Jendi observes that we often receive books with young narrators whose "observations, references, or syntax sound too adult," as well as teen or new adult narrators who sound "developmentally younger (simplistic reactions, no awareness of issues outside their immediate personal life, immature dependence on peers' opinions)." Narrators with the wrong-aged voice can jolt a reader out of the story.
Fortunately, there are resources to help authors achieve a believable voice for their character's age: here's Writers and Artists on writing like a child, DIY MFA on middle-grade narrators, and Sophia Whittemore on first-person teenagers. Lit Hub has a thought-provoking article on how fiction treats the elderly, and this forum discussion on writing older characters is full of good insights.
If your first-person narrator is a different age from you—or even if they're the same age—it might be worthwhile to spend a week or two developing their voice to make it sound realistic to readers. Harking back to the "glove-puppet narrator", above, it's not safe to assume that the common-sense knowledge about age you have from real life will translate into a realistic voice on the page.
The narrator's views become the book's views
One of the most distressing experiences for me as a contest judge and book critiquer is when a first-person narrator has prejudiced views, and it's impossible to figure out if it's just that character who is flawed, or if the book/author endorses those views. Nine times out of ten, this problem arises from a problem of tone: the distance between the narratorial voice and the authorial voice has collapsed.
Jendi describes the problem this way: "The first-person narrator has prejudices or uses problematic language, and because we're limited to their point of view, it is not clear whether the book endorses those attitudes. Too many authors think that a first-person character voice automatically creates critical distance, but no. The story still has to show some pushback, either from other characters, from the point-of-view character changing, or from the facts around them."
The authors I talk to about this rarely intended to have the entire book come across as prejudiced. But while they as authors knew how they stood on the issues, those perspectives never made it to the page.
How can an author create space for contrasting and contextualizing information in a first-person story? There are multiple ways. Making choices in the wider narrative that disprove the narrator's opinions can help, as Mythcreants points out. This article from Gotham Writers shows how to incorporate other characters' thoughts into first-person narration. Electric Lit demonstrates how making a narrator obviously unreliable can challenge their prejudices, and also gives good examples of when it didn't work so well.
If your book takes on prejudices, it might be worthwhile to reconsider whether first-person narration is the best choice for what you want to communicate. Researching the basic functions of first-, second-, and third-person and experimenting with alternate POVs in your manuscript could boost your book's credibility and effectiveness in the long run. Jericho Writers and The Novelry both have straightforward and comprehensive overviews of the POVs and where they work best.
The narrator takes over the book
The author has a character in mind and wants the reader to experience that person the same way they do. They choose a first-person narrator to make the reader really close to that character. Anything else that happens in the book—plot, other characters, setting, theme—comes a distant second to the narrator, their thoughts, and their reactions to things.
The takeover narrator often appears when the first-person figure is a proxy for the author. I see it often in memoirs and fictionalized memoirs, and also in genre fiction, literary fiction, and poetry. My interest plummets if I notice that the first-person narrator has taken over. To me, it's a sign that the author is writing the book as a personal processing tool rather than as an immersive experience for readers.
The first-person narrator who takes over also often has other problems, like being too self-congratulatory, too often correct, remaining static, and solving every problem too quickly. Believability suffers in these cases. Most good fiction leaves room for ambivalence—contrasting emotions and attitudes that exist at the same moment. Too much certainty, success, and correctness in the narrator can lead readers to suspect that parts of the narrative are being left out, parts that would have shown its events (and the narrator's part in them) in a fuller light.
If your project is in first person and you haven't yet considered whether the narrative voice is balanced with the plot, it could be a good idea to look into it. Ideas on how can be found in these articles from ThoughtCo (the section entitled "The Demands of the First-Person Singular") and Alyssa Matesic (item #3, "Alienating Readers").
Reading up on how first person is used in memoirs can help, with many of the same insights applying to fiction. Brooke Warner's article on self-referentiality and Jane Friedman's observations on POV in memoir are great resources.
The narrator's first-person combines with present tense to flatten the narrative
An author wants readers to feel the immediacy of a character's experience, so they couple the use of first-person narration with the present tense (example: "I walk to campus with Julie. We're talking about John when I see him crossing over the green towards us.") Again, though, this common-sensical approach can backfire if used without careful consideration.
Jendi describes the problem: "In general, I read too many books nowadays with first-person, present-tense narration (traditionally published, as well as in the North Street competition). The present tense deprives the POV character of the temporal complexity that a novel, as opposed to a movie, can provide—the ability to look backward, forward, introspect, and go beyond blow-by-blow external action."
If you find your first-person present narrative feels flat, it might be time to think about moving to past tense and/or third-person to open up the range of literary tools at your disposal. The articles mentioned above by Jericho Writers and The Novelry could be helpful for analyzing POV choices, and Writer's Digest has an excellent write-up about choosing tense and POV together.
The narrator starts too many sentences with "I"
The last trap first-person narration can lay is stylistic: it tempts authors to start sentences with "I". It's not a sin to start sentences with "I", but it can be a flow-killer beyond a certain point. Take, for example, this paragraph:
I sat upright in bed. Where was that noise coming from? I fumbled to turn on the light, and at the same time I used my feet to search the floor for slippers. I could hear a scratching under the floorboards. I almost didn't get out of bed, I was so scared.
When there's this much repetition in sentence structure, the writing can look inorganic on the page and cause the reader to lose immersivity. Rewriting to remove the majority of "I"s helps pacing and focus:
I sat upright in bed. Where was that noise coming from? My fingers fumbled for the light switch while my feet searched the floor for my slippers. That scratching—it couldn't be from under the floorboards? My feet shrank back up to the mattress.
