Connecting With Your Reader's Emotions

We’ve all read a book or story that captured our hearts and made us feel things very deeply. It’s a superpower writers have, but it isn’t something we’re born with.

Connecting with your reader’s emotion happens when you’ve practiced writing. It becomes easier after each rough draft, each great draft, and each terrible draft.

But—if you want to save yourself some time, these are a few perspectives you can use to sharpen your writing tools.

1. Display Your Protagonist’s Inner Emotions

Your readers want to experience a character’s journey by connecting with them emotionally. We pick up books to feel things while learning something or just taking a break from life.

Displaying your protagonist’s inner conflict could look something like: She saw the ghost in the hallway, which scared her.

Your reader will feel more engaged if you describe how fear makes your protagonist feel instead of them feeling fear generally: She saw the ghost in the hallway and fear shot through her body like lightning.

You don’t need tons of flowery language to make your reader feel the same things as your character. Sometimes a minor descriptor or simile can do the job.

2. Show Your Protagonist’s Feelings Through External Reactions

Emotions don’t solely exist inside our hearts and minds. We also have external reactions to them. That could be nodding in confusion, shifting uncomfortably in a chair, or bending over laughing.

Consider this example:

You don’t need to mention how it feels to receive a compliment from a crush or why flattery is nice to hear. The physical reaction of blushing is something the reader can relate to and understand.

3. Make Your Reader Feel Something Your Character Doesn’t

This is a fun one. Sometimes characters have to figure something out, but the reader already knows what’s going on.

This could happen when you’re writing a horror story that is supposed to teach the reader about the joy of recognizing your own strength. The protagonist has the skills in the beginning to defeat the evil antagonist, but must reach rock bottom before cheering himself on. The whole time, the reader knows they can beat the antagonist and survive because they have the brains/strength/creativity, etc.

You could also write an enemies-to-lovers arc where it’s obvious to the reader that both characters are in love with each other long before they realize it. The reader should want them to embrace the scary feeling of falling in love, because that’s what you’re trying to teach through your story.

Consider Your Story’s Purpose

Writers have a purpose behind every story. What do you want readers to learn, consider, or experience through your own? You can use these methods of connecting with your reader’s emotions to make your plot’s purpose that much more powerful and engaging.

the good thing about being told that writing about a certain cliché or concept should be avoided “because it’s overdone” is that you can simply. ignore that and write about it anyway if you so desire. like it is that easy

"oh, i liked this but this part is really cliche" yeah, it is :) glad you noticed, you must be a connoisseur of this kind of story :) :) :)

Are Prologues Worth Your Time?

It felt like every book I picked up when I was a kid and a teenager had a prologue. I thought they were super deep and essential foreshadowing, but then I went to college for creative writing.

You know what every professor taught?

Prologues are outdated and unnecessary.

I was shocked. Not that I’d ever say that I had only read the greatest books (many were trash—and some, beloved trash), but how could so many published books have outdated and unnecessary prologues where they’re supposed to hook a reader?

Here are a few thoughts you can consider when unwrapping this problem for yourself.

Give Your Prologue a Purpose

There are two primary purposes for prologues:

You don’t necessarily need to put a prologue in your manuscript. Your reader will likely get hooked from the first chapter you’ve worked so hard on. However, if your character/world/conflict will drastically change later, you can make the reader wonder, “How does it get from here to there?” after the first chapter with a prologue.

Flashback prologues are also helpful. A handful of pages could introduce the reader to a conflict (a deity getting betrayed by other gods and cursing all humans to forget they exist) that sets the tone/explains why your universe exists the way it does (every single character and person in the novel doesn’t know about gods because their history has been wiped from their minds, but the protagonist meets one of the gods who betrayed the antagonist deity and wants others to see/hear them too).

How to End a Prologue

Your prologue should end with the reader fully engaged, but wondering—WHAT?!

This might mean that you write your prologue (after deciding on one of the purposes mentioned above) when you’ve finished your manuscript. You’ll know exactly which historical or future point in your world will be most relative to your plot and the most captivating for your reader.

