Author name: readychapter1

 For picture book writers, your job is different from any other form of writer. In a sense, you’re creating a movie in your head and then peeling away everything but the words. It’s so freakin’ weird. And so much harder than it sounds. Our natural instinct is to give a play-by-play of that movie as […]

Like almost every other writer I know, I’m not a full time novelist. Publishing is, at the best of times, really slow. In the meantime, kids need braces. Cars break down. The rent doesn’t pay itself.  And yet, just about every year, I managed to get a new novel approved by my agent and out

Rejection stings, no matter how it comes. Here are a few of the things I’ve heard from editors rejecting my books.

Joyce Sweeney is an acquiring agent at the Seymour Agency and quite possibly the nicest human being on planet earth. Joyce is also on faculty for our upcoming novel academy, and looking forward to meeting all of you. I asked her a few questions to whet our writing whistles while we wait. (Try saying that three times fast.) 1.

From a cub reporter at my hometown newspaper to magazine editor in the Peace Corps to books and animation, publishing has carried me across decades and around the world. Of course the ride has been bumpy. Here are a few things I wish I’d known starting ou 1. Writers are the nicest people you will