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writergirl74 · 5 months

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I read a lot of writing in my line of work and while that’s amazing, I see the same flaws again and again. Below is a list of 7 common writing mistakes in fiction and how you can fix them. This list is by no means complete. In fact there’s a great list over at The Editor’s Blog that covers even more mistakes.

1. Bad dialogue

Sometimes writers can forget that they’re writing a conversation and thus not write a conversation. The dialogue can be boring, stilted and unnatural, and I’d rather listen to the territorial call of an Australian Raven than read one more word of it.

There are many things that contribute to bad dialogue, but here are the three that really get on my nerves:

Not using contractions–I’ve seen work that is modern and still doesn’t use contractions. Consider this: “You are going to be late.” Unless the speaker is trying to sound like an irritated mother and is leaving an emphatic silence between each word to sound threatening, use contractions. It sounds really drawn out and like the speaker is pointing their nose in the air. We generally don’t speak like this in real life, so neither should your characters.

Using complete sentences–Not only is it natural for your characters to chop their sentences, this can also contribute to their voice. Does your character say “I don’t know.” or “Dunno.” Would he/she say “I missed the train and had to find a lift home.” or “Missed the train. Had to find a ride.” In casual speech, we often only use the words necessary to convey our message, even if it doesn’t form a complete sentence. You shouldn’t apply this to every line of dialogue, but consider it if your dialogue sounds stale.

Using characters as a conduit for research and plot information–Sometimes writers like to show off their research (looking at you Jurassic Park), backstory, world building and plot by having their characters talk way too much. If your character says “Once this valley was home to an ancient race of elves, who looked after the land and treated it with respect. One day, the secret magic spring dried up and then the goblins came. Without their magic spring, the elves couldn’t fight back, and they were killed by the goblins. The goblins didn’t respect the land and now it’s uninhabitable.” he should probably shut up. It sounds less like a person talking than it does an audio tour. The information he’s shared could be given in a much more interesting way.

How you can fix it:

Listen to and watch the way real people talk to each other. Do they speak in full sentences with full words? Do they speak with grammatical correctness? Do they speak differently in different situations? How do hand gestures, body language and facial expressions help them communicate?

Read your dialogue out loud as if you’re practising lines for a movie. Does it sound natural? Does it flow?

Test every piece of information your characters give out. Does it all need to be said? Would your character say all of it at once? Do they need to say it all in so many words?

2. Passages of uninterrupted speech or thought

Sometimes you might want to avoid telling the reader about something and have a character tell another character instead. Sometimes you might want to avoid telling the reader how a character feels about something by having them think about it excessively instead. If this goes on for longer than a couple of paragraphs (or less), you risk allowing your reader to drift out of the scene.

The only thing anchoring your reader in the scene is your characters and what they’re doing. If the characters are talking or thinking for a long time without interacting with anyone or anything else, they might as well be floating in space, which can make the reader feel like they’re floating in space. That’s not to say that they’ve forgotten where the scene is taking place or who else is involved, just that it can feel that way if this is how the character acts.

How you can fix it:

If your characters have a lot to say, try to include the other characters as well. Have them ask questions or make comments so it feels like a scene and not a soliloquy.

If your character is around others when he/she is deep in thought, try to include the other characters in some way. If the POV character is thinking about something that the other characters can see, why not give voice to one of the other characters in between thought paragraphs?

If the character is alone when he/she is deep in thought, is there a way they can interact with their environment? Unless they’re standing in front of a wall, they should be able to see, smell, feel or hear something.

If your character is absolutely, completely lost in thought, is there a way you can bring some sort of image into it? For example, on page 216 of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Katniss is thinking about how to treat a burn she receives. Almost the entire page is a paragraph describing a memory; however, there is still action in this memory and, therefore, there is something for the reader to imagine.

3. Not knowing when to/not to use said

Some people will tell you to use descriptive speech tags and others will tell you there’s nothing wrong with said. Both are true, but when do you follow the former and when do you follow the latter? And when do you use no speech tags at all?

Using anything but said and using nothing but said both get exhausting and boring very fast.

How you can fix it:

Below is a rough guide to what kind of speech tag to use. Please bear in mind that it is only a guide and will not and should not apply to every situation.

