Writers on Writing: A Mish-mash of Industry Information

Writers on Writing: A Mish-mash of Industry Information

I have been collecting information in a notebook of different things people have told me about the industry, about the craft, and about writing in general! I have decided to share with you all some of the information that has been passed down to me. Enjoy!



Jewels from the RWA 2011 National Conference

1. Westerns are coming back!
2. Paranormals are waning (peanut gallery comment: they’ve been “waning” for over a year now)
3. Historicals are going strong
4. Categories, both westerns and medicals are in demand
5. Realistic YA is starting to wane
6. Romantic Suspense has made a SLIGHT upturn



Jewels from the RWA Retreat at Sea

1. If you don’t hear back from someone you queried and they said they respond to confirm receipt, send it again!
2. Write every day (peanut gallery comment: Duh. The hard part is the execution, right?)
3. Writing with a support group makes the process a hundred times easier to handle
4. Never, ever, ever give up



Jewels from the Jonathan Mayberry talk in September 2011

1. When in doubt, behead your monster.
2. Don’t get lazy…go to the source of your research and find the answers yourself.
3. There is a wealth of information in folklore. You just have to start digging.
4. Put a new twist on an old tale and no matter what the market is doing, you can make an impression with your story.
5. If anyone wants to do a sequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Jonathan commends you.
6. Women fight differently then men: don’t make them fight like a man.



Jewels about e-publishing and independent publishing

1. Borders caving is sad. It affects the author…HARDCORE
2. e-publishing is on the upswing. Random House just opened up their e-publishing branch as testament to that.
3. Men are reading more romance because of e-publishing…after all, romance is about men, too.
4.if you sell independently, please, please, please, please have a professional editor revise your manuscript. Independent publishing has developed a bad rap because of the quality of work some authors are submitting.
5. If you are accused of plagiarism, a publishing house will not share the burden of legally defending the work if you independently publish. The author has the sole responsibility of responding in a copyright litigation action.