If George R.R. Martin had become inspired to write Game of Thrones based on an idea like this—historically powerful households go to war with each other to regain the most powerful throne in the realm, based on their various birthrights—and written the prologue immediately, we never would have been introduced to the potential-dead-brought-back-to-life in the actual prologue. 

You gotta admit, zombies are a much more gripping hook than political rivalries. Especially when there are so many rivalries and so much history to learn before the tension builds!

When a Prologue May Be Necessary

Sometimes writers feel that their first few chapters are basically info dumps. You may have created a complex world with lots of history, lore, and ongoing conflict. The reader has to understand it all in the first five chapters, but it makes your story read like a textbook.

Prologues can help by summarizing the most important information the reader has to grasp to enjoy your manuscript. Challenge yourself to write some flash fiction (in this case, ~1-3 pages) about your novel’s world to see if you can create a prologue that condenses the most essential info for the reader. You can edit the next few chapters to see if they have better flow/pacing.

Reasons to Avoid Writing a Prologue

You may need to remove your prologue or pass on writing one if you agree with any of these factors:

Make Your Decision After Getting to Know Your WIP

I tend to think of prologues as something you consider and potentially write well after developing your WIP. Get to know your characters, your plot, the stakes, and the world’s history/conflict before deciding if a prologue would hook your readers. You can always write it in a separate document/page and play around with removing/adding it with beta readers.

a list of 100+ buildings to put in your fantasy town

Ways Emotions Impact Your Stories

Let’s talk about the weight and purpose of emotions in fiction.

Stories can feel poorly written and even shallow if the reader can’t emotionally connect with what the characters are experiencing. It’s the emotional equivalent of hearing someone talk in a conversation and then hearing them read out loud from a sheet of paper. 

Those two types of vocal inflections and emotional engagement are very different. The same thing happens when a writer creates a story without effectively utilizing emotions to engage their reader and drive the plot.

While I was reflecting on the power of emotions in fiction, I thought about how they impact stories. You might find some writing/editing/plotting inspiration in these reminders:

Emotional payoff sometimes requires hints, foreshadowing and visible effects to build to the payoff.

Immediate repercussions happen due to emotions. Sometimes that’s physical (smiling when happy, crying when sad) and sometimes it’s between characters (falling in love after displays of kindness, a change in plans after something makes your protagonist panic about what they want for their future).

Like character foils, emotions can have contrasting feelings.

Emotions have implications. People don’t feel things for no reason. The motives or reasons for emotions help your plot move forward.

Characters have certain emotional reactions based on their differing morals, which adds depth to your story (or potentially conflict).

Emotions are the hook of every story (and you may need to pick a specific one if you feel like your story doesn’t have a good hook).

Revising or writing your work with one, two, or more of these ideas in mind could make your WIP the quality you’re trying to reach. A lack of emotional depth and purpose keeps your readers at arm’s length. Invite them in for an incredible read by writing emotions on purpose.

Writing Tip - Drafting Stories

I have a long history of writing fanfiction (about a decade’s worth) and while I’d like to consider this a pretty chill hobby where I can pants myself through each fic, with each story unfurling into Xk words of awesomeness, unfortunately I’m a perfectionist about everything I do, so I’m a chronic plotter for every little story. It slows down my writing process a lot since I want to make sure I have all my details in line before I start writing the first draft (which I admittedly shouldn’t worry about but again, perfectionist), but this process has allowed me to figure out what I absolutely need before I can start writing.

If you have the above information sorted out, you have the necessary building blocks to start writing your first draft. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but don’t sweat the other details for now; everything else can be figured out while you’re writing or in later drafts. Now go forth and write that story!

How Traditional Publishing Works for Short Stories

You’ve written a short story and want it to reach readers, but you’re tired of combing through contests. Don’t worry—there’s a path to traditional publishing for short stories and you can follow it to build your writing resume with these steps.

