Jen's Writing Journey

Welcome to the new home of Jen's Writing Journey, the blog that chronicles Jennifer Roland's writing life and provides useful information for new and seasoned writers.

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Want a quick reference to help you prepare and submit your manuscript the right way?

Author and editor W. Terry Whalen recounts his own experiences receiving and reading submissions and gives good insight into what an editor is looking for. In this Amazon short, you will find his advice boiled down into easily digestible bits.

The most important lesson I got from this piece was the reminder that editors are busy. They receive many submissions each day, and no matter how much they would like to give constructive feedback to each one, they simply cannot. So they are looking for quick ways to weed out the ones that can get a quick form rejection. The queries that include misspellings, a pitch for a type of book the publisher doesn’t print, a pitch that is too similar to current works, or a query that shows a lack of experience in the field. Spend time on your query, proofread it, and ensure that you have targeted the right publisher for your manuscript. Don’t give the editor an excuse to reject you without even reading your stuff.

• Writing Roundup, September 4 Public Service Message: If you are affected by the Google Books settlement and you want to opt out, today is the deadline. Here is the link to opt out. The Business of Writing Books: The Big Story Is Consolidation This Financial Times article argues for further consolidation of book publishers......
• Book Review: Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott While stuck in the Fort Lauderdale airport yesterday, waiting for our flight to Houston, I had a lot of time to read. I finished this 1994 book, along with a novel and three magazines, during the travel odyssey.Lamott's reflections on writing and life are couched in real-world experiences that......
• Writing Roundup, July 10 I hope you are all having as productive a month as you would like it to be. This seems like such a good time to take a breather and go light on the writing projects. Not me, I always seem to have big deadlines in the summer. Maybe next year,......
• Writing Roundup, June 12 The Business of Writing Making Time for Real Life As the lazy days of summer approach, many of we writers are looking for balance between our work and home lives. (Some of us work at home, making it even more confusing.) L.J. Sellers posts her short-term, non-writing to-do list. What's......
• To Pseudonym or Not? That Is the Question. Or, It Worked for Judy Blume... Should writers use different names for different genres? Using me as an example, I have a non-fiction book coming out in July, I have an idea for a fantasy novel, I'm working on a paranormal romance, I've submitted erotica, and I came up with a fun idea for a children's......

• Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life - by Neil Strauss (Review) This book might indeed save your life. Survival schools.  Second passports.  Urban Escape and Evasion courses.  CERT training.  Bugging out.  How to escape from attack...
• Sunday Money Roundup - My Cluttered Life Edition. Boxes, Boxes, Boxes for as far as the eye can see. Don't you hate when you are packing to move and then you realize you...
• A Lifetime of Lessons: More Than 50 Years of Expert Instruction to Help You Play Your Best Golf Now By Marshall Smith with David Denunzio Marshall Smith is one of the most recognizable names in golf instruction, and if you’ve ever wished you could get a lesson with him, this...
• Self-Publishing Means Self-Serving, Part II Isobella Jade  This is a continuation of Isobella Jade’s article from the February issue on self-marketing and self-promotion.  In the first part, Isobella Jade discussed...
• Review: 10,001 Ways To Live Large On A Small Budget  Only 10,001?  I really expected more.  10,001 is a number I can respect.  I don't like round numbers like 250, 10, and 75.  Back in...