Said is unobtrusive–a way of letting the reader know who’s talking without making a song and dance about it. Specific verbs (e.g. whispered, shouted, mumbled) give the reader information about how the words are being said. Adverbial tags can also give extra information about how something is being said, but more often than not they can be replaced with a stronger verb (e.g. she said loudly can be replaced with she shouted). Writers can also fall into the trap of telling where it’s better to show when using adverbial tags, which can make the writing bland. Sometimes telling is better, but with speech tags, it’s usually better to absorb the reader in the conversation. If you’ve used an adverbial tag, go back and have a look at it. Is there a better way you could get the message across?

What you need to pay attention to when determining what speech tags to use is the context of the speech. If the reader is already aware of the manner in which a character is talking, it won’t be necessary to remind them every time the character speaks. If there are only two characters in the conversation, it won’t be necessary to finish each quote with he said/she said. Going back to #2, you can also do away with speech tags entirely and use action to demonstrate how a character is feeling, while also grounding the reader in the scene.

The key to avoiding repetition and blandness is to find a balance between using the unobtrusive said, using something more specific, and mixing it up with a bit of action, which means you might not even need a tag at all.

4. Too much description/overwriting

Sometimes it’s better to tell and not show. Some details just aren’t important enough to warrant a lengthy description. If you want your reader to know that it’s raining, you can write something better than “It was raining”, but there’s no need to go overboard and write a poem about how the puddles on the asphalt looked like a great abyss.

Think of description like camera focus. The more you describe something, the more focus you put on it. If you put enough focus on something, you eliminate everything else. What’s this? A close-up. What does a close-up in a movie tell you? That object of the close-up is significant.

Be wary: when you write thirty words describing the way the moonlight is reflecting off the inky black lake, you might not be just setting the scene. You might also be giving the lake undue emphasis, and it’s probably going to irritate your reader when they realise there’s nothing significant about the lake at all, you were just showing off your imagery skills.

How you can fix it:

Keep it real. What would the character notice, what would they think about it and is it worth the attention? And try not to focus on sight. Your characters have more than one way to perceive their environment, and incorporating their other senses can help build a 3D setting for your reader rather than just painting them a picture. Give the reader enough to imagine the scene, and no more.

5. Not knowing when to/not to use adverbs

There’s a lot of writing advice out there that will tell you to cut all adverbs. The result is that many writers now think adverbs exist only to eat their children and wouldn’t dare to ever use one.

There is truth to the advice, but to say “The road to hell is paved with adverbs”? Really, Stephen King? And his dandelion analogy assumes there’s no editing process.

Adverbs aren’t evil, but there is such a thing as using them ineffectively. Which of the below are more descriptive?

She ran quickly or She sprinted

“It’s a long way down,” he said nervously or “It’s a long way down,” he said

He was shamefully prone to anxiety or He was prone to anxiety

She sprinted not only gets to the point faster, it also creates a more powerful image for the reader. “It’s a long way down,” he said gives no indication of how the speaker is speaking or feeling; however, “It’s a long way down,” he said nervously is telling, not showing. Rather than using an adverb here, the writer could describe the speaker’s body language. He was shamefully prone to anxiety tells you how the character feels about being prone to anxiety and there is no stronger word to replace “shamefully prone”.

How you can fix it:

Ask yourself:

How would the meaning of the sentence change if the adverb was removed?

Can the adverb and verb be replaced by a single verb?

Does the action really need clarification?

Does the adverb add something to the sentence that can’t be described in another way?

6. No conflict in the beginning

The first few chapters of a lot of stories I’ve read involve the main character plodding along in their daily life. This is a good thing as the reader needs to get a feel for your character before the big plot things happen, but that doesn’t mean the first few chapters should be without conflict. I don’t want to read about a character waking up, looking at themselves in the mirror, getting dressed, getting coffee, going to work, getting home, going on a date etc. for three chapters. It’s boring and I don’t care about any of it.

The confusion might be caused by common story structure theories that say the main conflict enters the story at the first plot point, or 25% into the story. But this doesn’t mean there should be zero conflict at the beginning! At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Harry was told ‘no funny business’ or he’d be grounded. Not long after that, there was some vanishing glass and an escaped boa constrictor. After this happened there was a mysterious letter addressed to Harry, and he spent an entire chapter trying to get hold of it as the weirdness escalated. There’s conflict and a goal right off the bat, and the story hasn’t even really started yet. In The Hunger Games Katniss faces the Reaping. In The Hobbit Bilbo finds himself hosting a dinner party for dwarfs and being asked to go and fight a dragon.

How you can fix it:

Take a look at all the books you’ve read. Most of them (if not all) start with some sort of problem or goal. Study up on this to help you realise what makes a good beginning.