1. Polish Your Work

Reviewing your story before submitting it is crucial. One or two typos may not disqualify you from getting accepted for publishing, but it could make the publisher pause.

Read through your work out loud to catch the tiny line edits that our eyes often skip over.

Ask a friend or family member to read it. A fresh pair of eyes on your work is priceless!

Use a text-to-speech reader to catch typos. You may hear the spelling errors more clearly, so try a site like this one: https://www.naturalreaders.com/online/

You can also use the spell check within your preferred writing software. It may not catch every spelling or tense-usage error, but it’s still helpful.

2. Research Publications

Longer manuscripts would normally look for publishing houses or imprints, but short stories just need publications.

Imagine the publishing world as an umbrella. Publishing houses are the fabric of the umbrella and imprints are the metal arms making the fabric extend. Imprints are subsections of publishing houses. Publications are like the stem and handle of an umbrella. They’re mostly independently owned, so that’s where you’ll find things like:

Some are run by small groups of people who love making things like short-story anthologies and others will be professionally run magazines or journals with wide distribution. Your work may qualify for all of these publications depending on the length, topic, and what each publication is looking for.

3. Submit Your Work

Personally, I think finding the right places to submit your work is the most challenging part of publishing any story. There are an overwhelming number of places to consider. You might never learn about all of them!

Luckily, I’ve found a few tools to streamline the process.

Chill Subs is my current favorite site to find publications seeking short stories. You can find their site here: https://chillsubs.com/

This is what their homepage looks like—I’m breathing a sigh of relief just seeing it that encouraging welcome!

Once you make your free account (which is what allows you to track your submissions, results, etc.), you’ll find this page when you’re ready to start browsing:

It may seem like a lot, but selecting publication types and finding places that specifically want things like a spooky vibe or a quick response time makes submitting your work so much faster.

Just below this browsing section, you’ll find a list of publications if you just want to select a few without the filters. Here’s a screenshot of the first one I found:

There’s a great summary of the magazine and everything you need to know, like the facts that they have a super fast response time, don’t require a submission fee, and even their acceptance rate!

If you scroll further down under a publisher, you’ll find other invaluable information like:

Normally, you’d have to find all of these things by searching a publication’s website and recent published work. It would take much more time and you might not find what you’re looking for (I struggle when I’m too tired or distracted). Chill Subs will connect you to publications super quickly and easily, without charging a dime!

Next, I also like The Grinder, which you can find here: https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/

Here’s what their homepage looks like:

This site is better for people who are more data driven! Right beneath the top of their homepage, you can automatically see the stats for The Grinder users who recently got accepted or rejected. At the time that I wrote this post, the people in the screenshot below had numerous rejections. I find it encouraging to see stuff like this because it’s a reminder that rejections happen to everyone. It’s just a matter of finding the right place for your work!

If you select “Search” on the top of the homepage, you’ll get a dropdown menu for things like searching for fiction or poetry submissions, plus publishers listed in alphabetical order.

For the purpose of this post, I’ve selected “Historical” as my imaginary story I’d like to submit. There are many other genres in the box if you keep scrolling. Here’s what the start of this process looks like:

Hit “Search” and this comes up:

Right away you’ll see what each place pays, which genres and lengths they accept and their response time. I’ve clicked on the first publisher and found this data:

Enjoy using the charts and data to gauge where your stories should go! There are many publications working with The Grinder, so there’s tons to search through as you get a feel for what’s out there.

Other potential places to submit your work: 

4. Keep Track of Your Submissions

If you’re submitting more than one or two stories at a time, it’s best to keep a spreadsheet that tracks your submissions. As your writing career continues, you’ll always be able to reflect on which stories you submitted and where they went. It’s a great way to see how your writing has grown and note which publications you liked the most/had the most success with.

My submissions spreadsheet contains labeled columns for things like:

Some places only want unpublished writers, but most only want stories that haven't been previously published or placed in contest results. Keeping track of which stories receive prizes/publications makes it much easier to submit qualifying works in the future.

