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Tag: getting published

  • Worldbuilding: How to Create a Believable World for Your Fiction Characters

    Worldbuilding: How to Create a Believable World for Your Fiction Characters

    A lot goes into creating a fantasy world—or a world for any story, regardless of genre. 

    Every world needs its own distinct feel, whether it’s a microcosm of the one we already know, a distant past, a far-out future or a magical alternate world altogether. From Middle-earth, to Tatooine, to the scandalous world Bridgerton’s Regency London, it’s the author’s job is to make the world feel real and relevant to what’s happening with the characters and plot.

    But what makes a fictional world feel real? There are a lot of different tools and approaches available to authors to help you in this important process.

    What is world building?

    When writing any story, one of the top jobs—and greatest challenges—the author takes on is to create a world that feels realistic and multi-dimensional.

    Much more than a backdrop for the action, the story’s world is a crucial foundation to everything that takes place. What are the values in this world? What’s the structure of daily life look like? Who has privilege, and who’s left behind? What’s the economic system? What’s got value and what doesn’t? 

    Whether it’s directly related to the plot of your story or not, these are the types of big questions that will round out your story’s world. You might be surprised at the ways these important dynamics emerge in subtle but important ways throughout the story.

    How to start world building

    There is no right or wrong way to create a world for your story. In fact, there are a lot of examples of incredible authors, all of whom go about the world building process in very different ways.

    Here are a few examples:

    E. Schwab: The author of “The Invisible Live of Addie LaRue” and other speculative genre fiction famously says she loves to write stories about outsiders — but to know who the outsiders of a fictional world are, one must start by understanding who its insiders are, and why. In this way, Schwab wisely starts to unfold her world from a characters-first perspective, starting with its most central values. To learn more about her process, start with this video. 

    Margaret Atwood: The multi-award-winning author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” has said she starts her world building by thinking about how her character eats breakfast. What type of kitchen does the character have? Do they prepare their own food or does someone else? Where does their food come from? This process offers her a way to start peeking into the world’s economy and social structures, one step at a time. She shares how she builds out her world from this single moment of the day in this Fast Company article.

    Chuck Wendig: Whereas many authors set aside time to map out their worlds before they begin writing, not all do! The author of “Wanderers” prefers to start tackling his stories from the characters and plot, and then revisits the draft to fill out the world building as needed. As he puts it, “the world serves the story, the story doesn’t serve the world.” He offers this and more great world building advice in this blog post.

    Reading about other authors’ methods and talking to them about their process when you have opportunity is a great way to add to your own world building toolbox. But, as they say, your mileage may vary! Just because your favorite author does their world building a certain way, doesn’t mean it’s the right way for you to do it.

    Give different methods a try, then don’t be afraid to stick with what works for you. In the end, all that matters is that the result is a world that brings the story to life for your readers.

    8 tips for creative world building

    If creating an entire world feels like a daunting challenge, here are some steps to get you started.

    1. Study other authors at work in your genre

    It’s important to read widely within the genre you write. As you do so, make a study of the ways other authors bring their worlds to life on the page.

    How can you bring these lessons to your own writing?

    2. Mix and match different worlds

    If you need inspiration to get started, draw inspiration from the worlds you already know—whether those be fictional or real!

    Then, use these elements as building blocks and start making it your own.

    3. Draw a map of your story’s world

    The geography of your world can be as important as the culture—and the two may even inform each other.

    You don’t have to be an artist to develop a quick sketch that can help you navigate how the world comes together.

    4. Consider what kinds of flora and fauna live in your world

    What do the trees and other plants look like? Are some native to certain areas or only grow under certain conditions? What types of creatures exist there?

    For worlds more like our own, this may require some careful research; but for more fantastical worlds, this can be an opportunity to set loose your wildest creativity. 

    5. Outline your world’s background

    How did your world become the way it is at the story’s start?

    What is the government like? What about its financial systems? Are there different cultures intermingling? Are there fads or styles within this society?

    6. Use all your senses

    When we’re out in the real world, we experience it through our senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Your world will come to life for readers when you let them do the same in your fictional world.

    If your character wanders through a market, what spices and herbs might mingle in the air? If your character is on a spaceship, what does the food taste like? If your character spends her weekends in the local coffee shop, how does her favorite table feel? These kinds of details within a world can help to make it feel more multidimensional and real.