Having to leave the "I"s behind didn't just reduce repetition, it gave me the opportunity to introduce new literary devices that added interest: personification ("my fingers fumbled", "my feet searched", "my feet shrank") and free internal discourse ("That scratching—it couldn't be from under the floorboards?")
Line editing for "I" sentences is usually a good idea when writing in first-person. These articles from Writing Classes, Louise Harnby, and Liminal Pages discuss the problem and suggest different sentence openers.
Choosing the right point of view for your narrative, be it first-, second-, or third-person, is only one part of what makes writing a novel different from everyday communication. A great novelist can tap a wide range of literary skills. For a detailed description of the key differences between writing "a real book" and simply "telling a story", see this article from The Editor's Blog. Or, for a more personal analysis of your work-in-progress (novel or memoir), submit it to our Critique Service.
Jay Wurts, Writer and Editor
Editor Jay Wurts offers a range of services to indie authors, including developmental editing, ghostwriting, and coaching on how to make your book project more marketable to agents and publishers. He has experience helping culturally diverse and ESL authors package their work for a mainstream audience. He also works with publishers as a freelance editor or ghostwriter.
Valparaiso Poetry Review
A publication of Valparaiso University in Indiana, Valparaiso Poetry Review is a well-regarded online literary magazine of poetry, reviews, and criticism. Journal has been published since 1999; currently, the archives that are free to read online go back to 2010. See website for review submission guidelines.
The StoryGraph
The StoryGraph is a social network for sharing book reviews and recommendations. Created in 2019 by Nadia Odunayo, the app grew in popularity in 2024 as an alternative to Amazon-owned Goodreads. Unlike its larger competitor, The StoryGraph allows half-star and quarter-star ratings. It also includes content and trigger warnings for books; the option to leave a check-box review rather than a written paragraph; and a journaling feature to take notes on books as you read them. Goodreads users can export their data to The StoryGraph so they don't lose their wishlists and reading history. Read an interview with the creator in The Huffington Post.
Brawl
Launched in 2024 by Martheus Perkins and Taylor Franson-Thiel, Brawl is a quirky online poetry journal that seeks "groovy, snappy, sound work, and musical language." The tongue-in-cheek list of the editors' special interests includes sports, dinosaurs, the body, and "Mom trauma (: " but your best bet is to read past contributors online. Published poems are accompanied by bold pop-culture illustrations. When submitting, you can specify which editor should read your work, based on the list of their interests. No "racism, homophobia, zionism, transphobia, sexism, ageism, ableism ETC."
American Diary Project
The American Diary Project accepts old diaries and journals from ordinary Americans and their descendants, so that their stories will not be lost. The diaries are catalogued and preserved following Library of Congress archiving methods. The American Diary Project is in the process of digitizing their collection, most of which will be free for the public to access. For writers, this archive can be useful in researching the material culture of a period, social attitudes, and speech patterns.
Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute
The Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute is an online community dedicated to developing a visual lexicon of consumer ephemera from the 1970s until now. Whether you're adding descriptive details to your historical fiction or looking for the exact vibe for your book cover, you and your design team can benefit from CARI's classification of style differences that we usually only recognize intuitively.
We Are Not Numbers
We Are Not Numbers is an ongoing archive of personal stories from emerging Palestinian writers. Launched in 2014, the project trains Palestinian journalists to reach an English-language audience. Its mentorship program pairs young Palestinians with experienced writers to help shape and publish their narratives. WANN's goal is to help people outside Palestine understand the lived experiences of occupation and exile. Their logo was redesigned in 2024 as a kite to reference the poem "If I must die" by the late Dr. Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in 2023.
Ojo
By Donald Mengay. In this Joycean novel about queer life in the American West, a young man flees his repressive Cleveland suburb and the ghost of his first lover, to find himself as an artist in a trailer on the edge of the Colorado desert. In the small town of Ojo Caliente, Jake's unlikely family-of-choice comes to include a swinging pastor and his lesbian wife's feminist book club, a construction worker torn between his passion for Jake and his comically fertile wife, and an assertive Latino lover who lives in a household of sharp-tongued trans femmes. This fragile utopia is further riven by the advent of AIDS, yet sensuality and farcical humor leaven the grief. Reading this multivocal, stream-of-consciousness story is like overhearing tantalizing snippets of strangers' conversations on a long train ride. One gradually learns to recognize their voices without context or transitions, and the close attention required to follow the narrative makes its scenes that much more memorable. Ojo is the second book in a planned trilogy that began with The Lede to Our Undoing.
Fixing the One-Dimensional Protagonist
Is your main character too bland? 10 mental traps authors fall into, and exercises to help get back out.
Annie Mydla, Managing Editor
In November, I'm deep into writing feedback for North Street Book Prize entrants. Among other things, this means meeting a lot of empty-feeling main characters over and over again. Here are a few of the usual suspects:
A tough, masculine man who's smarter than most. He's always fair to others, even though he's the victim of a lot of unfairness.
A smart, sexy woman who's not like the other girls.
A down-to-earth, sweet, misunderstood woman who has often come out the worse in love. Her innocence is what makes her attractive to the male romantic lead.
An intelligent, somewhat jaded man who has little patience for normals, but passionate excitement for his chosen field. He has all the time in the world for special individuals who recognize the specialness of his field (and him).
A plucky boy or girl who's wise beyond their years—far wiser than all the other children and adults around them.
A man, woman, boy, or girl drawn straight from the mid-1900s world of Leave It to Beaver.
A fantasy, sci-fi, or historical fiction hero or heroine whose main character trait is speaking and thinking with slightly more elevated diction than regular people, and never using contractions.
While each of these types can be the basis for a strong main character, so many of the books we get in North Street stop there, at the "basis" part. They don't define the character past the fundamental traits of the type. Often, the characters are static—they tend to weather the events of the book rather than grow because of them.