5. Evaluate Your Publishing Contract

Many publishers require writers to sign a contract so the legal reality of the transaction is clear to both parties. This happens for both short stories and long form work. You’ll have to review things like:

A big thing to note—if a publisher doesn’t include a reversion of rights clause, they essentially want to lock your story within their publishing company permanently. You’ll never get the rights back for submitting or publishing it elsewhere. That includes if you write a collection of short stories and want to publish an anthology—you wouldn’t get to include the story taken by the original publisher.

It’s very important to know your rights as a writer before submitting.

You can read more about contract details over at Writing Cooperative.

And you can always look through Writer Beware, which tracks scams and legitimate publication opportunities.

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Hopefully this helps you get started with your next venture in getting published! The process doesn’t have to feel as confusing as it often does. Best of luck! 💛

Tips for writing dream sequences (from someone who has really vivid, weird dreams on a frequent basis)

My biggest pet peeve with fictional dream sequences is that they make too much sense!! They're too relevant! There's not enough random crazy stuff! That's not always unrealistic per se, but you are missing out on some of the fun ways you can reveal information about your character's mindset, fears, struggles, and future.

That's it for now, but I might make a part two if I think of more things to add. Feel free to reblog with your own personal dream expertise!

How to Write a Character’s Death Effectively

It’s a strange thing to think about—writing a death effectively. You could come up with endless ways for a character to die and they’d all accomplish the same goal of removing them from the story.

However, deaths always have meaning in fiction. The ones that make it to print are the deaths that are written well.

Here are a few things to avoid and a few others to strive for when writing a death scene.

Things You Consider When a Character Dies

1. Who Is Essential to Your Story?

Think about which characters are essential to completing your plot/theme. If someone isn’t essential, their death won’t be as meaningful to the reader or as purposeful to your plot.

This isn’t to say you can only kill protagonists and your most important secondary characters. But if you only have one death in your book or short story and it has little to no effect on the plot, that character might better serve the purpose of your story by living.

You should also consider who is integral to a character’s future development if you’re writing an ongoing series. The protagonist may have a best friend in Book 1, but by the end of the book, they go their own ways. Books 2 and 3 don’t feature the best friend, so if they die in Book 1 and your projected plot developments don’t change, their death isn’t essential

2. What Is the Reason for the Death?

Real life deaths don’t always have a reason, but the vast majority of fictional deaths do. Unless you’re writing about a theme specifically involving a purposeless death (maybe to write about grief or another way a character handles what happens afterward), each death should have a meaning.

Reasons for Deaths in Fiction

Good and Bad Deaths: Examples

Good: Beth March in Little Women

Bad: Fred Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

3. Are You Unknowingly Writing Death Tropes?

Here are the most common death tropes to avoid in your writing. They ultimately are hurtful cliches that serve no purpose. Your writing will be much stronger and more meaningful to readers if it doesn’t include these types of deaths:

If you want to really do a deep dive into death tropes, this website has an excellent list of tropes that work for both fiction and movies/TV shows.

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Writing and workshopping a death to make it as meaningful and plot-essential as possible might take some time. You might even discover that the death shouldn’t happen at all.

Either way, learning about death tropes and effective techniques is a great way to improve your writing skills and your future stories.

10 Ways to Add Sizzle to Your Boring Writing

Writing that sizzles captures the reader's attention and keeps them engaged from start to finish. Whether you're an experienced writer or just starting out, there are several techniques you can use to make your writing more exciting and dynamic. Here are ten detailed ways to add sizzle to your boring writing:

1. Use Vivid Descriptions

Vivid descriptions bring your writing to life by creating a rich, immersive experience for the reader. Instead of relying on generic or bland language, use specific details that appeal to the senses. Describe how things look, sound, smell, taste, and feel to paint a vivid picture.

