How do you write an amazing query letter? With pizza, alcohol, and friends, of course! At least that was our hope at last night’s “Query-a-Thon,” where a group of Novel Incubator alumni and current students convened to tackle that first hurdle on…
I have a complicated relationship with the word “slush.” In the seventh grade, my stepbrother ratted me out for “borrowing” 71 pennies from my parents’ penny jar to buy a slushie at the 7-11. I got a stern talking to, which…
“There comes a time when you have to let the novel go.” “It will never be perfect.” “You can’t fiddle with it forever.” Yadda, yadda. So goes the writing advice about when to finally set a novel free in the…
‘Masshole’ is now officially a word, not just the word I yell at the drivers who nearly run me over in the crosswalk. Much like being a pedestrian in Boston, the publishing path is full of hazards, even when you…
A funny thing happens when you finish your manuscript and you are ready to begin your search for representation. Suddenly you are required to make the giant leap from artist to businessperson—someone who can write a sharp query letter and…
This week, our links take you on the publishing lifecycle. No matter where you are in your writing career, there’s something here that (surely) you can relate to, be it the struggle to know your characters’ fears, the struggle to…