The Writer

Since 1887 The Writer has provided the motivation, writing techniques, expert tips and compelling author insights that turn good writing into great writing. We’ll help you become a better writer, find markets for your work, understand the business of writing, follow industry news and trends, reach your goals, and more!

The Writer

Prologue

Refresh

THE SEASON’S HOTTEST READS

5 speculative fiction conventions • These upcoming gatherings for genre lovers offer authors inspiration and community.

The Writer hosts its first-ever conference this fall

FIYAH • This quarterly publication seeks speculative fiction by and about Black people of the African Diaspora.

Calls for submissions

My father’s Quiet De Luxe typewriter • Chicano stories that the world will never read.

Broadening the Bookshelves • This month, we’re focusing on deaf literature.

Talk to the Practitioner: Catalleya Storm • Catalleya Storm is a writer and activist. I found them through a website called Hearing Like Me, a lifestyle web site for deaf and hard-of-hearing (HOH) individuals, where they pen articles about culture, and that led me to Storm’s YouTube feed, where they posted regular videos about writing and activism.

The Nightstand • Writer Sara Nović’s sophomore novel, True Biz, released this year, is set in the halls of the River Valley School for the Deaf and was optioned for a series adaptation well before its publication date. I asked Nović to provide us with five books she loves by deaf authors.

CRITIQUELESS PARTNERS • SIX* CRITIQUE-FREE WAYS TO ADD THE BUDDY SYSTEM TO YOUR WRITING PROCESS.

THE FATAL FLAW • How to identify – and fix – major problems in a manuscript.

OFF THE SHELVES • 7 LITERARY LESSONS FROM AUTHOR-OWNED BOOKSTORES.

SHELTER • READ THE FIRST-PLACE WINNER OF OUR ANNUAL SUMMER FLASH CONTEST.

Interview with RANDALL BROWN

Postscript

THE MONTH AHEAD

THE SKINNY ON THE BIG FOUR

Gigi Will Know • I’ve not heard of very many small traditional houses picking up books that were previously self-published, although both big and small presses have published writers who were previously self-published.