In Detail:

2. Show, Don't Tell

"Show, don't tell" is a fundamental writing principle that means revealing information through actions, thoughts, dialogue, and sensory details rather than straightforward exposition. This approach makes your writing more engaging and allows readers to experience the story.

In Detail:

3. Create Relatable Characters

Relatable characters are crucial for keeping readers invested in your story. Characters should have depth, including strengths, weaknesses, desires, and fears. When readers see aspects of themselves in your characters, they're more likely to care about their journeys.

In Detail:

4. Add Dialogue

Dialogue can break up large blocks of text and make your writing more dynamic. It reveals character, advances the plot, and provides opportunities for conflict and resolution. Ensure your dialogue sounds natural and serves a purpose.

In Detail:

5. Use Strong Verbs

Strong verbs make your writing more vivid and energetic. They convey action and emotion effectively, making your sentences more powerful and engaging.

In Detail:

6. Vary Sentence Structure

Varying sentence structure keeps your writing interesting and prevents it from becoming monotonous. Mix short, punchy sentences with longer, more complex ones to create a rhythm that engages readers.

In Detail:

7. Introduce Conflict

Conflict is the driving force of any story. It creates tension and keeps readers invested in the outcome. Without conflict, your story can become stagnant and uninteresting.

In Detail:

8. Use Metaphors and Similes

Metaphors and similes add creativity and depth to your writing. They help readers understand complex ideas and emotions by comparing them to familiar experiences.

In Detail:

9. Create Suspense

Suspense keeps readers on the edge of their seats, eager to find out what happens next. Use foreshadowing, cliffhangers, and unanswered questions to build tension and anticipation.

In Detail:

10. Edit Ruthlessly

Great writing often emerges during the editing process. Be willing to cut unnecessary words, tighten your prose, and refine your sentences. Editing improves clarity, pace, and overall readability.

In Detail:

List of 40 character flaws

Finding the Best Length for Your Chapters

One of the most freeing parts of writing is getting to decide how long your chapters will be. It's also one of the scariest!

You don't want to turn readers away with dense literary bricks or make them feel rushed through flash chapters.

There's no recommended limit for chapter length because it's so varied. If you're struggling with this common writing challenge, these are a few tips that can help.

End With Resolved Conflicts

When people reach the end of a chapter, sometimes they take that opportunity to put their book down and return to their responsibilities. It's much more enjoyable to do that when the chapter ends with a resolved conflict.

That conflict could be your protagonist sending a text to their crush at the end of a first chapter that builds on their overwhelming feelings for that person. Right before the chapter ends, their crush texts back—they'd love to meet up for coffee sometime. It's a pleasant end to a conflict that opens the door to more character development/drama/action later on.

End With a Sunset

Your readers might enjoy reading your work after settling down in bed. They read until their eyes grow tired, so it feels natural to reach the end of a chapter where the protagonist goes to bed and they do too.

Many times chapters end on the protagonist falling asleep, watching a sunset, or going home for the night because it's the ending point of the day that everyone can relate to.

While it's fine to use this as a chapter ending, be careful of repeating this as every chapter finale. It can become noticeably repetitive and take your reader out of their reading experience.

End With a Cliffhanger

Chapters that end with cliffhangers are some of the most exciting and emotionally conflicting! It's the moment where your protagonist turns around and finds themselves staring down the barrel of a gun or watching their action have an immediate negative consequence.

Your reader will want to keep turning the page after this type of chapter ending. It's a useful craft tool if you're about to launch into the next phase of your story's action or kick off a major event in the plot.

End With a Revelation

Your protagonist has a normal day, gets the mail after returning home, and opens a letter—the father they always thought was dead has written them. Next chapter please!

Learning something new at the end of a chapter leaves your reader with a revelation. It's another type of cliff hanger that can either heighten your protagonist's stakes or give them a sense of peace about something.

End With a Plot Point

Each chapter is like a scene building to the climax of your story. If you like to plot your WIPs, try viewing each major plot point as a chapter. Although every bullet point, paragraph, or sticky note might not have enough detail to make an entire chapter, it's a good way to practice building tension with your chapter breaks.