It's all but impossible for a book to recover from a bland protagonist. No matter how strong the other narrative elements are, an empty main character will leech a book of all immersivity.
As tempting as it might be to blame dull main characters on bad writing skills or lack of imagination and leave it at that, I've found there are a number of preventable mental traps authors fall into that can lead to blandness. Do any of these ten examples apply to you?
1. The author is overfocused on the plot or other aspects of the storytelling
Early-career authors have a special challenge in that they're learning to juggle a range of storytelling techniques for the first time. They may tend to focus either on what's easiest for them or what stresses them out most. Either way, the overfocus on just one or two elements can lead to an imbalance in the book as a whole. Character development is one aspect that tends to get neglected.
For many authors, the point of focus is plotting. The author is concerned about telling the story in a way that makes sense and is so glad when they do, that they move on to querying or self-publishing without firming up the other storytelling elements. Other dominant priorities can include:
Communicating the moral, religious, philosophical, social ideas at the heart of the manuscript
Conveying feelings about what is happening in the book
Making the worldbuilding unique
Working out a personal conflict or trauma
If you find you've been doing this, no worries. There's still time to beef up your characterizations! Read on for more exercises that could help.
Exercise 1: Make an outline of your main character's development from beginning to end. How are they changing at each major plot point? What are they learning? What are they hating about themselves? Liking about themselves? What do they want?
Exercise 2: Get concrete. Make a list of the character's attributes, then a list of physical items that signify those attributes. Throughout your narrative, show the items to the reader at key times to demonstrate static attributes, growth, or both.
Example: A character is always late to things. A friend gives them a watch to help them be on time. Later, the watch gets destroyed or lost, but the character no longer needs it/immediately gets another one/gets a new one but isn't as successful at following it/mourns the old one for years and can't bring themselves to get another, no matter how many times they're late. How the character responds is a concrete demonstration of their character.
2. The main character is an extension of the author's own voice
In this scenario, the author identifies with the character so closely that it's like the character is an extension of the author themselves. The character's ideas, actions, and speech don't differ from the book's tone, collapsing the difference between the character's attitudes and the book's attitudes. At that point, there's a risk the character will blend in with the rest of the book instead of becoming alive to the reader.
Exercise: Give your character more independence. What do they want to keep secret from you? Where would they much rather diverge from the narrative path you've set out for them? Where don't they agree with your personal beliefs? With the message the book is trying to get across? How might all of these things influence their behavior, speech, and thought over the course of the book?
3. Successful mimicry feels like success, not practice
For many early authors, a key criteria for success is writing a manuscript that feels like "a real book". This can lead to reproducing patterns that they've seen before in plotting, prose style, and characterization. Not a bad thing! In fact, mimicking others' styles is one of the best ways to develop as writers. But in some cases, an author who achieves replication and stays there might end up with a bland main character who really does feel like "just a copy".
Exercise: Give your character a spikier profile, including, but not limited to:
More specific limitations, abilities, likes, and dislikes
Inner contradictions
Irrational and potentially ugly or unlikeable sides to their personality
Different levels of ability in one kind of task versus another
A more distinct and individualistic pattern of growth from the beginning of the narrative to the end
4. "This type of character couldn't be any other way"
Authors can sometimes get trapped in assumptions about age, gender, class, race, and more that keep them from making characters dynamic. For example, Winning Writers editor Jendi Reiter observes that an author who wants to write a strong male protagonist might fail to imagine that he could have complex relationships that change him. The women in his life end up being objects to protect, rather than participants in the hero's journey.
On the flip side might be a female character who's universally loving and fair to everyone and doesn't have any moral blind spots or prejudices. Adherence to these stereotypes about gender could lead to overlooking the kinds of unexpected inner contradictions, weaknesses, and strengths that real people have, leading to flat characters.
The 2023 North Street First Prize winner in Literary Fiction, Lucy May Lennox, chose a privileged man near the top of his society as her main character in Flowers by Night. Tomonosuke is a samurai in 1825 Japan who enjoys a range of social, personal, and sexual freedoms due to his status. But rather than keep Tomonosuke static in this role, Lennox leads him on a journey that culminates in his rejection of the class assumptions he was born into.
Exercise: Journal on the factors in your character's inner life that are keeping them from living up to their potential regarding some kind of value (i.e., humility, integrity, or something else). What assumptions would they have to shed in order to embody those values more fully? What path will lead them to rethink those beliefs?
5. A stand-out character feels like a marketing risk
Commercial aspirations can make authors cautious about every aspect of their writing, including main characters. What if they go too far? What if, instead of relatable-unique, they cross over into just-plain-weird-or-unlikeable-unique? But overcaution isn't necessarily wise.
Jendi comments that sometimes, "[authors] are expecting all readers to crave an idealized protagonist as a kind of wish-fulfillment, pretending they are living the life of a super strong cop or overpoweringly sexy woman. But that's kind of dull for a more sophisticated reader, and it often reinforces stereotypical social roles."
So how to strike a balance? When considering your main character's level of distinctiveness, it might be helpful to reflect on your goals for the book. If you're aiming to self-publish, playing it safe with the character might be okay. But if you're hoping to get the attention of agents, editors, publishers, or contest judges, it could be important to remember that a literary professional is often a different kind of reader. We've seen many books in your genre, and many protagonists like your protagonist—and we want something new! Pushing out of your comfort zone might reward you here.
Exercise: Journal on whether you're planning to issue your book to the public directly or trying to attract the attention of a professional in the industry. If the second option is true, write down at least 10 unique things that professional might be wanting to see in a protagonist but likely don't see enough of. It might be helpful to reflect on the values of contemporary society and the audience you're ultimately trying to reach through that professional. How can you adapt those values to your character in a stand-out way?