Don’t fill your first few chapters with characterisation and nothing else. Build your character in the context of a problem or goal.

Keep in mind that you find your characters more interesting than your reader does. What you like about your character might not be enough to keep the reader’s interest.

What’s going on in your character’s life? How is this going to influence what happens when the conflict or story goal takes the stage?

What would happen if you cut your beginning out of the story? Would the plot still make sense? Maybe it’s better to start the story at a later point.

7. Lack of story structure

When you write a first draft, whether you’ve planned it or not, there are going to be structural flaws. Maybe halfway through you thought of a way to solidify a character’s motivation. Maybe at the climax you thought of a way to strengthen your conflict. Maybe somewhere in the middle you had no idea where you were going with this and slugged your way through some boring scenes. It’s all good; this is how stories come together.

What should happen next is that you revise your draft with story structure in mind. There’ll be a lot of “I should add a scene here about this” and “what was I thinking when I wrote that?” and after a few goes, you’ll have a story.

Writers don’t always do this though (which, by the way, makes my job take longer and cost more). They’ll go through and fix all of the obvious problems, but what remains is a manuscript that still lacks a solid structure. It’s messy to read, it’s confusing, it’s clearly not thought out, and it feels like the writer is giving me the finger. I’ll regret paying for the book, stop reading it and leave a negative review on Goodreads. Is that worth not giving your book a good edit?

How you can fix it:

Read a lot. Make sure you have a decent grasp on different story structures. Make sure you understand the way stories progress, the way they’re paced and what keeps the reader engaged.

Re-outline. Or if you pantsed your way through the first draft, make an outline. Write a checklist for what each scene should accomplish and what each chapter should accomplish. Make a timeline of how the events progress and how the tension increases. Don’t base this on what you’ve written, base it on what you’ve figured out about your plot.

Edit ruthlessly. If a scene doesn’t measure up to your new plan, cut it. If it’s in the wrong place, move it.

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writergirl74 · 5 months

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How to Write Deaf Characters - From a real Deaf person’s perspective

Hello readers and writers alike, I would like to point out something that has been so glaringly annoying to me and other Deaf/HoH people so that we can end all these misconceptions. People who write for Deaf!Readers should know a few things before starting their imagines, fanfictions, blurbs - anything. It is not anyone’s fault for not knowing these things, most hearing people are not aware of the Deaf community or Deaf culture so here I am, a Deaf person who is majoring in Deaf Studies and Culture, coming here to tell you a few things to know when writing for a Deaf!Reader

(Remember this is my experience as a Deaf/HoH person and it may differ from person to person but this is what I learned/have slight annoyances within writing)

Deaf and Hard of Hearing is a culture. Yes, most people consider it a disability but IT IS NOT SOMETHING WE ARE ASHAMED OF! Please stop writing fics/imagines about Deaf!Reader being ashamed of not being able to hear or getting hearing aids to impress their SO. It’s completely wrong and just annoying. We are proud of our Deafness and we don’t want to be fixed.

DO NOT USE THE TERM ‘HEARING IMPAIRED’! This is basically a slur word. It was widely used in the ’90s but now it’s considered a derogatory term. Just use Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Or ‘deaf’ if the person is medically deaf and not culturally Deaf. (see next point)

Deaf and ‘deaf’ are different. Deaf is a cultural term for people who are born Deaf and raised in the community. The term ‘deaf’ is used in the medical field or used to describe someone who has hearing loss that does not associate with the Deaf Community. Usually, a hearing person who has become deaf later on.

Sign language is not a worldwide language. There are different types of language within sign language. ASL is for American and Canada. BSL is for Britain. So if you’re writing a story that takes place in a country that is not America or Canada, do not say ASL.

ASL does not = English. Same for every other language. ASL is its own language with grammar rules and semantics. It does not directly translate to English. So if you’re writing ASL most likely write in GLOSS or write it as you would write a hearing character. (Sentance: I want to go to the mall and buy a dress. GLOSS: I WANT WANT GO TO MALL I. ME BUY DRESS ME )

Deafness is on a spectrum. There is a legal threshold that someone must pass to be considered legally Deaf. Some Deaf people can hear more than others. I can hear high pitched noises sometimes. I know someone who can hear voices but can not hear what they are saying. Both of us are Deaf and we both cross that threshold. So when writing your Deaf!Character make sure to set a bar of what they can and can not hear.

Hearing Aids do not cure anyone’s deafness. It only helps hear some sounds and maybe hear if people are talking. Not what they are saying although it can help with that depending on how far they are on the Deaf scale.