End When You Feel Bored

Re-reading your work is always helpful. It's an excellent editing tool if you're reading your WIP out loud, but it can also help you adjust your chapters.

If you're bored in the middle of a chapter, you might need to shuffle things around to insert a plot point or some type of development and move onto a new chapter. Readers will experience the same boredom if a chapter doesn't have any rising action, character development, or has gone on for too long without letting them mentally pause and breathe. You'll know you've reached that moment if you're re-reading and feel bored too.

End With a Page Limit

Although there's no hard page limit to chapter lengths (unless you're publishing with a specific publisher who has an in-house guide to page limits), you can make a loose limit based on the visual length of each section.

A double-spaced manuscript will take up more visual space than a single-spaced document, so you might make your chapters a bit shorter to maintain your story's pace. However, you might allow a few extra pages if your story will be a double-sided printed manuscript.

You should also consider this tip if you're writing for a contest or submission with a hard page limit. If you know you only have 100 pages to work with, you can keep a general rule of making a new chapter every 10-15 pages to end with 10 or less chapters.

End With Your Preferences

Reflect on the last book you read or flip through one of your favorite novels and grab a notepad. Write down why each chapter seems to end/how each chapter ends/how many pages each chapter has. You'll learn from the authors you most look up to or enjoy reading, which helps craft your work in similar ways.

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Structuring and ending chapters may look different with each new story you write. That's absolutely normal! What you're writing and the purpose of your work can change what your readers need from your chapters.

Give yourself some flexibility to try new things and revise chapters during the editing process to become more confident about following your gut with sections in new stories.

NEED HELP WRITING? (a masterlist)

I have likely not added many that I've reblogged to this list. Please feel free to roam my blog and/or ask/message me to add something you'd like to see on this list!

Synonym Lists

Descriptors

Tips & Tricks

Databases/Resources

Advice/Uplifting

There Is Nothing Wrong With Writing to Pay the Bills

I think there's a certain pressure that if you're a creative writer, you're supposed to have this die hard passion to get published. Maybe you want to change the world with your (multiple) books or teach people something or start an important cultural conversation with a new perspective.

If that's you, fantastic!

If it's not, great!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to write just for yourself. If no one ever reads a single word you put on a page, your writing is valid. You're still a writer!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to write to pay the bills. We all need to eat and have a place to live. If your creative talents lead you to a fulfilling professional writing job (think technical writing), awesome! Your professional and/or creative pursuits are valid. You're still a writer!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to write to get a publishing paycheck. Again, everyone needs money. If you want to see your work published just to get that advance check or eventually see royalty checks, that's amazing! You deserve to feel monetarily validated for your work. You're still a writer!

You don't need to change the world with your work, be a superhero, make a place for yourself in the history books, or even make a bestseller list.

You don't have to have any noble intentions to write at all.

No matter where your stories go, who reads them, or what you do with them, everyone should celebrate their skills. Writing is incredibly difficult work. You open your heart with every story. That bravery alone is admirable.

I found myself needing this reminder, so now you've been reminded too. 💛

You guys probably already know this, but in case you forgot, it’s fine to just, like, put cool stuff in your novel. Names don’t always have to have special meanings, the way the sword swishes doesn’t have to be of extreme plot significance, there doesn’t need to be “another angle” to a particular character…It’s certainly good to use metaphors, items, themes, motifs, and suggestions to loftier ends, but you liking something can be enough.

How Traditional Publishing Works for Novel-Length Manuscripts

Your future as a writer may seem murky at best. It's difficult to dream beyond your latest notebook or Google Doc if you don't know how publishing works.

Today we're going to talk a bit about that! This post will be for publishing longer manuscripts. Eventually, I'll make another one for publishing short stories.

Step 1: Finish That Manuscript

You may have heard that you can start contacting literary agents or publishers after you have a decent chunk of your manuscript done. While there are a few here and there that could be fine with that, it's best to always finish your manuscript before querying begins.

