How do you best prepare to show your wares at a writers’ conference? Perhaps you are hoping to get the attention of an agent and/or editor for your latest project. Or maybe you want to network. Perhaps you’re there to learn more about the writing craft. Or all three of those. If you’re hoping for […]
A story midwife finds inspiration in her faith
Today we hear from guest blogger Marisa Deshaies. I have always been a reader — the power of stories consistently bewitches me. Some readers are also authors, writers who pen creative literary stories from their own imaginations. I have not been blessed with that gift, but I am still a writer, just one of different […]
The Slush Pile – Murky Waters or Treasure Trove?
The phrase “slush pile” generally doesn’t paint a pretty picture in the minds of either authors or agents and editors. For authors, being in the slush pile means a long wait on the good side, and never hearing anything on the bad side. For agents and editors, the slush pile means long hours of work […]
Her readers inspire her: author and editor Azalea Dabill
Where does my creativity come from? In eighth-grade English class, I penned the tale of an Indian girl lost in the woods who makes her way back to her father, proud chief of her tribe. This exercise taught me the joy of losing myself in another world. My teacher praised the imagination of the story; […]
Creativity comes from laughter: Ralene Burke
Let’s find out more about how writers nourish those creative sparks from one of Castle Gate Press’s editors, our Social Media Director Ralene Burke. When did you first start writing? What got you started? Well, if you don’t count high school, I started writing in 2006 on a challenge from a friend. I had an […]
How a writer got started: Leah Burchfiel
Might as well start with biography first, because I know you don’t know who I am. I am a copyeditor here at Castle Gate, but I cut my teeth on a college newspaper. I edited, and I also won national runner-up in a professionally judged competition of college newspapers for my review writing. But while […]
The importance of encouragement to an author: Linda Yezak
Let’s find out more about the role of encouragement from one of Castle Gate Press’s editors, author Linda Yezak. Like most authors, I started writing when I was a kid–I don’t remember how early. I wrote song lyrics and little rhymes and worked up from there. What started me most recently was a prompt from […]
Three low-cost ways to know when your manuscript is “ready”
If you’ve been in the book business any length of time, you’ve seen a manuscript that isn’t ready. It’s not that it couldn’t be whipped into shape. But in its current form, any editor will say “no.” Many new authors don’t know what readiness looks like. They want to submit their work because they’ve finished […]
Best Query Letter Advice
We love your advice. Thank you for sharing! If you missed out on sharing a link to a synopsis sample or article and/or your best advice for new authors, please feel free to share in a comment here. We’ll add it to our Author Resource lists. Make sure to include both your name and a […]
Proposals Part 7 – Comparable Books
Publishers will want to know that there are other books on the market that are similar to yours that have sold well. This underlines the fact that there is an audience they can sell your book to. Spend some time doing research to come up with four or five novels similar to yours in some […]