By Eros-Alegra Clarke If you’re one of those writers graced with a steady, composed nature, one that never feels the howling winds of self-doubt, please don’t take offense if I look at you sideways with suspicion and mumble like a …

By Eros-Alegra Clarke As a mother, I find that parenting analogies come easily to me when contemplating the process of writing. Regardless of whether a writer is a biological parent or not, I think most writers have a sense of…

Popular Ranking for the Editor Unleashed/Smashwords Why I Write Essay Contest begins at 12 noon EST today! Ranking will take place from Feb. 1 – Feb. 28 on the Editor Unleashed forum. You must be a registered forum member to…

By Alegra Clarke Every year my husband and I make two lists on New Year’s Eve. One of the lists is of our resolutions, the other is our requests. We like to look at resolutions as things that we know…

Well, Happy New Year everyone! Great news: I was able to find a tech genius working over the holidays to fix our broken forum. Check it out—good as new. Due to the forum downtime, we’re extending the deadline of the…

I just wanted to let everyone know that I’ve run into substantial technical issues with this site and I’ve been having a difficult time diagnosing and fixing the problems. I upgraded the blog to the new version of WP last…

By Alegra Clarke November has come and gone and left me with some valuable lessons. The first lesson is that a heavily pregnant woman (that would be me) should never brag to her husband about how she “feels pretty confident…

We’re hosting a live chat with literary agent Ginger Clark tonight at 8 p.m. EST so come talk books and publishing on the forum tonight. Here’s the thread. And you can find her interview in the previous post. -Maria Schneider…

Ginger Clark is a literary agent who joined Curtis Brown in 2005 and is actively building her list. Here, she answers some questions for Editor Unleashed readers, including what the trendy genres are, and the best way to get her…

You may have already heard this if you follow me on Twitter or on the forum: As of next Monday I will be going back into the workforce. I accepted the position of Lifestyles Digital Content Manager with The Cincinnati…

I know many writers have a special fondness for the classic writing guide The Elements of Style. After all it’s de rigeur in most college writing classes. But writer and editor Mark Garvey took his Strunk & White affection…

Following are the rules for the “Why I Write” essay contest which launches today! All are welcome to enter. No entry fee. 1. If you’re new to the Editor Unleashed forums, welcome! Please introduce yourself in the Introductions Forum. 2.…

by Joel Friedlander The first book my son ever got truly captivated by as an early reader was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We had read the earlier Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone together, with me…

By Emma Newman At the time of writing this, fifteen chapters of my novel have been published on my site as podcasts. I love recording and publishing them now, but it was daunting at the start. I’d like to give…

An all-new writing contest sponsored by two great online resources for writers: Editor Unleashed and Smashwords! You help choose the $500 Grand Prize winner. No entry fee! The Dates: • Post Your Entry on the Forum: Monday, November 9 –…

by John Wiswell Writers get asked about imagination a lot. Where do you get your ideas? Most recently a writer on the forum asked the Fantasy and Science Fiction folk who participate in #FridayFlash on Twitter where they get their…

The topic that every writer takes on at some point is: “Why I Write.” In fact, reflecting on what compels a writer could be a genre in itself. You might say it’s the literary equivalent of an artist’s self-portrait. That’s…

This is an excerpt from a post I recently wrote for Mashable: 15 Twitter Users Shaping the Future of Publishing. A lively ongoing conversation is taking place on Twitter about where the publishing industry is headed. With digital media overshadowing…

I could just as well have titled this post “Why I Sometimes Write for Free.” I guest post on a number of other blogs, including Mashable and Copyblogger. And I realize this is faux pas in the writing world, but…

Agents of all sorts keep the sales wheel of our economy spinning, and that’s true for real estate agents, travel agents, talent agents, and yes, literary agents. Beyond their sales acumen, there’s one crucial quality a literary agent needs to…

So I’m editing a manuscript for a woman who wants to self-publish her book. She signed on with a self-publishing company and has been considering their various packages. This outfit quoted her rates for their services—including $5,000 to edit her…

Last week, Michael Hyatt, CEO of prominent Christian publishing house Thomas Nelson, made an announcement on his blog with this post: Should You Consider Self-Publishing? I encourage you to read the post in full. But to summarize, Thomas Nelson is…