How do you know when it's finished? I'll write more on that later, but for now here's a basic checklist:

Step 2: Draft Your Query Letter

I already made a post showing how to draft a query letter and the answers to common query questions, but here's a summary: you need a good query letter for your finished manuscript. They're the first impression an agent gets of you and your work.

Query letters always include:

Step 3: Find Your Agents

There are a few ways to find agents and you can try different methods throughout your querying journey.

Use QueryTracker to find agents by genre, availability, location, etc. Then track your queries with the same website to find out who's read your work, who's rejected it and who wants to get in touch. (The free version does most of this, but there's a paid version for people who want to hardcore dedicate themselves to querying).

Check out those comparative titles—authors almost always thank their agents in the Acknowledgements section. Start a running list and note their publishers.

Search Twitter for agents who are open to queries. It may seem strange, but most agents have Twitter accounts and announce when they're open or closed to queries. You can always follow them on your personal or writing account, but you can also search for them by looking up hashtags like “open for queries" and “submissions are open.” If you want more details, check out this great resource for more hashtags and strategies. Note—you should never direct message an agent on Twitter. Always contact them through their preferred methods, usually located in their bio or pinned tweet (if they’re open to queries).

Step 4: Sign With an Agent

This step can take weeks, months, or years. Every writer’s querying journey is different. Sometimes the market isn’t right for a specific genre or storyline. Other times, you may need time to revise and polish your manuscript or shelve it entirely for a more developed idea.

Searching “amquerying” on Twitter is a great way to read other writers’ experiences. You’re not alone if you’re frustrated, exhausted, tired, or just plain sad. It’s hard to get rejections and try again when you’re likely the only person who currently believes in your specific manuscript.

Agents have to pick projects based on what they want to represent, but also what they can sell. If your story is too new or different, they may pass until it’s more culturally relevant or more popular with readers.

When an interested agent offers representation (likely after requesting a full manuscript), ask plenty of questions to get to know them. You don’t have to accept the first agent who comes along. They should align with your vision for your book and who you want to reach with it.

When you do sign with an agent, celebrate! It’s a big step that you should recognize! Lots of hard work and dedication went into getting an agent, and it’s only the start of your publishing journey.

Step 5: Look Forward to Your Book Deal

Your agent has a few roles. They’re supposed to look out for your best interests with publishers and all the legal aspects that come along with book deals.

But first, they have to land a deal. That means they write pitch letters or decks and send them to publishers they think will be the best fit for your manuscript. Letters are more common, but pitch decks are more necessary for writers of children’s books and graphic novels who have pictures integrated into their work.

This process can take a while. Don’t expect to sign a book deal overnight or even in the first month. As long as your agent keeps up communication with you about the process, you’ll know you’re in good hands.

Things That Will Be in Your Book Deal

Contracts include all the information related to your deal. Your agent will use it to potentially negotiate for more money, better control over your film rights or foreign publication rights, and basically all the little details that go along with those things.

When writer’s sign a book deal, the get a check. That check is called your advance. The advance is a sum of money that the publishing house or imprint gives you for the right to publish that book. It could vary from $1,000 to six figures, but new authors (and especially women and people of color) typically get around $5,000 for their first book.

Smaller amounts will arrive in a single check. Larger amounts are split into multiple checks spanning the time from your signing date to publication.

Every time your book sells a copy, you’ll earn royalties on that sale. However, writers don’t see royalty earnings until those royalties out-earn their advance.

If you got the average $5k advance, you’ll have to sell enough books to earn $5k in royalties before you see routine checks in the mail for royalties after that point. Your agent will negotiate your royalty percentage during…well, negotiations.

Step 6: Figure Out the Pre-Production Details

You’ve signed your book deal—throw a party! Then it’s time to get to work.

Your agent will connect you with an editor, who then sends you an editorial letter after reading your manuscript. It will contain everything they think could improve plus their marked-up copy. You’ll dive into structural changes if necessary, but mostly line edits. 

