Ask an Author Q & A Page

If you have a writing question, this is the place to ask it. The Ask an Author page allows you to ask questions and receive a prompt reply.

Recently, I've received quite a number of questions by email, and as many of you know, I have answered each one. The questions have been interesting, but only the person posing the question has benefited from my response. Also, on occasion, more than one person has asked the same valuable question. So this is my attempt to improve the process.

I hope this page will be more efficient. You may freely ask your creative writing questions, and I will archive them here, in one convenient place, so everyone can benefit.

Please give your submission a title suggestive of the question content, so others can scroll through and find questions of interest at a glance.

To get started, fill in the form below and submit your question. I will answer as quickly as I can.

Thank you, and all the best with your writing.

~ Pearl

Ask Your Question Here

Do you have a creative writing question but don't know who to ask? Have you searched the Internet and found only conflicting advice?

I don't claim to have all the answers, but I've been writing, editing, and teaching creative writing for well over twenty years, and I'll help you if I can.

Enter a title that sums up your question in one short phrase.

Ask your question. [ ? ]

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

Your Name	(first or full name)
Your Location	(ex. City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

Check box to agree to these submission guidelines.

(You can preview and edit on the next page)

Ask an Author Archive

Click on any question below to see the full question and response.

Comma or full-stop I would like your expert opinion on the paragraph below from my son's English worksheet on punctuation exercise.

Quote:

"Sorry, do I know you?" the ...

Fiction is Rejected I was interested in submitting my story to your website, but apparently I'm well over the Max limit for the character count. I was interested in gettting ...

Advice about writing program I'm applying to several creative writing programs and I worry about the number of applicants they say they get each year. Is there any way to get noticed ...

Is private mentoring better than group work? Hi. I'm trying to decide between a workshop that has ten writers and private mentoring. Both would cost the same, but the group would run a few weeks longer....

Editing a novel I am attempting to write my first novel and have a question about editing a novel, copyright, and agents. I already have 98,000+ words, and have almost ...

How to turn Novel Excerpts into Short Stories
So few writing contests offer opportunities to submit novel excerpts. So I've had a brilliant idea which has in turn generated an equally brilliant, if ...

How to Contact Editors or Writing Magazines Is it okay to contact editors of writing magazines by fax? Can I fax or email my stories to them or do I have to use mail? If I use mail, how will I know ...

Book marketing ideas I've been published by a traditionall publisher, but sales of my novel are slow. Do you have any book marketing ideas that will help me get better exposure ...

How can I submit more stories? Is it okay to submit more than one story at a time when I send stories out for publication, or should I wait to hear from the publisher about the first ...

technical glitch I have submitted two stories, and would like to submit two more, but your system isn't working. (I get as far as Press Submit, and nothing happens.) How ...

Distance learning program for a MA degree / Career opportunities in writing Hi, I am interested in a MA degree in Writing or English or Literature (Sorry, I am still in the planning stages).

I would be grateful if you can help ...

Historical Research At the back of Madame Zee you say you did a lot of historical research, some of it on the internet. Is there someplace online to look for information about ...

Writing Dialogue I have trouble writing dialogue, and I don't know if I'm using character thoughts correctly. I was told to put them into dialogue to make the dialogue ...

Which Creative Writing Program Do You Recommend Pearl: I am a beginning fiction writer and I am interested in getting a creative writing degree to better prepare me for writing novels. What Canadian ...

Get Paid More for Writing I've been writing travel articles for newspapers and small magazines, and I'd like to get paid more for writing these articles. I don't want to lose the ...

Descriptiveness of a story and short story submissions I'm a gr. 11 (16 years old) student, and in my English classes, it is always recommended to be descriptive and detailed in all our writing. However, when ...

How do I find a publisher to distribute my self published book? I self published of one of my children's books which did not take off. I will never do that again. I have a few stories ready to go.

Is there a publisher ...

Should I Write Query Letters for Short Stories? A writer I know says that I should never send anything to a magazine without writing a query letter first to see if the editor is interested in my idea....

Pay to enter short story contests? What is your opinion of paying for entry to short story contests?

Does a writer get any substantive exposure using contests if they are not the winner?...

Creating an effective writer's platform If you were to engage in two activities to enhance your platform, what would they be?

ANSWER:

A "platform" really just means that you have created ...

Traditional or Self Publishing for Poetry Is traditional publishing or self publishing the best option for poetry publication? Especially when the author is faced with financial hardship.

ANSWER:...

Childrens' Book Writing Is the Children's Institute Literacy Program based out of Philadelphia, PA a reputable agency to take a writing course? The course cost $500 and program ...

Contests and Publication Rights - What is standard practice? Pearl,

Your site provides an excellent list of short story contests. It is very interesting and shows the variety of contests available. I'm inspired ...

MFA or MA needed to teach creative writing Do you think I will be more successful acquiring a teaching position with an MA or an MFA degree? I have applied to several MFA programs in the US and ...

I'm a teen. Can I publish? I'm 13 years old. Could I publish a book? I've written a novel about shape shifters and I think its pretty good.

ANSWER:

If the writing is very good,...

Writing good dialogue My dialogue doesn't sound right and I'm not sure what's wrong with it. Do you have any suggestions? Here's a sample from my horror novel.

“Dad, I’m ...

Is Author House a legitimate publisher? Author House approached me and wants to publish my novel. Are they a legitimate publisher and should I publish with them?

ANSWER

Publishing with ...

Trouble writing a novel When I get an idea, I get the story written withing 1000-1500 words. Once I reached 5000, but it was boring to read until I tightened it up to about 1200....

Advice for writing a novel Hello. I am a fourteen year old writer and I am looking for ways to improve my writing. Also, i am looking into maybe getting a novel published in the ...

Submitting to more than one agent at a time Hi, Pearl. Is it true you can't send a book to more than one agent at a time, that you must wait until officially turned down by one agent before trying ...

Where do I sign up for your newsletter? I can't find where you have a sign up for a weekly newsletter. Or do I have to add you to "Favorites" which means I will tend to forget to access your ...

Agents in Australia You wouldn't happen to have a list of good literary agents and agencies in Australia would you?

ANSWER

Hi Amanda. Thanks for asking this question....

Copyright question about song lyrics Hi, Pearl, and Happy New Year. I've googled this and found conflicting answers. I have quoted some song lyrics in my book, not complete songs obviously,...

Return from the Ask an Author page to the Home page