6. The character is vivid in the author's mind, but the portrayal hasn't made it onto the page
You just know your character so well—and it feels like everyone else does, too. But some traits or growth points can fail to make it onto the page due to an author's blind spots. This is something all authors do at some point, and it's a main reason beta readers and editors exist.
Exercise: Ask your beta readers to describe the character's core traits and arc of development back to you. Don't prompt them towards any one response. Are you surprised by anything they say? When they've finished, ask them if anything about the character made them reflect on an aspect of their own inner contradictions, and if so, what.
If the answer to either of these questions is no, or you are surprised by any of the answers, you may still have more work to do in putting the fullness of the character down on paper.
7. Change feels bad
In real life, the goal for most of us is often simply to get through challenges without changing. When something bad happens, we just want things to go back to normal! In most books, though, maintaining a character's initial status from cover to cover takes away from narrative tension. The challenges of the plot are simply a storm for the character to weather, and a happy ending is one in which the character hasn't changed. Desirable for real life? Certainly. But in a novel, it can make everything feel slack.
In the 2022 North Street First Prize Literary Fiction winner, the heroine of Wendy Sibbison's Helen in Trouble is a privileged, white sixteen-year-old from an Episcopalian family in the DC suburbs in 1963. When her first relationship leads to an accidental pregnancy, her decision to get an abortion—a plot device that could have been used to symbolize the desire to "get back to normal"—instead launches a sequence of new experiences that change her assumptions on race, class, and her relationship with her own mother.
Exercise: Make an outline of your current plot points. Then "show" it to your character as they exist in your exposition, before the inciting incident. Ask them: if you were faced with this sequence of events, how would you want to grow during the course of it? How would you not want to grow? Who would you want to be on the other side? Who would you not want to be? What would you be willing to sacrifice to become that? What wouldn't you give up at any price?
Then in your next draft, make the narrative do something different to the character than what they told you, and have them react to their arc from the perspectives of the wants and fears they described to you.
8. Sequels are planned, and the author doesn't want to box themselves in
Authors can fall into the trap of thinking that their protagonist needs to stay exactly the same throughout a series. After all, that's what happens in sitcoms, isn't it? Any changes a character might have undergone during the show are cancelled out at the end so we can start fresh next time. But in the best book series, characters do grow and change. Even in genre fiction.
Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne crime series is a good example. In every book, Thorne, a moody Detective Inspector in modern London, learns a little bit more about relationships and grows as a person. Then his new knowledge is challenged in the next book, making him learn and grow even more. This makes Thorne dynamic, and meanwhile, there's still continuity in the series because of Thorne's core traits, the focus on London, and Billingham's other plot, theme, and aesthetic decisions.
One straightforward argument for character growth in every book of a series is that readers first come in contact with the series just through a single book. It's best to make every book as attention-getting as possible, and that means having the main character change by the end. Readers might turn away from the series if the protagonist doesn't pop. That goes double for agents, editors, publishers, and contest judges, who have likely seen many characters similar to yours.
Exercise: Consider your main character. List ten things that would be good for them to know or be able to do, but would be exceptionally hard for them to learn. These things could be information, viewpoints, behavioral styles, beliefs or something else.
When you have your list, compare it to the most important themes of your planned series. Are there any intersections between the hard lessons and your books' themes? Would it be possible to implement incremental growth for your character over the course of the series, in the areas where the intersections occur?
9. This is not the right character for the plot
Sometimes, the author has not asked themselves whether the character they've chosen will create opportunities for exploring the plot from a unique angle. Likewise, maybe they haven't considered whether the premise and plot they've chosen will allow them to explore the main character to their full potential. In this situation, the mismatch between the protagonist and other elements of the story mean that neither can be shown off to their best advantage.
For example, in detective novels, it's important that the detective be given a crime that only they can solve. Sherlock Holmes's power is logical reasoning based on minute pieces of evidence, and Arthur Conan Doyle only gave him crimes that could be solved with that ability. Miss Marple's talent is using social gossip to solve crimes, and Agatha Christie made sure to give her crimes that could be solved through conversations with other characters that felt social, but had an undercurrent only Marple could appreciate.
Imagine if Sherlock Holmes had been given a crime that depended on social nuance, the way Marple's do! That crime might never have been solved, and meanwhile, we wouldn't get to see Holmes's amazing powers of fact-based reasoning in action. He'd appear dull and flat, and the plot would be boring, too.
Exercise: Think about the features of your main character's premise and plot in comparision to their personality, goals, and past. Is this really the challenge that will get the most out of them? And are they the right character to show off the plot and premise to their full advantage? If not, reworking might be needed for one or both sides.
10. Readers/beta readers already like the character, so no changes needed?
"I've shown my book to readers/beta readers already, and they like the character. Why should I go further?"
This is a response I sometimes get from critique clients when I've questioned the dimensionality of their main character. My reply is usually that if they are seeking to self-publish without the intent to enter book contests, their approach is fine as-is. On the other hand, authors looking to get the attention of agents, editors, publishers, or contest judges might want to remember that literary professionals have read hundreds, if not thousands, of books in that genre. We've already met characters similar to, or the same, as yours, and we're keen to meet someone new.
For example, we received dozens of pandemic novels in the 2022 North Street Book Prize. Most of them were eliminated in the first round because we were tired of reading the same plot points, themes, and characters. But First Prize in Genre Fiction went to Robert Chazz Chute's Endemic that year—a pandemic novel! Why? Because his main character was someone we'd never seen in that kind of situation before: a queer, neurodivergent book editor whose reactions throughout her plot arc were complex and unexpected. That made the whole story pop.
Exercise: Pretend you are a contest judge who's read hundreds of books in your genre, with plot points, settings, themes, and characters exactly like yours. What changes could you make to the main character to make all these elements feel fresh, new, and relevant to today's readers?
