First Word

I have authors who show up with their manuscripts in hand and eagerly tell me things about why it's so great based on ... their home-grown peanut gallery. I like to call well-meaning friends and parents the peanut gallery. The peanut gallery tells the aspiring author they are going to be the next bestseller. Of course, they do! They love the author. Most friends and family aren't going to say something like, "Well, this is terrible." To bolster their positions even more, they will seek out other "more qualified" spectators to validate their absolute certainty that the New York Times best-seller list is within their reach with this masterpiece. They will find the local librarian or maybe some friend who writes articles. Then they will come to us and say, "Not only do my friends, family and loved ones think it's going to be a bestseller, but also Mary the local librarian loved it." All right my beloved and aspiring authors, here is what you re...

As a publisher and editor, I can literally tell on the first page of a manuscript whether the book is going to end on the acceptance or rejection pile. I'm sure all you authors out there are eager to hear what to avoid if you want to get through the gatekeeping process. Tell it all on page 1 . How could you possibly do that on a single page, well, you would be surprised. Some authors give the book's big reveal on the very first page. They think this technique effectively draws in the reader -- and it could if you're a master of the storytelling process. Truth is, most new authors are not masters of that process, and the big reveal only serves to ruin the book's chances of getting accepted. So unless you're super talented and can pull that one off in some clever, interesting way, I don't recommend you approach your book's story that way. Passive voice and cluttered writing . Two-hundred adjectives strung together with a lot of passive voice is a big no, n...