By: Jane,
on 7/18/2007
One of our most popular backlist books, Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell, was the best-selling title in the trade through the week ending July 15. Click on the cover to read more about this title.
By: Jane,
on 7/18/2007
The July/August issue of Writers on the Rise (run by WDB author Christina Katz) is now available. Go read or subscribe at www.writersontherise.com. Includes articles this month on time management, teleconferencing, and the anatomy of an article.
By: Jane,
on 7/18/2007
One of our most popular backlist books, Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell, was the best-selling title in the trade through the week ending July 8. Click on the cover to read more about this title.
By: Kelly,
on 7/13/2007
This book is a zinger! Police Procedure & Investigation is packed with all-you-need-to-know detail, yet it reads like a best-selling thriller. I know it’s a “Guide for Writers,” but I think anyone interested in the world of law enforcement should get a copy. Read it on the beach, read it on the train, read it on your way to a murder scene.
—Jeffery Deaver, author of The Bone Collector and The Sleeping Doll
Police Procedure & Investigation won’t hit store shelves for a few more weeks, but you can read an excerpt today! Click here to view or download an excerpt from Chapter 7: Crime Scene Investigation.
Don’t miss out on your chance to hear author Lee Lofland speak. A nationally acclaimed expert on police procedures and crime scene investigations who consults regularly with best-selling authors and television producers, Lee Lofland will appear at these upcoming events:
August 24-25, 2007
Columbus Writers Conference
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.creativevista.com
October 26-28, 2007
South Carolina Writers Workshop
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
www.myscww.org
November 1-4, 2007
Forensics University, 50 Ways To Catch a Killer
featuring D.P. Lyle, Jan Burke, Eileen Dreyer, and Lee Lofland
Presented by Sisters in Crime
St. Louis, Missouri
http://www.sistersincrime.org/ForensicU/
November 9-11, 2007
New England Crime Bake
Featuring the mock trial of Jack Reacher with Lee Child, Lee Lofland, Michele Martinez, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Julia Spencer-Fleming.
http://crimebake.org/index.htm
Presented by Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime
Dedham, Massachusetts
By: Jane,
on 7/5/2007
One of our most popular backlist books, Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell, was the best-selling title in the trade through the week ending July 1. Click on the cover to read more about this title.
By: Jane,
on 7/2/2007
One of our newest Spring 2007 titles, The Pirate Primer by George Choundas, was our best-selling title in the trade through the week ending June 24, 2007. Click on the cover to read more about this title, and also to download an excerpt.
Visit the official site at http://pirate.fwpublications.com.
By: Jane,
on 6/20/2007
One of our newest Spring 2007 titles, The Pirate Primer by George Choundas, was our best-selling title in the trade through the week ending June 17, 2007. Click on the cover to read more about this title, and also to download an excerpt.
Visit the official site at http://pirate.fwpublications.com.
By: Jane,
on 6/20/2007
“Indescribable”
So you wanted another message from Ida, yeah?
There is no need to parade your problems
An image of Virgin Mary had been seen there
Can you imagine that you are healthy?
Answer the telephone
By: Jane,
on 6/18/2007
Wizards of the Coast, a hobby gaming company, has book recommendations for writers on their site. We’re flattered to say that Writer’s Digest Books titles comprise nearly half the list, including:
Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Nancy Kress
Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Orson Scott Card
Dynamic Characters: How to Create Personalities That Keep Readers Captivated by Nancy Kress
The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes: (And How to Avoid Them) by Jack M. Bickham
How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
See the full list here. Thanks to Justin Combs for the tip!
By: Jane,
on 6/13/2007
One of our newest Spring 2007 titles, The Pirate Primer by George Choundas, was the best-selling title in the trade through the week ending June 10, 2007. Click on the cover to read more about this title, and also to download an excerpt.
Visit the official site at http://pirate.fwpublications.com.
By: Jane,
on 6/11/2007
Will Allison, whose debut novel is now available at a bookstore near you, recently divulged details of his days at Story magazine, once published by our parent company, F+W Publications.