Don’t Know Tough
By Eli Cranor. This heart-wrenching novel limns American toxic masculinity and small-town desperation. Billy Lowe is a small-town Arkansas football star who's only ever known abuse and poverty. His response to everything is violence, but deep down he wants to be a better person. His Coach thinks of himself as a heroic Christian mentor, but when it comes down to it, his savior complex and selfishness get in the way. Coach's daughter is the one who actually understands the meaning of sacrificial compassion. She not only sees Billy's innocent soul but is willing to share his stigmatized and dangerous existence in order to reach him. Their unlikely friendship revolves around literature. If anything can give Billy the self-awareness to break intergenerational patterns, it might be a book.
Making Room: Three Decades of Fighting for Beds, Belonging, and a Safe Place for LGBTQ Youth
By Carl Siciliano. This luminous memoir by the founder of the Ali Forney Center, the nation's first homeless shelter for queer and trans teens, is both a spiritual autobiography and an incisive social history of the 1980s-90s. Siciliano shows how we could save children's lives with a small fraction of our city and state budgets, yet often ignore this population because of racism, queerphobia, and even respectability politics in the gay community. Moreover, the problem would not exist on such a huge scale without hateful theology from Christian institutions that causes families to throw their queer kids out on the streets. Siciliano poignantly describes a lifelong struggle with his Catholic faith. The church is responsible for a great deal of abuse, but the tradition also gave him role models for a life of sacred service, like St. Francis and Dorothy Day. As a spiritual touchstone, the author returns to memories of Ali Forney, a murdered genderqueer teen, drug user and survival sex worker, who proclaimed unshakeable confidence in God's love.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
By Deesha Philyaw. These bittersweet stories immerse the reader in the lives of Black women struggling against patriarchy and hypocrisy. Mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and secret queer lovers weigh the risks of authentic intimacy versus passing on patterns of repression to the next generation in order to keep them safe. Philyaw's debut book was a National Book Award finalist and a PEN/Faulkner Prize winner.
Writer Beware’s Go-To Online Resources
Victoria Strauss's website Writer Beware is a venerable watchdog for the literary community. Her guest post at Writer Unboxed has some better news for writers, recommending reliable sites for markets, contests, publishing news, and understanding the industry.
PodMatch
PodMatch is a digital marketplace for helping podcasters and interviewees find each other. Hosts and guests can fill out profiles describing their audiences, areas of expertise, and possible topics. Using AI, PodMatch will generate suggested guests for your podcast and vice versa. While the site is not specifically literature-focused, it can be useful for authors to find podcasters with an interest in their book's topic or a similar target audience.
Printed Matter
Founded in 1976, NYC-based Printed Matter is the leading nonprofit dedicated to promoting artists' books and zines. Their website includes a state-by-state list of book and zine fairs, news of upcoming exhibitions, and the opportunity to have your book sold in their bookstore and website.
The Lynx Watch
Founded by bestselling novelist and bookstore owner Lauren Groff, The Lynx Watch is a nonprofit that fights censorship by distributing banned books to schools, libraries, prisons, Pride centers, and other community organizations in Florida, where conservative lawmakers have restricted people's access to books about racial justice, LGBTQ life, and environmental issues. Read a profile of the organization in the Nov/Dec 2024 Poets & Writers.
An Interview with Mina Manchester, Judge of the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest
ANNIE: Hello, and welcome. I'm Annie Mydla, managing editor of Winning Writers, and I'm joined today by Mina Manchester, final judge of our Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest. Mina holds an MFA and is a working writer, as well as an editorial assistant at independent publisher Great Place Books. She's currently working on a short story collection as well as her debut novel. Mina, welcome.
MINA: Thank you so much, Annie, for having me. It's a pleasure.
In your eyes as the judge, the head judge of Tom Howard/John H. Reid, what makes a great story or essay?
That's my favorite question, because that's why I sit down at my desk every day: to discover that. A story that resonates with me emotionally is always going to rise to the top, whether I laugh or cry, and I love stories that have a real concise tightness to them—some of the basics, like I can see a beginning, middle, and end.
But I also love stories that are like life—stories that have dimension, conflict, and contrast. A story that just hits the same piano key over and over is not going to be as interesting to a reader as one that has highs and lows. So I think that's really important for people submitting to take into consideration with the work that they're submitting: we are looking for that texture and dimensionality, and that tightness of the overall story. Nothing extraneous. I also love stories where it really feels like the author knows what this story is about, and I'm just ready to go on that journey.
One of the things that I talked about with Lauren in her interview is that, at least for the Wergle Flomp Poetry Contest, it's clear that some of the poets submitting are writing the poems more to process things from their personal lives than with the actual reader in mind, and the reader's experience of the words on the page. Do you find that at all in the Tom Howard/John H. Reid entries?
This is a question that I think is central to being an artist and a creator, and it's something that I've struggled with for many years: are you writing for yourself, or are you writing for an audience? I've toggled back and forth, and I think—here's my real thing, okay?—this is what I've come to after many years: it's both.
As you mature as an artist in your craft, and you learn more, you are able, through muscle memory and your craft abilities, to make the work ready for the reader. So, I personally believe that the work should always be for you.
The best writing advice I ever got was from my first writing teacher, who said, "Write where it's hot." My best work is always something that I'm trying to work out or deal with, or it's really hot, whether I feel good or bad about it. And I think that hotness comes through in the material. And then, I think, it's just a matter of, to what degree are you executing on the craft abilities that make it appealing for your reader?
Are there any patterns that you see appearing in the Tom Howard/John H. Reid entries?
As I've done [judging] for more years, I see that different writers are at different places in their writing journey. There are some commonalities with writers who are more early on in developing their material, where there is sort of a looseness or a bagginess with the story, or the transitions don't really work, or the characters aren't totally, fully fleshed out. Or sometimes the material is a little cliché, or it's not really a hot take.