Cochlear Implants are very controversial in the Deaf Community so if you’re going to write about them do your research!!! They are also not a cure for Deafness, just an aid.

Deaf people are not masters at lipreading! Even the best lip readers can only make sense of 30% of what is being said. I’ve been lip reading for years and I still only understand a little bit of what is being said. So no, your character is not going to miraculously know what’s going on from lip reading.

DO NOT have your characters yell at your Deaf characters. DOES NOT MATTER HOW LOUD YOU ARE! We can not hear you. Neither can your character. Have your other hearing characters speak normally. That’s the best way to lip read if they must.

Most Deaf people are born from hearing parents. It’s really rare for a whole entire family to be Deaf (Although I’ve met some and it’s super cool). But your character is probably born to hearing parents.

ALSO, the majority of hearing families with Deaf children do NOT learn ASL. It sucks but it’s true. Only about 30-40% of families learn sign for their Deaf family members. So keep it in mind,

So this is my list for now! I may add to it the more I think about things but this is basics I think everyone should know. If I forgot some then feel free to add! (as long as you are knowledgeable about the topic please). If you have questions please message me! Or if you need someone to proofread your Deaf!Imagines then I almost here for that. So happy writings everyone!

ILY

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writergirl74 · 5 months

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The Ultimate (short) Guide to Crafting Captivating Book Titles: A Writer's Journey into Naming Novels

Embracing the Power of a Book Title

Greetings, fellow writers and wordsmiths! As we embark on the magical journey of storytelling, there exists a crucial milestone—bestowing our creations with a name, a title that encapsulates the essence of our narrative. The quest for the perfect title can be as thrilling as drafting the story itself. In this guide, we will unravel the art and significance of titling a novel, exploring strategies, tips, and the creative process behind crafting an engaging and magnetic book title.

Understanding the Importance of a Book Title

The Gateway to Reader Connection

A book title is the beacon that beckons readers to explore the universe you've crafted. It's the first impression, a snapshot that encapsulates the soul of your narrative. A compelling title can captivate an audience, generating curiosity and inviting them to step into the world you've woven within your pages.

Reflecting the Essence of Your Story

A well-crafted title encapsulates the core theme, mood, or central conflict of your novel. It should resonate with the narrative, teasing elements without revealing too much, leaving a trail of intrigue that entices readers to delve deeper.

The Art of Title Creation

Embrace the Journey: Start with a Working Title

Begin with a placeholder, a working title that captures the essence of your story in its rawest form. Let it evolve and grow as your narrative does. This title might serve as a guiding light until you uncover the perfect one.

Exploring the Heart of Your Story

Consider the central themes, characters, or pivotal moments within your book. Delve into the emotional core of your narrative and unearth words or phrases that resonate with its essence.

Utilizing Literary Devices and Techniques

Explore metaphors, alliteration, symbolism, or even poetic verses. Experiment with wordplay, juxtapositions, and contrasts. These literary devices can infuse depth and intrigue into your title.

Testing and Refining Your Title

The Power of Feedback

Share your title ideas with trusted friends, writing groups, or beta readers. Gather feedback on their impressions and the emotions evoked by the titles. Use this input to refine and narrow down your choices.

Alignment with Your Target Audience

Consider your intended readership. Does your title resonate with the genre and expectations of your audience? Ensure it's not only enticing but also aligns with the preferences of your potential readers.

Finalizing the Perfect Title

Distillation of Essence: Keep it Succinct and Evocative

Aim for brevity and impact. A concise yet evocative title can linger in the minds of readers. Often, the most powerful titles are those that say much with few words.

Research and Avoiding Clichés

Investigate existing titles in your genre to ensure your title stands out. Steer clear of clichés and overused phrases, aiming for originality and uniqueness.

Embrace the Artistry of Title Crafting

Crafting the ideal book title is an art in itself. It's the literary cloak that shrouds your creation, inviting readers into the tapestry of your imagination. Embrace the journey of titling your novel with the same passion and creativity you pour into your storytelling. Let the title be a herald, whispering the promise of a remarkable journey that awaits within the pages of your book.

As you venture forth, remember, the perfect title awaits—a key to unlock the hearts and minds of your future readers.

Happy writing and titling!

This comprehensive guide aims to take writers through the journey of creating an impactful and engaging book title, emphasizing the importance of a title and offering practical strategies to craft one that truly resonates with a novel's essence. If you need further insights, examples, or specific advice on any aspect of titling a novel, feel free to delve deeper into each section. Happy titling!