You don’t have to agree with everything your editor suggests. It’s still your book. However, they know the industry the best and will want your work to succeed as much as you do. Talk things out and come to a compromise, but stay true to your book’s intended purpose throughout editing.

Your publisher’s legal team will go over your edited copy when it’s close to perfect to ensure there are no issues. They typically find things like the use of song lyrics that you haven’t bought the rights to and mentions of real persons or brands that may result in lawsuits.

Next, your design team will work with you on potential cover designs. interior layouts, jacket versus hardcover designs and blurb placement. They have most of the say over your final cover, but your agent can go to bat for you if you think the options are truly ugly.

Next, you’ll come up with a marketing plan. Imprints and publishing houses typically have marketing teams and publicity experts that work with authors. You’ll talk about which stores will sell your book and which websites will get ads based on your target reader audience’s known shopping habits/website preferences. Ads on social media and your involvement with posting about your book will also come up.

Proofreaders and beta readers are also part of this stage. They’re the fresh sets of eyes every writer needs to know if their readers will understand how they wrapped up their themes, character development paths and plot. They’ll point out when things don’t make sense, need more expansion or could be cut as they read through your Advanced Readers Copies (ARCs).

Step 7: Marketing and Blurbs

A bit more about the marketing stage—your agent has a hand in this too. Based on their previous or current authors, they may have personal connections with influencers and big names in the book world. They’ll send those people ARCs and ask those people for blurbs if they think those famous people have audiences who would be interested in your manuscript.

You can also talk with your agent about getting blurbs from similar debut authors in your genre or only authors from marginalized communities, depending on your priorities. The only time they might say no to this idea would be if your preferred people hardly have audiences or if their audiences have shown interest (via book sales) in other genres.

Your team will decide other things like:

Most writers also have to market their book on their personal Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter accounts. You’ll likely only get out of this step if you’re already an established author who can sell books without blinking (think: James Patterson or Nora Roberts).

If you need help putting together a posting plan, your marketing team and agent can help with that. Most publishers request that their writers’ develop online followings because it creates personal, instant connections with readers/allows for free advertising via posts/generates direct feedback.

Step 8: Negotiate Your Media Rights

Most writers negotiate their media rights after landing a publishing deal. The publisher needs to know that your work has a chance of being picked up as a movie or TV show. Debut authors have a lot to prove, unless you’re one of the rare writers who snags a movie deal alongside a mega-advance because your work is once in a generation.

Your agent will negotiate this for you and possibly let you keep your media rights. If you keep them, you can sell them separately later on. When you or your publisher is ready to sell, production company scouts will see the announcement on book deal websites. They may contact your agent to negotiate with you before you start selling copies, but it may happen after your book has shown promise on the market for a while too.

Step 9: Sign Copies of Your Books

About a month before readers can buy your books, you’ll get copies to sign! Prepare your hand and wrist, because this step surprises most writers. If you have more than a handful of books to sign, you’ll need to pace yourself.

Still, this is an exciting step in your publishing journey. Take lots of selfies and enjoy the moment!

Potential Step 10: Start Your Book Tour

Big names in the book world get book tours set up by their publishers. Debut authors often don’t. If you want to do a book tour, talk with your agent early in the process. They can work with your publicist to schedule a few speaking engagements, but you’d mostly be in charge of contacting bookstores to reserve an hour or two for signing books and meeting with readers.

If your publisher does want you to do a book tour, regardless of whether you’ve been published or not, they might pay for your transportation and accommodations. It depends on your unique situation. 

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This is a very brief, not super specific outline of traditional publishing. I hope it gives you some perspective on the process. After landing a book deal, it can be a year or more before your debut day arrives. There’s so much happening behind the scenes—but now you know a bit more about it.

Writing advice from my uni teachers:

This is legit good writing advice, especially the first bullet point! In playwriting class we did a bit where every bit of dialogue had to be an accusatory question and it was glorious.