I really feel empathetic to creators who are working on that, because that's part of the journey. You don't always know when you're writing something that a lot of other people are writing about. A great example was during the pandemic and the lockdown. We just saw tons of stories about that from everybody's different take. And just as someone who's reading literally thousands of those stories, it does get a little repetitive.
So, I just think in terms of advice for submitters: we've seen a lot of different thematic material that does get repetitive. I think one thing Annie and I were talking about earlier is that we've seen a lot of Boomers writing about aging and dying and sick parents. And I expect that we're going to see another wave of that with the Millennials, and even Gen Z, talking about how their familial relations are.
And so that's great, and we love those stories—I think it's just trying to figure out, how is your story in your unique voice? And what makes your set of circumstances really different?
I think the way to do that is to read a lot. Even in my own life—I write about, sometimes, parenting or motherhood, and it feels really hot and fresh to me, because I'm experiencing it. Then I'll read more and I'll be like, "Oh yeah, this is pretty universal." And that's not to say that universal is bad, because honestly, appealing to the universal is the goal. Like, full stop. But how do you do that in a way that's really engaging and interesting? For me, it's through specifics, through details.
I imagine that a lot of writers are also writing about things that they feel in the cultural zeitgeist, for example, identity politics and so-called "political correctness". How do you see those topics as factoring into the Tom Howard/John H. Reid entry pool?
I think it goes to a question of authenticity. For me, I'm Scandinavian-American, I'm a woman, I'm white, I'm cisgender, I'm straight—mostly!—I'm a wife, I'm a mother, a daughter, a friend. And when I'm reading entries, I really try to be aware of [my] possible biases, of blind spots. So anything that touches on those topics, I try (even though it's all read blind, of course) to have an extra degree of scrutiny to counteract familiarity with material or themes.
I try to also be extra gentle with things that might be more outside of my purview, and I work closely with Jendi to get sensitivity readers or educate myself more if it's something that's not as much in my wheelhouse.
I do think it's really important to elevate other voices, like trans voices and LGBTQ voices, people of color, and disability voices. I've dealt with chronic illness in my life and my kids' lives, and trans identity in my family, and so those are just really important, and we don't see enough of those stories.
And then I will also say as a caveat to all of that as an artist. I think that our society is trying to figure out the role that identity plays in everything in our lives, and where should we be sensitive. I think, as an artist, it's important to also just totally disregard it and write what you're going to write, right? Everyone has the right to write anything, and that's the freedom of being an artist. That's also the sacrifice that we take on when we become artists: that people aren't necessarily going to like it.
I think it's really brave, and it's important. So really, don't self-edit yourself. Be brave with what you're going to write and let the chips fall. And of course, another caveat—we don't want to see violence or disturbing material that is difficult for a number of reasons.
Something that I think it's also important to mention as a judge, reading so many of these submissions year after year, is that a lot of it is about the author's worst day, or something really traumatic that happened to them. And that makes sense. That's why we're writing—we're trying to understand human suffering and these experiences. That's just also a lot to absorb as a judge, and I have to protect my mental health.
I'd like to see more stories that are about the happiest day of someone's life, or just about a normal day of someone's life, and have that sort of dimensionality. Bad things happen too, and I'm not saying write light or fluffy material, but I'm just saying, maybe get into it from a different lens that is a bit more like life.
And don't worry—I do have like a lot of strategies to take care of myself so that I don't feel too sad all the time. I take breaks, and I have a lot of support.
I really admire the authenticity of the pieces that you choose as winners and honorable mentions for the contest.
I try to just read for what is the best, without thought of duplicates [entries that take on similar topics in similar ways] or anything like that. Then, when I go back through, sometimes hard decisions at the very end are when two stories of pretty equal merit are sort of on the same topic or theme. That's the heartbreak for me, because I do like to have diversity in theme and subject matter.
I think sometimes that's also sort of necessarily why those pieces are winning, because they do lean into their specific experiences. Like this year, we have a veteran or an active military member, and we have a nurse from the past, someone who is adopted, someone who's working with the Deaf community. I think the more specificity about your particular experiences that are in the story, the better.
There tends to be a focus on unanswerable questions in your picks, I've noticed. For example, from this year, there's this unbridgeable gap in understanding between a veteran, their community, and basically themselves, in [2024's] fiction winner, "Cryptozoology". And then in the essay winner, "Memory in Tibet", there's this unsolvable problem of grueling child labor and what it does to children in these villages versus, community survival. What is it about these unanswerable questions that makes them so attractive in short fiction and short nonfiction?
I love this question. I feel like for me, even the work I gravitated toward as a small child—I think life is pretty unanswerable, and circumstances, and the fates, seem random. I also think human life is very complex, and we have these beautiful big brains, and we're just a mass of contradictions. I love work that captures that messiness and that explores all of it.
The work that I don't [tend to] like is too simplistic, and that doesn't feel realistic to my life experience. I feel like life is really hard for most people, and we're all just trying to do our best. I like to learn from the choices that people make, or how they're trying to be better.
Like, god, I love a character who's flawed and just trying their best, because I feel like that's me! I relate to that. I'm not perfect, I'm so deeply flawed, and am I trying my best every day? Probably not, but I do try, and I really relate to that.
You are also a working author, you make a lot of submissions, and you do a lot of writing. I'm wondering if the judging has influenced your own work, and if your own work has influenced your judging.
Oh yes, definitely, yes. And yes, I love coming back to judge this contest every year. It comes at a certain time for me in the summer, and it really helps me to dig back into it, because it's just always such a good reminder of what stories need to be. All of the good material inspires me.