    A lot of writers fall into the trap of relying on just a few of the senses, like sight and touch. But as you revise your manuscript, look for opportunities to round out these details with the other senses, too. You don’t need to touch on all five senses for every aspect of your world (that would get tiresome pretty quickly) but added in at opportune moments, they can take a world that’s fine and turn it into something remarkable and memorable.

    7. Reflect your world’s values

    In the real world, values and bias are embedded so deeply we hardly even think about it in daily life—consider the ways in which the world is built for right-handed people, or, some of the phrases we still use from our history. Then of course, there are the complex consequences of racism, sexism other serious issues that continue to plague our society. For better or for worse, these all have connections to what’s really valued in our world. 

    So what is valued in your fictional world? Who holds power and influence? Who doesn’t? How are these values reinforced? These small touches can demonstrate important things about your story’s world without having to hit pause and explain it all.

    8. Explore thematic elements

    Every story has a theme. Your world building should support a deeper exploration of those elements. Look for opportunities for the greater world of your story to reflect, build, and deepen these big questions.

    For example, in “The Hunger Games,” the story isn’t only about Katniss. It’s also about power dynamics, control and what it takes to survive. As the series goes on, it also wrestles with themes of trauma and the costs of war and freedom. These themes are reinforced by the details of the story’s world from where we start with Katniss in District 12, to the Capitol, to their fight in the rebellion.

    These are only a few examples of ways to explore your world and make it more multidimensional. With these and other exercises, you may surprise yourself with the ideas you come up with, and how complex your world becomes. The more you’re able to consider all aspects of your story’s world, the more dynamic and life-like it will feel to readers. 

    Bench in a purple park, text about creating a believable world

    World building tools and resources

    There are myriad tools and resources for world building available to help you build your skills and flesh out your story. Here are a few excellent places to start:

    • Brandon Sanderson’s BYU lecture series – This leading fantasy author is renowned for his complex fantasy worlds. In this six-part series for students at Brigham Young University, two of his lectures are dedicated to world building. They offer a wealth of information on building compelling worlds, as well as a peek behind the curtain of how a master (and bestseller) gets it done.
    • World Building Reddit – This subreddit is an active community of creatives for all sorts of speculative fiction and world-building endeavors, from authors to gamemasters and more. It’s a great source for insights, support and inspiration within a community of like-minded creators from across the expanses of the Internet.
    • World building software – Did you know there’s software designed to help you through the world building process? In fact, this great list from ProWritingAid lists multiple you can choose from, depending on your creative style.
    • World building templates – Many have created their own versions of templates, questions and prompts to help authors build out their worlds—there’s something out there for everyone! But it can also be a deluge that’s hard to navigate. I like this organized list of points to consider from Amelia Weins on the Science Fiction Writers Association’s blog, which prioritizes considerations for diversity.
    • Tracking tools for world building – Maintaining consistency within your story’s world is crucial for making it feel real. So how will you remember on page 227 the color of the wallpaper in a shop your character is revisiting from chapter two? There are tools for that. This article breaks down a few ways to approach it (full disclosure, written by this author).

    How to reveal your world to readers

     Once you’ve built your world, you now must introduce it to your readers through your story. The best rule of thumb for sharing key details about your story’s world is to reveal it as it becomes needed.

    While certain classic fantasy authors are notorious for their extensive detours into elaborate detours into backstory (looking at you, Tolkien), most readers respond better to brief glimpses into backstory, revealed as naturally as possible, as it becomes important to the plot and character’s development.

    You may even find that full threads of your world’s history or culture never make it into the manuscript at all—and that’s OK! It was still well worth the effort if it helped you to create a world rich enough for readers to inhabit. You can even set these nuggets aside for use in a sequel, or as a special treat for newsletter subscribers. 

    Further, look for opportunities for your world building work double time as characterization. What is your protagonist’s relationship to their world? How does this influence their feelings toward the world’s systems? Do they have special memories or associations with certain foods, places, or rituals? For better or for worse, this will color their perspective and how they move through the story’s world. This should be evident in the way world is described through the character’s perspective.

     Your world is, in many ways, a character as dynamic as your protagonist and supporting cast. It should shift and evolve as the story develops, too! “Game of Thrones” offers an excellent example of this: as winter draws near, so too does the looming threat of the white walkers. The world itself is a ticking clock on the story as it unfolds, and impacts everything taking place across its vast set of characters.

    The greatest fictional worlds tell us about ourselves

     The world you create doesn’t just tell readers about your story, characters and the adventures you send them on. It also reveals important things about the real world, too—whether it resembles this one closely, or appears vastly different on its surface. Every story offers not just an escape, but also a mirror. 

