Penguin

Do You Need an Agent? Here’s What an Agent Can, and Can’t, Do for You

As I walked into the hotel lobby, I was greeted by a sign announcing that I was in the right place: the site of Muse and the Marketplace, a writers'

Getting Unstuck and Finding Your Fiction Portal

I am no fiction virgin. I have published six novels to date—one on my own, and five with Penguin Random House. Yet, until recently, I have never felt

How to Write Historical Fiction: It Will Take More Time than You Ever Dreamed Possible

I hated history class in high school. All of those boring dates and dead people, blah blah blah. I memorized what I needed to, then took the

How to Survive (and Maybe Enjoy) Going Public with Your Book

Recently, I asked a debut novelist what events she had planned around her book launch. She shrugged and said, “Not much. Most marketing is done online

Where Fantasy and Reality Collide: One Novelist’s Happy Coincidences

I came downstairs just as my husband returned from our local liquor store, where he'd gone to buy wine for dinner. He brandished a bottle of rum at

Should You Track Word Count While Writing a Novel? Yes, No, and Maybe So

If you eavesdrop on a conversation between writers, it's easy to mistake talk about craft for something else. Marathons, maybe. “I had

On Horses, My New Book Cover, and Coming Full Circle

My dad was a Navy officer, yet he was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas when I was eleven years old. Yes, Kansas: not exactly a seafaring

Author Jennifer Brown Talks about How to Research a Novel, Conquering Rejection, and Writing Even When It Hurts

I'm addicted to book review porn the way some people ogle real estate ads, vacation brochures, or the latest iPhone gadgets. When I first read the

What Is Your Purpose?

I often wake up in the middle of the night. Our children are scattered around the world now, so my typical insomnia starts when I wake and

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