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writergirl74 · 5 months

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My writing life has been pretty good.

#anthologies #writing #author life

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writergirl74 · 5 months

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writergirl74 · 5 months

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This is your friendly reminder that you can write your story in whatever order works the best for you. Want to write it fully linearly? Great. Want to write scenes as they strike you and then go back and fill in the rest? Perfect. Want to write it in backwards order? You do you.

There is no perfect order to write a story in, except what gets the story written.

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writergirl74 · 1 year

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Why I Write

I used to wonder what kept me writing. I guess you could say it’s the same as reading. I write because that’s who I am. There is no reason to try being anyone else. Be who you are and stay true to yourself. Don’t give up on YOU!

#writing #reading #be your own inspiration

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writergirl74 · 1 year

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Hair Texture & Appearance

Below is a list of words to describe hair texture/appearance:

bristly - having a stiff and prickly texture

brittle - hard but liable to break or shatter easily

bushy - resembling a bush; thick and shaggy

coarse - rough

coiff - style or arrange (someone’s hair), typically in an elaborate way

coiffured - having the hair brushed, combed, and curled

crinkly - having wrinkles or waves

delicate - very fine in texture

disheveled - untidy; disordered

downy - covered with fine soft hair

dull - lacking brightness, vividness, or sheen

fine - thin

flat - dull and lifeless

fluffy - being light and soft or airy

frizzy - formed of a mass of small, tight curls or tufts

fuzzy - having a frizzy, fluffy, or frayed texture or appearance

glossy - shiny and smooth

greasy - covered with or resembling an oily substance

knotted - tangled

lank - long, limp, and straight

lush - rich, thick, full

lustrous - having luster; shining

luxuriant - thick and healthy

luxurious - characterized by opulence, sumptuousness, or rich abundance

matted - tangled into a thick mass

oily - containing oil

puffy - soft, rounded, and light

satiny - having a smooth, glossy surface or finish like that of satin

scraggly - ragged, thin, or untidy in form or appearance

shaggy - long, thick, and unkempt

silky - of or resembling silk, especially in being soft, fine, and lustrous

sleek - smooth and glossy

slick - smooth and glossy

snarled - tangled

stiff - not easily bent or changed in shape; rigid

straw-like - resembling straw

stringy - resembling string; long, thin, and lusterless

supple - bending and moving easily and gracefully; flexible

tangled - twisted together untidily; matted

tousled - untidy

unkempt - having an untidy or disheveled appearance

velvety - having a smooth, soft appearance

voluminous - to add fullness or volume

wavy - not straight or curly, but curves slightly

windblown - messy because of being blown around by wind

windswept - untidy in appearance after being exposed to the wind

wiry - resembling wire in form and texture

wispy - fine; feathery

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writergirl74 · 1 year

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You’re welcome

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writergirl74 · 1 year

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writergirl74 · 1 year

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For war and fighting scenes

Types of Weapons:

Aircraft:

air-dropped bomb air-launched missile air-launched rocket air-launched torpedo

Anti-aircraft

Flamethrowers

Firearms:

assault rifle battle rifle blow forward firearm bullpup carbine delayed blowback firearm firearm grenade launcher machine gun multiple barrel firearm pistol shotgun sniper rifle submachine gun recoilless rifle

Knives:

ballistic knife bayonet boning knife butterfly knife carving knife combat knife dagger fighting knife karambit rampuri shiv throwing knife trench knife

Missiles:

Conventional guided: air-to-air missile air-to-surface missile anti-ballistic missile anti-satellite weapon anti-ship missile anti-submarine missile anti-tank guided missile land-attack missile shoulder-launched missiles surface-to-air missile surface-to-surface missile wire-guided missile

Cruise missile: air-launched cruise missile ground-launched cruise missile submarine-launched cruise missile

Ballistic missile: tactical ballistic missile short-range ballistic missile theatre ballistic missile medium-range ballistic missile intermediate-range ballistic missile intercontinental ballistic missile submarine-launched ballistic missile air-launched ballistic missile

Rockets:

military rocket orbital launch system sounding rocket upper stage

Torpedos

Kicks:

axe kick back kick butterfly kick calf kick cartwheel kick cut kick double front kick downward roundhouse kick foot sweep kick flying kick front kick heel kick hook kick jumping kick knee joint kick low kick oblique kick push kick roundhouse kick scissor kick scoop kick shin kick side kick skipping axe kick skipping front kick stomp kick stretch kick switch kick toe kick twisting kick upkick uppercut back kick

Punches and Hand Strikes:

backfist cross or straight double fist punch ear clap elbow strike eye strike finger poke jab long fist hammer fist hook overhand palm strike slap sucker punch tiger claw uppercut upset punch

Spank: smack, slap, beat, strike, hit.

