The Chopping Blog

A great novel is honed, not hatched. And to hone your novel, you need feedback.

Readers are diverse; they each bring their own expectations and preferences to any story they read. As such, it's best to get a wide range of opinions about your narrative.

Comments are supportive and personable and warm; it truly does feel as though we’re all in a giant MFA cohort together, and remarkably, I often fall into thinking Saunders is speaking directly to me.

I felt wary of the word “plot” and turned up my nose at outlines.

Publishers Marketplace is a goldmine for authors who want a better understanding of the current market.

All the craft in the world won’t help you if you don’t spend time filling the blank page with words.

Be it a novel or a non-fiction book, taking the leap to audio can be hugely beneficial to your project's prospects.

#PitMad and other submission battles are a great way to catch an agent's attention as well as practice your pitching skills. 

A "strong Twitter muscle" isn't going to make you famous, but it can show agents and publishers that you are capable of generating interest and engaging with an audience.

By emotionally moving the reader, we compel them to want more—the difficult and elusive goal for any writer—just to get the reader to keep turning the damn page.

Manuscript Wish List is an amazing concept and tool that helps authors target and personalize their queries.

Of all the querying tools out there, Query Tracker is at the top of the heap.