Hey there word nerds! Thanks for joining me today for DIY MFA Radio. I’m so excited to share this episode because I’m interviewing literary agent Janet Reid, AKA the Query Shark. *Cue music from Jaws in 3… 2… 1…* Janet is a literary agent at FinePrint Literary Management in NYC, where she represents mostly crime novels and thrillers, with some… Read more »
In my last column, I talked about using the follow-back practice to build a following. In this one, we’ll look at what you should do when others don’t follow you back. As a quick recap, so we’re all moving forward from the same understanding: The follow-back strategy is based on the Twitter etiquette that if… Read more »
I have called myself a writer for almost twenty years, yet somehow the madness of NaNoWriMo managed to elude me until this fateful November, 2015. Over the summer and even more in October, I started seeing posts about something with a weird nickname that was making people crazy on an international level. “NaNoWriMo?” I thought… Read more »
Hello hello Word Nerds and welcome back to DIY MFA Radio. Today I’m interviewing Lorin Stein, editor of The Paris Review, and we’ll be talking about literature, reading, and what makes stories great. We’ll also be discussing a book he recently edited titled The Unprofessionals: New American Writing from The Paris Review. But first, here’s a little bit… Read more »
The year is coming to a close, but we still have a few weeks left to assess where we are in 2015, and where we want to be in 2016. What did you accomplish this year? What are you hoping to accomplish next? It’s time for an Annual Review at your writing corporation of one…. Read more »
Dear Word Nerds, As we launch into the holiday season, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the wonderful things that have come of this year, and—more importantly—all the people who helped me get where I am. While DIY MFA started off as a one-woman show, these days it is far from that…. Read more »
Hey there Word Nerds. I’m so excited to bring you this interview today with Robert Crais, a #1 New York Times bestselling author of crime fiction. In this episode, we talk about how to persevere as a writer, and let me tell you, if anyone can speak to this subject it’s Robert Crais. He began his… Read more »
When people consider writing for children, they often think about picture books first. You know the ones—the big ones found in the “E for Easy” section of the library with short text and illustrations. These days, librarians refer to this section as “E for Everyone” and with good reason. Everyone can enjoy a good picture… Read more »
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that November is National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo for short. What you may not know is that it’s also Picture Book Idea Month—PiBoIdMo! Tara Lazar created PiBoIdMo for picture book writers who want to get in on all the zany fun novelists have in November… Read more »
Hey there Word Nerds! I’m so excited to share with you today my conversation with Mark McGuinness. I first met Mark at the 99u conference in 2013. At the time, I had a young son at home and was struggling to balance being a first-time mom and also running DIY MFA. Mark gave me a litmus test,… Read more »
