Ask an Author Q & A Page

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 ...

Ebook publisher needed  Do you know of anyone who will help me with a Sales Course Book, as this is the first book that I have written.

ANSWER:

If the book is already written,...

World, domestic or electronic rights?   World, domestic or electronic rights to the Sales Course book that I am writing. Which one is the best to choose as an American citizen writing my book ...

Agent in UK or USA?  QUESTION

I'm writing my first novel. It features an American boy who has to leave and go live with his mother and step-father in England.

Should ...

Dialogue tags  QUESTION:

Thanks so much for all the information on your website! You mentioned that we should try to use as few dialogue tags as possible, but when ...

Madame Zee is Whitewashed- Why?  QUESTION

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Madame Zee . Congratulations on writing a highly entertaining and informative novel.

I plan on presenting ...

want to write my story  QUESTION

I was sent to a wilderness program in Utah at age 15 and 16 called Challenger Foundation. This was 20 years ago..kids ended up dying out ...

What makes good quality writing good?   QUESTION

Many people love Danielle Steele, but others thumb their nose and consider it lower quality writing.

What is the difference between ...

Slice of life  A few months ago I sent you a story. While you offered some very encouraging comments, which I certainly appreciated, you nevertheless rejected the story ...

Order of Scenes and Sequels  Should I write a sequel at the end of the current scene or use it to start the next scene?

ANSWER

If you're just beginning, it's best to get into ...

Writing my first book  Looking for someone to help me with my manuscript. Need someone who can go over it and, tell me what needs to be changed.

I'm new at this and, my writing ...

Antagonist  Should I have only one antagonist, or can I have multiple antagonists?

ANSWER

In general, a story needs one protagonist and one antagonist. However ...

Descriptive writing  One comment I hear a lot is that I should be using descriptive writing more than I am. But don't most people skip over description? I often do.

ANSWER ...

Trouble finding the premise of my half written book  I'm working on my first novel and it's around 175 pages already and has a few main characters. I enjoy a complicated plot but I have so much going on ...

How to organize aaaaall those pages!  As I write, more of my story is revealed. How do I pick a direction or explore a new direction without getting lost?

Also, I'm having trouble keeping ...

Do literary magazines edit submissions?  I was recently directed to this page at
The New Yorker .

It shows one of Raymond Carver's famous stories - and the changes made by his editor.

If ...

Novel or Write Short Stories First?  I have noticed that many novelists first created books of short stories. I am working on a novel. Do you think I should focus on the novel or write short ...

Contests with no submission fee  Please help me out here, I'm pretty disillusioned with this.

There used to be a time when entering short story competitions was easy - you mailed/emailed ...

Plotting stories  I have trouble plotting stories. I like to write and I have ideas that get me started, but after I've been writing for a while, I hit a wall. So I never ...

Punctuation in dialog  Please help. I need advice on the correct puntuation for thought. The following is an example:

After ending the phone call with her sister, Carla ...

Punctuation with quotation marks  Do periods go inside or outside quotation marks in dialog?

ANSWER

In North America, periods and commas always go inside quotation marks. In Britain,...

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,...