Swat: blow, flick, flip, slip,

Push: nudge, bump, shove.

Scratch: ich, rub, fret.

Smash: blow, knock, bump, bang, bash.

Slam: flap down, throw, shove.

Bite: grip, gnaw, snap, nip, nibble.

Cut: slice, rip, slit, carve, gash, chop, bore, stab.

Bruise: harm, injure, wound, elicit, evoke, crush, damage.

Dodge: avoid, sidestep, evade, duck, quibble, shrink.

Escape: fly, run away, flee, slip, get away, break, pull back.

Disable: confine, restrain, layup, hold, incapacitate, contain.

Block: obstruct, stop, blockade, shut off, impede, close off, barricade.

Resist: balk, refuse, spurn, disobey, reject.

Hesitate: waver, falter, doubt, oscillate, delay, pause, vacillate.

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writergirl74 · 1 year

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A Glossary of Publishing Terms: Vol 1.

Here’s the first volume in what will be an expanding glossary of publishing terminology. If you have any questions about any term defined in this list, feel free to let me know and I’ll create an expanded definition for you.

Acquisition: The process of a publisher buying the rights to a manuscript from an author or agent.

Agent: The person who represents an author’s work and interests, submits their manuscripts to editors for acquisition, and negotiates contracts.

ARC (Advanced Reader Copy)/Galley/Proof: A promotional copy of a novel distributed for marketing purposes before publication. ARCs are usually not-yet-finalized, paperback versions of the book, which may have: minor copy editing errors, missing dedication/acknowledgment pages, or no cover art. They’re distributed mainly to reviewers, librarians, booksellers, and other industry professionals, but also make appearances at various book/fan festivals.

Big Five: The biggest publishing houses: Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. These five houses publish and sell the majority of books you see in stores and have a lot of sway in the industry.

Draft: A specific version of your manuscript, used for describing the state your manuscript is currently in. You can have a current draft, a past draft, a first draft, a revised draft, a final draft, or a 38th draft.

Editor: The person at the publishing house who acquires and helps revise an author’s manuscript

Imprint: A publishing house within a publishing house, basically. An imprint is a division of a publishing house that tends to focus on a certain genre or style of book. A chart showing the imprints of the big five publishers.

Lead titles: The predetermined “bestsellers” on a season’s list, which get the most publicity and marketing for that season, and often receive the biggest advances.

Manuscript: Basically the best term for a book before it’s actually in print. When you carry your novel around in a binder or as a stack of pages, it’s a manuscript. When you carry your novel around bound in a pretty cover, it becomes a book.

Publisher: A company that acquires manuscripts and prepares them for sale

Query/-ing: n. the combination of a cover “query” letter and sample chapters of a manuscript to be submitted to literary agents in the hopes of acquiring representation; v. the process of submitting queries to literary agents

Revise and Resubmit (R&R): A response from an editor or agent in between an offer and a rejection, when they are interested in a book, but do not want to take it on in its current state. Agents and editors who request R&Rs will also often request first looks at the revised manuscripts as a professional courtesy in return for their editorial letters/guidance. R&Rs may result in an offer from an editor or agent, or they may result in a rejection.

Seasons: The publishing industry divides the year into three “seasons”: fall, winter, and spring/summer. For each season, publishers will produce catalogues showcasing the titles to be published in that calendar period. These seasons and catalogs can affect books’ publications. For example: titles may be pushed back in publication to fit a certain season (a novel about ghosts will generally be published in September, in the fall catalog where it is most salable). Titles may also not be acquired because there are already similar titles in certain catalogs, and the publishers may not want to publish competing books.

Starred Review: Trade reviews give “stars” to books of “exceptional merit.” Good reviews of upcoming publications are not always starred. Starred reviews can be influential when publishers are selling books to bookstores, libraries, and other institutions.

Submission (sub): The process of an agent sending a manuscript out to editors with a goal of acquisition.

The Slush Pile: Unsolicited manuscripts sent to 1) publishers without agents/requests from publishers, or 2) agents without requests (less common usage).

Trade Review: A review in a trade publication, ie. a publication meant for industry professionals instead of general consumers, such as Publishers Weekly.

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