I want to say, especially for submitters, one thing that really warms my heart is when a piece I've seen has been submitted or even longlisted in the past, and then the author has gone back for the last year and revised it and reworked it, and maybe worked with other editors or writing groups, and workshopped it, and made it better, and then resubmitted it. There's a great example from a piece that did win in the past, a nonfiction piece, "Manny" by Elizabeth Becker. I had seen that piece before, liked it, and longlisted it. Then she went back and worked on it, and it won. To me, that is the work of a writer. This is a long game.
And yeah, it does help me with my own work. I am a judge, but I'm also judged in everything that I submit. So it helps me to see what is good and what doesn't work, and then I take that back to my own work and try to make my own work better. So really, this is a gift to me. I feel very, like—"I'll take it!" Because writing is very lonely and isolating, and when I submit to things with my own work, sometimes months, or even a year, will go by, and I will hear nothing.
I think for me, even hearing a rejection, or just getting a few sentences, a few words, of feedback, whether good or bad, is better than just the deafening silence. Wherever we can help each other as writers to get feedback [is valuable]. Work with friends, or work with other writers on your work. I think it just really helps you move forward and can help deal with that loneliness and isolation and get more eyes on what you're doing.
It's worthy. It's okay to be vulnerable. Do it! Just do it. Just let me encourage you to do it.
Can you talk a little bit about the things that you're working on right now?
Yes, I'm excited! I'm working on a story collection which was my thesis at my MFA program—shout out to Sewanee School of Letters!—and it was a finalist for the Santa Fe Writers Prize this spring. And the judges, bless their hearts, sent me some feedback, and so I'm working on that right now and revising it and submitting it around.
And then I have a novel that I wrote, also at Sewanee, and I've been revising for the last couple of years, so that has been sort of out on submission to a couple of different agents and editors. I'm getting some feedback on that and hoping that someone will want to take it out for me, which would be really exciting.
I graduated with my MFA just thinking, "Oh, I'm ready. I'm going to get a job in publishing, and I'm get my novel out there." And the reality is, years go by. I always need to reset my own perspective with, "This takes a really long time," and slow myself down, and just be like, "The material is going to take the time that it takes."
Now, because I'm so invested, I'm so far down the rabbit hole. I'm like, "Take the time!" Because I want it to be the best it can be. I want the book to be all it can be for readers, and for what I can do. That, to me, is the most exciting challenge right now.
It's worth taking time, because the book will live on. The book is not mortal like we are.
You're an editorial assistant at Great Place Books, the independent publisher and I just wanted to ask you a little bit about that work and any overlap that it may have with being a judge for Tom Howard/John H. Reid.
I'm so glad that you're asking, because this is definitely my soap box I think as an emerging writer—and I feel like all of us at some point spend a lot of time as an emerging writer—I think most of the submitters to this contest are kind of in the trenches with me on this! In the last ten years, we've seen just such a constriction of publishing options for ourselves. We have five publishers, which do have multiple imprints, but it's really hard to get in. And there's also just a proliferation of writers because we had time during the pandemic, we have digital tools, we're able to self-publish. Amazon has changed the landscape.
So what I'm excited by, that I'm seeing now, is the rise of some new indies. And, as a writer who maybe tends toward the more artistic or literary or eccentric, I think it's really important to have more submission opportunities, and I think the indies are leading the way.
Great Place Books is certainly one of them. We're new, we're small, we're scrappy. We take three titles a year, so it's not a volume game for us. One prose book, one book in translation, one book of poetry. Send your stuff! We promise we'll read it. Go to our website. You can submit.
I read submissions there, and then help, once we do have our chosen titles, with some copy editing and getting them out there. And we really support our writers. We want to support you!
As a writer who's trying to publish my own work, I just think indies are doing really great work. I would die to be published by an indie. They give such careful attention, consideration, and thoughtfulness to work, and I think most of us have spent literally almost decades, or more, of our lives on this work, so that's really, really important and necessary and beautiful.
I'm wondering if the evaluation activity differs. Do you have to have slightly different mindsets when you are working at these two different places?
Oh, yes. I love that we're talking about this right now, and all these different platforms and audiences, because it is all different.
For example, just as an individual in my life, I do developmental and copy editing for different writers privately. I work one-on-one with people. Right now, I have a client that's writing a memoir, and I'm helping with developmental edits and trying to get to a first draft. This writer has published before with big presses, and that's just the stage this particular project is at.
With the [Tom Howard/John H. Reid] contest, it is a lot more about what's already on the page, because we don't have the ability or the setup to go back and forth with the author to change anything. When I was a fiction editor at Five South, we did. I could choose pieces, and I could email the author, and famously did with E. P. Tuazon—an amazing Filipino American writer. We made a couple substantial tweaks to his story, and that became the title story of his collection, A Professional Lola, which won the Red Hen AWP Prize two years ago. I feel really proud of that editorial shepherding. I guess in that case, he was very open to it, and I think we both felt together that that story had found its true home, like it was already leaning there, and we just sort of helped guide it.
I think that's one of my editorial signposts or lighthouse, or whatever you want to say, where I really feel like the work is trying to tell you what it wants to be, and you have to be quiet and still, and listen, and try to see what's there, talk with the author, try to figure out where it's going, what it wants to be. Sometimes that process can be difficult, and sometimes it's hampered by where the craft abilities are for that particular artist.
But yeah, with Great Place Books, that's more like the [Tom Howard/John H. Reid] contest in the sense that [the book] has to be totally ready. I feel bad about it, actually. What it means is there's so much good stuff that is so, so close that I have to turn down, and that makes me feel bad, because I know what it's like to be on the other side of the table and have a novel that's getting these close rejections.
