dmjohnston3Jun 17, 20211 minThe Splendor and Sorrow of Small Press PublishingTo most would-be authors, there are only two routes to publication - get an agent and go for a big publisher or self-publish. But there...
dmjohnston3Apr 20, 20216 minThe Fail-Graceful Method: On Writing a Salvageable NovelThe publishing world is not a friendly place. I hope I've impressed this upon you by now - this is an insular, name-driven world where...
dmjohnston3Dec 14, 20207 minSo Your Book's Been Rejected 900 Times: Six Things to do With a Manuscript No One WantsBy this point, you've walked down publication road long enough to know that it doesn't really head anywhere. The "We're all friends"...
dmjohnston3Dec 7, 20202 minSpeculative Short Story Acceptance Rates - 2021 EditionA new year is coming up, and some of you will decide that this is the year that you will be published. I'm terribly sorry to hear that....
dmjohnston3Nov 25, 20205 minFinding Your Literary Agent: 6 Things You'll Need in Your Submission PacketPressed for time? Why not listen to the post instead? If you've reached this point, then you have a finished work of fiction and you're...
dmjohnston3Nov 23, 20207 minQuery Letter Conventional Wisdom: 3 Reasons Everyone is Full of CrapFor those of you who were a little bit lost in my rambling podcast, here's the essence of my plan: I have two query letters, each of...
dmjohnston3Nov 22, 20202 minThe Query Process: It's OnI hate sending query letters. I hate it to the depths of my being, if for no other reason than the time it wastes. Oh, it's no epic feat...
dmjohnston3Oct 4, 20201 minShort Story Master PostHere are the collected short story posts as of October 4th, 2020. This post may be updated if new posts are added. Writing a Short Story:...
dmjohnston3Sep 9, 20204 minThree Tips to Protect Your Unpublished Novel from Sinister Manuscript ThievesNo one wants to steal your book. No one wants to steal your book. No one wants to steal your book. Well, that was simple. Or were you...
dmjohnston3Sep 2, 20206 minHow to Spot a Scam AgentPressed for time? Listen to the post instead! A few weeks ago, I made a video covering some of the common scams plaguing publishing right...
dmjohnston3Aug 31, 20203 minHow Long is a Short Story? A Brief Guide to Short Story LengthStory length is an important factor for anyone writing for short fiction markets, which often have specific word count requirements. So...
dmjohnston3Aug 26, 20207 minPublishing Short Stories: The Nuts and Bolts of SubmittingPressed for time? Listen to the post instead! Aspiring writers can get tunnel vision. People get so focused on getting a novel published...
dmjohnston3Jun 28, 20204 minStory Rejections and You: Lessons Learned From 700+ RejectionsBefore I continue with the series on flash fiction, there's a side topic I should probably touch on. If you've been following my series,...