I did have some trouble getting up to speed, though. Having only recently left the world of MFA creative-writing workshops, I was used to dutifully, painstakingly giving each and every manuscript its full due. Lois didn’t play that. If a story failed to hook her by the first page or two, she was on to the next. I was struck by her ability (and Laurie’s) to plow through a bin of manuscripts in a couple of hours, emerging with only a handful of stories requiring closer attention. It wasn’t just that she read with great confidence — in her taste, in her ability to recognize quality — but also with great impatience. How dare an unworthy story waste her time!
Read the full story over at Maud Newton.
By: Jane,
on 6/9/2007
This weekend, the Poetry Society of Oklahoma hosts the 2007 National Federation of State Poetry Societies National Convention at the Oklahoma City Marriott. Our very own Nancy Breen, editor of Poet’s Market, makes an appearance.
Read an article about the event over at The Oklahoman.
By: Jane,
on 6/8/2007
Writer’s Market was recently reviewed in the Burning Void.
The annual “Writer’s Market” book alone has always been worth the price of admission for freelancers trying to find markets for their work, particularly for those at the beginning of their careers who could use the advice on query letters, simultaneous submissions, and so on as well. The extent to which the book has grown over the years amazes me; if it was worth it seven or eight years ago when it contained a fraction of the listings it does now, it’s certainly worth it now.
By: Jane,
on 6/7/2007
The BEA/WDB Conference, which took place on May 30, was covered by Reuters and picked up by the New York Times. Our very own Lauren Mosko was quoted in the article.
Here’s a little of what they reported:
Several dozen agents and editors were taking pitches at Wednesday’s “pitch-slam” at the end of a one-day seminar that also included workshops on writing the perfect book proposal.
“Don’t feel like you’re a failure if you don’t come out of here with a contract,” Lauren Mosko, editor of writers’ guide “Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market,” told her workshop.
Analyzing a pitch for a book of women’s letters about lessons learned in adversity, she said: “It sounds like a really ‘nice’ book but there’s nothing that really grabs me emotionally.”
Among the other pitches were a memoir of raising kids in the “hotbed of commercial sex” that is Bangkok, a novel about Internet geeks, a memoir of police corruption, an expose of the adoption system and a parody of Fox cable show “The O’Reilly Factor.”
By: Jane,
on 6/7/2007
One of our newest Spring 2007 titles, The Pirate Primer by George Choundas, was the best-selling title in the trade through the week ending June 3, 2007. Click on the cover to read more about this title, and also to download an excerpt.
Visit the official site at http://pirate.fwpublications.com.
By: Jane,
on 6/1/2007
One of our newest Spring 2007 titles, The Pirate Primer by George Choundas, was the best-selling title in the trade through the week ending May 27, 2007. Click on the cover to read more about this title, and also to download an excerpt.
Visit the official site at http://pirate.fwpublications.com.
By: Jane,
on 5/24/2007
Just in time for the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie release, The Sacramento Bee offers a round-up of recent pirate books, including our very own Pirate Primer.
By: Jane,
on 5/23/2007
One of our newest Spring 2007 titles, The Pirate Primer by George Choundas, was the best-selling title in the trade through the week ending May 20, 2007. Click on the cover to read more about this title, and also to download an excerpt.
Visit the official site at http://pirate.fwpublications.com.
By: Lauren,
on 5/22/2007
Will Allison, a former editor here at Story magazine and a frequent contributor to Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, is about to celebrate the publication of his first novel, What You Have Left (Free Press/Simon & Schuster), on June 5th.
What You Have Left—the story of three generations of connection and separation centered around a pioneering female NASCAR driver and the broken husband, father, and daughter she leaves behind—has already been selected for Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers program and Borders’ Original Voices program, and is a Book Sense Pick for June 2007. (Way to go, Will!)
