Trustworthy Giveaway
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May 4, 2021

You can enter to win a free copy of Margot Bloomstein’s new book, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, by leaving a comment on this blog post. Tell us what brand you trust and why. You’ll then be entered into a random drawing to be held on Saturday, May 8, 2021. One lucky winner will be sent a free… [Read More]

Word of the Month – Denouement
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July 28, 2020

Denouement – noun The final outcome of the main dramatic complication in a literary work (Merriam-Webster) The outcome of a complex sequence of events (Merriam-Webster) The end of a story, in which everything is explained, or the end result of a situation (Cambridge) “The denouement is the final outcome of the story, generally occurring after the climax of the plot. Often it’s where all the… [Read More]

New Strategy for Social Media
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May 15, 2018

Has your inbox been full of messages related to new privacy policies? Have you read them? Why is this happening now? On May 25, a new law goes into effect across the European Union. The General Data Protection Regulation strengthens individual privacy rights and has teeth for enforcement. Each notice is a result of legislation to protect citizens in other countries. This is not a… [Read More]

Booking Book Clubs
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November 28, 2017

Guest blog by Carolyn Porter, author of Marcel’s Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate (Skyhorse, 2017). In the five months “Marcel’s Letters” has lived in the world, I have been honored to join ten book clubs, and I look forward to the half-dozen more who have arranged events for the coming months. The visits have been delightful. If I sound surprised,… [Read More]

All In Her Head: A Novel
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November 10, 2015

Today is the release date for All In Her Head: A Novel by Sunny Mera from She Writes Press. I look forward to celebrating the book launch in Brooklyn later this week. To be honest, I wasn’t sure this day would ever come. Not because Sunny Mera couldn’t write, but because of the enormous risks she would need to take in sharing her story with… [Read More]

Narrative Arc for Nonfiction Writing
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August 4, 2015

Blame Aristotle.  Blame classical Greek culture. Blame all of Western Civilization. But every story must have a beginning, middle, and end. And more than that. Without narrative structure, non-fiction writing is just a boring recitation of one thing after another. You may think because it is based on your experiences, historical events, scientific experimentation, or natural observations that you don’t need a story to write… [Read More]

Literary Medic
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July 14, 2015

The hardest part of my job as a book development editor is delivering bad news to a writer. An agent is not interested in offering you representation. An acquisition editor decides to pass after reading your proposal and sample chapters. You failed to make necessary editorial revisions. Rejection is a hard message to deliver. And it happens to be a task I do more often… [Read More]

A Death in The Family
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June 13, 2014

I am sad to announce the death of Arlene Swenson, my loving mother, and accounts manager for Swenson Book Development, LLC. Services will be held on Monday, June 16, at 2 pm at Memorial Lutheran Church in Afton, MN. In lieu of flowers, please send a memorial to Memorial Lutheran Church. Your kind thoughts and wishes are greatly appreciated.

How Do You Know If You Are a Real Writer?
by,
May 9, 2014

How we spend our days is who we are. Or maybe it’s how we’d like to spend our days. And while some people measure their credibility with degrees, workshops and residencies, or publishing credits, here’s a list of my own criteria to help you decide if you’re a “real writer.” You feel naked without a notebook and pen. Worse, you find yourself isolated and scribbling… [Read More]

Beta-Readers
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January 17, 2014

You finish a piece of writing. It’s polished. It’s done. You feel the sense of completion in every atom of your being as a writer. Savor that moment. The end. Done. You save it. You print it. You revise it again. You read it aloud. It’s ready for reader feedback. So who do you ask? Not your lover or spouse. Not your best friend or… [Read More]