We do give feedback if it's a project that's so, so close like that. The co-founders of the press, Alex Higley and Emily Adrien, will give feedback, which is really amazing of them, because they're taking their own time for free to do that, and they're self-funding this whole company, which is incredible. They have a lot of experience in the indie world as well, and teaching, and they're just wonderful souls.
It is hard [for writers], because as a writer, when you submit, people just don't really have the time in the current publishing economy to edit or make changes. You have to really pay for that. So you're spending thousands of dollars to work with people you trust, and who have the tools to help you get what you want, just to get that finished, polished manuscript ready to go.
I get the sense that a lot of writers who are just starting out don't understand how extensive the editing and revision process truly is for a successful piece, and I know that you must see that in the story and essay contest. So I want to ask you as someone who's also an editor and who works with people to develop their writing all the time: do you ever feel conflicted when you see a contestant that has opportunities for improvement? And what is that like emotionally—as a judge, but also as an editor?
Oh yeah, it's just heartbreak all around. Sometimes it's, frustration, too, honestly, because sometimes it's like, "Oh, why did this person submit it? It's too early"!" if it's not formatted correctly, or if they haven't read the guidelines, or listened to [the guidelines]. And honestly, the person that that's hurting the most is the writer and the person who submitted it. If they had taken more time, like we were talking about earlier, it would have gotten there.
But then there's another part of me that's like, "This is just the process!" You've got to start submitting early on, and get used to it, and build up your thick skin, and get better. And it's okay. I think we've all been there, and it's no shame, no big deal.
One thing that really helps me as a submitter is having a pretty good, I guess you would say, "group text" of other writers who support me and who cheerlead for me. I can screenshot my rejections to them, and they're like, "Oh, you'll get it next time!" And I do the same for them. That support is really crucial, because it also helps you learn things. If somebody in my circle gets into Bread Loaf, I'm like, "Send me your app! I want to read it! Like, what did you do?" because I want to learn from that and see what was successful.
And even though my envy rears its ugly head if a friend wins a big prize or contest, or gets a publishing contract—there was a friend from Sewanee for whom I edited the very first draft of her book, and now it's coming out, which is really exciting. I want to see what has been done there, and where the book did get edited, and where it's changed, because that's useful for me to learn as well.
Annie, you were mentioning earlier that through your work, what you're so interested in is the middle: the pieces that aren't super early/just kind of first effort, and they're not on the other end, honorable mentions or finalists, or super polished, or even longlisted, but the stuff that's more in the middle. I would just say for me personally, that was just a really hard decade in my own work! I was workshopping a lot. I would write something that day and email it that day to three people, because that's just a period where you have to make a lot of growth.
I will say this like advice, I guess: Go get an MFA! Go sign up for every workshop or class you can, and just have that accountability, and read a lot in a structured way, where you're workshopping other people's stuff and getting your stuff workshopped. I think that's how you [get out of the phase] of, like, "Here I am sitting at my desk just hitting my head on the wall every day." If you're with other people, you can slingshot into the future.
We all have commitments outside of this work. We have paying jobs, right? We have full-time commitments. We have families. We have stuff we have to do. And so fitting in the creative work outside of that is very difficult. If you have a class or a residency or workshop, that can be a way to prioritize your work.
It's so wonderful that as an editor, a reader, and a writer, you can bring all these experiences to bear as a judge, and to have this really comprehensive, humane approach to judging.
That's what I really like about working with Winning Writers in general. It's a community where we're sort of similar-minded about that, and it is about being gentle. There's a lot of stuff in art that isn't gentle, and so I think I sort of gravitate toward that. I guess it is a personal value, personal philosophy. Why be mean when you can be kind?
I also really like the way that you're talking about different things that authors can do to cope with the pressures of writing in their own daily lives.
Just in case it is difficult for anyone else, I think I'm definitely a poster child for trying to take care of yourself, because it's such a long game. How do you really stay in it for the long game and protect yourself? Because at least for me, it's not something I'm going to do once, or in my twenties, and then abandon.
So now, as a mom, as a parent, as someone who has to pay the mortgage and taxes, I do have to really be careful about how I think about my life, and how I have this practice that's so important to me. How do I fit it in in a way that's meaningful and lasting, and that isn't going to burn me out, and that I can do until I'm hopefully a hundred?
I was just wondering if you have any parting insights for writers who might be in the process of preparing their entries for Tom Howard/John H. Reid right now.
Do your research. Find someone whose work you love, where you think that their work can help your work. Do the work, get the draft, and then have your trusted readers that won't lie to you read it. And depending on what they come back with, you may need to go back to a drawing board again.
Before we go, your publisher, Great Place Books, is open for submissions, right?
We are, we are, yes. Go to greatplacebooks.com. Check out our website. You can submit. I can't promise that we'll take it, since we take very few titles per year, and we're also looking into the future now, but we will definitely read it.
Thank you so much. And the link for Great Place Books is going to be in the video description. Mina, it's been such a pleasure and so enriching to talk to you. I really appreciate the time that you took.
Thank you for having me.
Too Much Horror Fiction
Will Errickson is the co-author, with Grady Hendrix, of Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction (Quirk Books, 2017), a popular history of the pulp horror paperback in its heyday. Errickson's blog reviews notable and campy titles from the 1960s-90s, a number of which are being reissued now by Valancourt Books.
Exchanges
Founded in 1989 as a print magazine and now published online, Exchanges is a biannual journal of literary translation. It is published by the University of Iowa and edited by current students of the Iowa Translation Workshop.
Pride Book Tours
Sasha Zatz's Pride Book Tours connects LGBTQ authors with social media outlets that will feature their new books. Many of these bloggers also write thoughtful reviews of the book on Goodreads. As of 2024, the fee was 105 pounds to be featured on over a dozen Instagram book review sites, which is a fraction of the cost of an advertisement in most trade journals.