Although Will remembers his time here at F+W fondly, writing is his full-time job now, and in order to help him treat it like a job, he “clocks in” each day and keeps track of his hours. “About a year ago, I started getting up at 4 a.m. to write for a few hours before my daughter wakes up,” Will says. “Ritual-wise, it’s the most fruitful thing I’ve done as a writer. At that hour, there are no interruptions, my mind is uncluttered, and, with unconsciousness looming so close at hand, I feel I’m better able to tap into my subconscious. Of course, it means I’m usually in bed by 9 p.m., which makes for a quiet nightlife.”
For more information on Will and his book, including a tour schedule, visit www.willallison.com. Will and What You Have Left will also be featured in the Premier Voices column in NSSWM 2008, available in August.
By: Jane,
on 5/21/2007
One of our newest Spring 2007 titles, The Pirate Primer by George Choundas, was the best-selling title in the trade through the week ending May 13. Click on the cover to read more about this title, and also to download an excerpt.
Visit the official site at http://pirate.fwpublications.com.
By: Jane,
on 5/21/2007
The USA Today Pop Candy blog recommends WritersMarket.com.
I’m an aspiring writer and have been trying to find as many fiction writing contests as I can in the hopes of publishing some more of my work. I thought you might know of some good websites that list creative writing contests and/or the million literary magazines and journals the accept submissions. — Adam F., San Diego, Calif.
First you should try going to Poets & Writers, which has an excellent archive of such things. You can also look at NewPages.com, though the most comprehensive listing of places to submit your work can be found by subscribing to Writer’s Market (www.writersmarket.com). (You can also buy the gigantic Writer’s Market book.) Hope this helps start your search — these links should also lead to other resources.
(Thanks to Scott Francis for the tip.)
By: Lauren,
on 5/11/2007
The Pirate Primer received a glowing review on the Web site “Pirates of the Caribbean, in fact and fiction” (http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/pirates.html), written by Tobias Gibson. Here’s a little of what Tobias had to say:
George Choundas and the folks at Writers Digest Books have published a handsomely bound book that should grace the shelves in your pirate library. The look and feel of this book is absolutely fabulous. … [I]n discovering the language; you do learn something of the pirate life, both in fact and fiction. Choundas does not limit himself to the language of actual pirates but tackles the language as presented in works of literature, motion picture and television. … And like a late night TV ad, I have to say “but wait, there’s more!.” The book goes into great detail on how to form a pirate sentence, the use of adverbs and adjectives, positioning verbs, the use of transitive verbs, and other grammar rules as they apply to pirates. Choundas actually covers the language as an English teacher would but the difference is you’ll actually enjoy this textbook. … All in all, the entire book is a joy to read and joy to look at.
To read Tobias’s entire review, visit http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/review_PiratePrimer.html
By: Michelle,
on 5/10/2007
If you’ve always wanted to write down the story of your life but haven’t known quite how to get started, then you will love the advice from You Don’t Have to Be Famous: How to Write the Story of Your Life by Steve Zousmer. The book is filled with helpful advice about the process of writing your autobiography or memoir, but here’s a sneak peak at Chapter Nine: Strategies for a Good Start to help get you moving.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD START GOOD?
A good start to your story will:
To learn even more, visit the excerpt from chapter nine posted at www.wdeditors.com/wordpress/spring-2007-titles/you-don’t-have-to-be-famous/.
By: Jane,
on 5/10/2007
One of our newest Spring 2007 titles, The Pirate Primer by George Choundas, was the best-selling title in the trade through the week ending May 6. Click on the cover to read more about this title, and also to download an excerpt.
Visit the official site at http://pirate.fwpublications.com.
By: Jane,
on 5/7/2007
Our Spring 2007 title, A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words, received a nice little review over at inthecompanyofwriters.com.
I am rarely as tickled by a How-To book as I am this one. It’s a delightfully conceived book on stimulation for writers and it’s fun. Perhaps the best thing about it is that while it’s full of great stuff, it also causes one to look at almost every other mundane thing with fresh eyes.
