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To help the author develop and create the best book possible. Material that has both commercial appeal and long-term value.
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To help the author determine the next best step in their writing career. Giving counsel regarding the subtleties of the marketplace as well as the realities of the publishing community.
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Recent Posts
The Art of Persuasive Writing Series (3 of 7): A Good Argument Has a Shape
Even strong ideas lose their force when they are poorly arranged because readers depend on structure far more than writers sometimes realize. You just read this opening sentence and are already forming an impression of whether the rest of this article is worth reading! If my direction remains unclear, your attention will fade; and once that happens, even the best material struggles to recover.
A persuasive argument, therefore, requires a clear and deliberate shape. The opening establishes orientation by showing what is at stake and why it matters. This does not require elaborate language or artificial clickbait urgency. The reader should be able to understand, right away, what is being addressed and why it deserves careful thought. In that sense, the task resembles the instruction to “make it plain” so that it can be readily grasped (Habakkuk 2:2).
From there, a presentation develops through steady progression. The central idea is introduced and then expanded with care, each paragraph building upon what has already been established. Transitions can serve as an internal GPS of the piece (turn here, turn there), guiding the reader from one thought to the next and ensuring a smooth ride. When transitions are neglected, the writing feels abrupt (a dead end). When they are handled well, the argument makes more sense.
The hardest part of any book, or speech, is the middle. This is where many writers begin to lose focus, often by introducing tangents that, while interesting, do not serve the central point. If you are not careful, the listener will start daydreaming and the reader will find something else to read. But, a cohesive and powerful idea, laid out and supported with well-chosen words, will serve you better than several ideas competing within the same space.
As the argument approaches its conclusion, the writer begins to gather what has come before. Nothing new needs to be introduced. Instead, what has been well established becomes reasserted in digestible form. The reader sees the point and its significance without having to reconstruct it.
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Stopping the “It Depends” Response to Questions
I’ve made a very late New Year’s resolution. I am no longer going to respond to every question about book publishing with the noncommittal and vague “It depends.” There’s really only one response to just about every question, and it always comes down to competition in the publishing world. Why are agents so difficult to connect with? Competition. This agency receives several thousand proposals each year from aspiring authors; and among the five agents, we offer representation to less than 1%. Why are traditional publishers so hard to crack? Competition. Most of the books they publish each year are from …
Make Every Scene Matter (Part 2): Three Questions Every Scene Must Answer
In the last post, we looked at the purpose of a scene. We learned that a scene should: earn its place move the story forward reveal character increase tension change the reader’s understanding or set up and pay off something important. So, how do we make that happen? Before revising a scene, ask yourself these three basic questions: What does the character want? What stands in the way? What changes by the end? If you can answer those questions, your scene probably has direction. If you can’t, the scene may have issues. Let’s look at the first question. It’s fairly …
The Art of Persuasive Writing Series (2 of 7): Start With the Reader, Not Your Idea
I see a lot of good nonfiction writing that falters at the same point. It happens when the writer begins with what they want to say, rather than with an awareness of the audience who will be reading it. Think of it from the reader’s perspective. Imagine you are the reader. You approach a piece of writing with your framework already in place. That framework, unique to you, has been formed over time through experience, reading, and reflection. It includes some beliefs already determined, some conclusions that remain tentative, and questions left unresolved. None of these disappear when you begin …