Blog

Bibliography of Writing Blogs

In honor of Pitch Wars this year, I wanted to do a quick round up of some of my favorite how-to blogs about writing. Most are written by me or my Pitch Wars co-mentor, Katie Golding, but there are also some links to blogs I have found helpful that were written by others. Feel free to browse whatever topics interest you! And if you didn’t find one on a topic you were hoping for, hit me up on Twitter at @michellehazen. As a book coach, I have an insane stockpile of writing related blog links that I have pre-screened for usefulness, so if you ask me for a certain topic, I might just have something!   How to Write a Query: http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/2016/08/things-i-look-for-when-editing-query.html https://allthekissing.com/2018/01/key-components-romance-query-letter/?utm_content=buffera9aa4   How to Write a Synopsis: How To Write A 1-Page Synopsis   Katie’s Hilarious Punctuation Series:...
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Example of My Successful Query

For #PitchWars 2018, a bunch of the mentors are getting together and posting the query letter that got them their agent. Of course, this isn’t to say that any of our queries are perfect, or that you can necessarily model your own on ours to get requests, but there is something to be said for showing actual examples of what worked rather than just talking about the theory of a perfect query letter. So without further caveats, here is the query that connected me with my agent, Naomi Davis of BookEnds Literary. Dear Naomi Davis, I was excited to see that you’re open to submissions again. I think my current project might be a good match for your wish list for adult romance and touch on some of your interest in publishing nonfiction memoirs about living with disabilities as well....
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My Luck Lives in New Orleans: The Long Strange Trip of My Publishing Journey

In Disney movies, the fairy godmother is usually a person, but I think my experience would suggest that my fairy godmother is actually a place. A beautiful place bursting with mojo, where joy and art exist right alongside deep sorrow and the gritty reality of life in the modern era…it is, actually, a blend that pretty fairly represents my author brand as well. I’ve always thought it was funny how, the longer my writing career goes on, the more times it circles back to this fascinating city. I’ve told my critique partner a hundred times that if I could ever wring a happy ending out of it, it would make a hell of a story. And now that my wildest dream has come true, I thought it was finally time to share the whole serendipitous tale. When the call came...
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