Article Archive: The Practical Writer

In the inaugural installment of our new feature, Reviewers & Critics, New York Times book reviewer Dwight Garner talks about his experience as a critic—the required credentials (or lack thereof), how to cut through the hype, the role of negative reviews, and more.

In the second installment of our new self-publishing column, indie author Jeffrey Blount discusses his book, Hating Heidi Foster, while publicist Anna Sproul-Latimer and bookseller Bradley Graham weigh in on how to grow a self-published book’s audience from family and friends to a wider community of readers.

For the first installment of our new column on self-publishing, an indie author details the route he took to self-publishing his novel, while editor Paul Dinas and publicist Corinne Liccketto weigh in with post-publication comments and suggestions.

The agent of authors such as Diana Nyad and Herman Wouk answers questions about self-publishing, age restrictions, and working with an agent remotely.

Chris Parris-Lamb of the Gernert Company offers advice on submitting query letters and manuscripts, and when to embrace or eschew self-promotion.

Literary agent Matt McGowan, who represents Eula Biss, John D’Agata, Brian Evenson, and many others, answers writers’ most commonly asked questions.

Gigi Rosenberg provides crowdfunding tips for writers looking to raise money for research trips, workshops, and publication.

After a hotly contested auction among ten major publishers, twenty-eight-year-old Claire Vaye Watkins’s debut story collection, Battleborn, has arrived.  

Three authors who followed very different paths to publication in 2011 speak about what they learned after their books were published, including hard lessons about publicity and reviews, readings and events, and advertising and sales.

The agent of Jami Attenberg, David Mitchell, Carolyn Parkhurst, Matthew Quick, and others offers guidance about publishing credits, MFA programs, and unagented submissions.