Is 2013 the year that writing
becomes your day job?

There’s a culture of rapid change in publishing right now.
Writers need a trusted source of analysis and advice.
Learn from 200 leaders in publishing how you can
adapt and get published in 2013.

Dear Fellow Writer,

     Both established writers and newcomers keep sending us unsolicited praise that our annual Writer’s Guide provides them with valuable aids to publication that they don’t find anywhere else.  

     There’s a culture of rapid change in publishing.  This year’s edition of Writer’s Guide offers insights from more than 200 innovative leaders in the industry—thousands of insights you need to navigate the major changes and the subtle shifts taking place. 

      Filled with shrewd insider tips, market-tested strategies, and pointed insights, Writer’s Guide to 2013 is 40 feature articles in 464 pages of writers’ pure gold.  For example—

An industry in flux

     In a switch, print books are making a comeback after several years of huge gains by e-books because of electronic readers.  At the same time, print-on-demand and self-publishing continue to grow with costs coming down rapidly. 

     Publishers and big-box book retailers are in a battle with Amazon: The online bookseller has become a major e-publisher but will not allow other e-retailers to distribute its books.  At the same time Amazon substantially raised the fees it charged for promoting other publishers’ books on its website.  That led to lawsuits, government involvement, and more flux. 

     Publishers innovated by using teaser e-chapters to promote new books; by pounding Twitter, Facebook, and blogs to create interest; and by increasingly using author self-promotion.  As a result, reader reliance on social media touts has begun to wane. 

      Then Google scanned millions of books without permissions and sent the Author’s Guild to their lawyers, with a class action suit now pending. 

      It all represents a rapidly changing landscape for writers.  Writer’s Guide to 2013 sorts it all out for you.

What’s New in Book Publishing? Who’s Where?

     Do you know about book publisher and imprint start-ups such as Opus, Bourbon Street books—HarperCollins’ new imprint, Capstone Young Readers, Triangle Square Editions, Dutton Guilt-Edged Mysteries, She Writes Press, Redhook—Hachette’s new fiction imprint, and others?  They are all in Writer’s Guide to 2013.

     Also in the news are changes among important editors.  Do you know where these people are now: Kelly Barrales-Saylor (new editorial director at Albert Whitman), Frances Gilbert (now editorial director at Random House Children’s Books), Pat Johnson of Knopf, Cindy Loh, Brian Napack of Macmillan, Daniel Nayeri at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, all the changes at Perseus Books Group, the switch between Chip Gibson and Frances Marcus at Random House, Kenneth Wright taking over Viking Children’s Books, and all the others? 

Magazine Market News . . .

     Writer’s Guide reports that magazine readers continue to move to digital editions on their tablets and computers.  The magazine industry is caught in the bind of monetizing digital while print edition circulation and ad revenues decline.  All that aside, specialty magazines continue to launch in both print and e-editions.  Do you know about Cosmopolitan for Latinas, Highlights Hello, Berkshire Magazine, Story, Huffington., Modern Cat, The Growler, Cycling News, Moms and Dads Today, Wax, Click, Destinations Uncovered, Tailgating Digest, New York Home Design, Cigar & Spirits, Du Jour, Los Angeles Magazine, What Makes You Happy, Miabella, CommonCall, and the many additional new titles? 

Publishing Hot-Spots

     “Action fiction” is for writers who love intensity and emotional impact.  Learn about the style, pace, and plotlines that work best—from nine editors and authors who are successful in the genre.

     Young adult fiction and nonfiction is exploding.  Four editors and two authors review the specific directions that are in the greatest demand in today’s YA market. 

     Religious book publishing is now one of the very fastest growing markets.  It spans the traditional and progressive and takes in all manner of subjects, reaching well beyond the old boundaries.  These exciting opportunities are recapped by six editors in the field.  

     Multicultural writing never goes out of style, but needs and styles do change.  Editors from Carolrhoda Books, Chronicle Books, HarperCollins, Leap Books, and several others including a leading agent, talk about how you can get published writing about characters with diverse backgrounds.

Even More Opportunities

     Six editors and two authors disclose their ideas for how to improve your status as a midlist writer—what you should do to improve your standing in the field with collaborative partnerships, effective self-promotion, imaginative contracts, and ever-improving relationships with editors. 

     Writer’s Guide to 2013 invited school librarians, teachers, and bookstore owners from across the country to specify the topics they see underserved by currently published books.   They provide lots of  fodder for your next project.

Foreshadowing, Scene-Building, Conflict

     Foreshadowing is a prime way to make your story engaging and saleable. Ten successful authors provide insights on how they make foreshadowing work best for them.

     Cinematic scene-building is a way to improve the structure of your fiction.  You use the principles of screenwriting to create effective scenes, with guidance from three highly-credited screen and script writers.   

     You can create strong conflict by putting characters in situations that oppose their own needs and wants—security, change, independence, connection, growth—or force characters to face their fears.

Even More, You’ll Learn . . .

• How to make minor characters fresh and memorable. 
• How to write a synopsis that will sell your writing project.
• Writing for the web updates very frequently and you want to stay on top of the current trends and needs presented here.
• How to advertise yourself and your work: online trailers, blogging, holding a contest, utilizing a rock band—and more.
• The latest on technology for writers: programs, apps, and more.
• How to use real-life people as models for your characters.
• And lots more.

Grow as a Writer This Year

“These Guides are wonderful. I found them extremely helpful in targeting my writing to new markets and magazines.”

—Kimberly Stone, ON, Canada

“This book is extremely helpful-even for a published author. I was amazed at the new insights I learned from it.”

—Mary Wronko, Edmonton, AB, Canada

“I find Writer’s Guide extremely helpful in keeping me updated in these economically difficult times . . . It helped me to successfully publish my first book (at age 84!) . . . with National Geographic.”

—Doris Gayzagian, MA

      Don’t take the word of our enthusiastic readers. Don’t take our word. Find out yourself—at no obligation—how Writer’s Guide to 2013 can increase your writing success.

FREE 30-DAY EXAMINATION

      Use the Guide for 30 days. If you don’t find the Writer’s Guide to 2013 as valuable as we think you will during your free examination period, simply return the book to us and we’ll refund the full purchase price you paid.

      No questions asked. No hassles. Guaranteed.

      If you’d like to receive Writer’s Guide to 2013 for a 30-day, no-risk examination, simply complete the order form today.

      Just click on Order Now.

Susan M. Tierney
Editor in Chief

P.S. See for yourself why Julie Turgeon wrote to us to say, “What a GREAT reference book! I feel like I just came back from a lunch date with a very talkative literary agent.”