    How do you see the world? What do you have to say about it? What troubles you about it? Even if you don’t set out with the intent to take on these major questions, as an author, your take on these big questions is sure to seep into every aspect of your world. 

    The more thought and imagination you’re able to offer to bring your world to life, the more clearly these messages and themes will reach your readers.

    This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure they’re useful for our readers.

    Photo via Vitalii Bashkatov/ Shutterstock 

  • 40 Free Writing Contests: Competitions With Cash Prizes

    40 Free Writing Contests: Competitions With Cash Prizes

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    Have you ever Googled “writing contests”? Many require reading fees or prizes—like seeing your work in print—that you can only receive if you pay for it.

    Some legitimate contests charge small entry fees, but often a fee can be a red flag for a scam, so those might be the ones you want to stay away from. 

    Besides, there are plenty of free writing contests that encourage and inspire boundless creativity with real cash prizes and career-advancing opportunities! Since it can be hard for a writer to know where to find them, we did the legwork for you.

    We found 40 reputable, well-reviewed, free writing contests for poets, fiction writers, essayists and more

    With thousands of dollars in cash prizes and numerous opportunities to secure a publishing contract, you’re sure to find the right free writing contest for your work.

    If you don’t mind paying a little money to enter, our friends over at Smart Blogger have rounded up some great writing contests that have small entry fees. And if you’re still hungry for more opportunities, we also have posts on writers grants and writing fellowships.

    Fiction and nonfiction writing contests this year

    Ready to share your novel or personal essay with the world? Whether you’re a newbie or more established writer, you’re likely eligible for a few of these contests.

    Here are some fiction and nonfiction writing contests worth considering.

    1. L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest

    Whatever your feelings about L. Ron Hubbard’s work and philosophy, the prizes for this regular contest are nothing to sneeze at. Every three months, winners earn $1,000, $750 and $500, plus an additional annual grand prize of $5,000.

    Submissions must be short stories or novelettes (up to 17,000 words) in the genre of science fiction or fantasy, and new and amateur writers are welcome to apply.

    Deadlines: Quarterly on March 31, June 30 and September 30

    Website: Writers of the Future

    2. Inkitt

    This boutique publishing firm offers cash prizes and promotional packages to winning authors. Submit a novel of 10,000 words or more in any fiction genre (no fanfic or poetry).

    Inkitt’s writing contest runs monthly and gives authors the chance to win cash prizes up to $300, exclusive book badges and promotional packages while showcasing their books to Inkitt’s audience of more than 3 million users. Winners are determined by Inkitt’s unique algorithm based on overall reader engagement.

    Deadline: See individual contest pages

    Website: Inkitt

    Disclosure: Inkitt is an advertising partner of The Write Life. We hold our advertisers to high standards and vetted this contest just like others on this list. 

    3. Drue Heinz Literature Prize

    You can win $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press with this prize, awarded for a collection of short fiction.

    You may submit an unpublished manuscript of short stories, two or more novellas or a combination of novellas and short stories. Your total word count should be between 150 and 300 typed pages. You must also have already published a novel or book-length work of fiction “with a reputable publisher,” or no fewer than three short stories or novellas in nationally-recognized journals.

    Deadline: Annual submissions must be postmarked between May 1 through June 30

    Website: University of Pittsburgh Press

    4. Young Lions Fiction Award

    This $10,000 award recognizes “young authors,” which the rules define as any author aged 35 or younger. Submit any novel or collection of short stories published or scheduled to be published in the calendar year. Works must be written for adults; children’s or YA pieces are ineligible.

    Deadline: Submission information is available on the award website

    Website: New York Public Library

    5. Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prizes

    One of the best-loved small presses in the creative writing world, Graywolf Press hosts a variety of contests for both established and up-and-coming writers. Graywolf also offers smaller fiction and nonfiction prizes, with genres rotating by year; 2020 was a nonfiction year, so fiction was up in 2021, then back to nonfiction in 2022, and so on. These awards include a sizable advance—$12,000 in previous years—as well as publication with Graywolf.

    Deadline: Contest is held annually with rotating genres

    Website: Graywolf Press

    6. The Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans

    Hosted by the prestigious Iowa Review, the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award is offered to U.S. military veterans and active-duty members writing in any genre about any subject. Manuscripts of up to 20 pages will be accepted, and the first-prize winner will receive $1,000 and publication in the Review. A second place prize of $750 is also available, as well as three runner-up prizes of $500 each.

    Deadline: Biennially

    Website: The Iowa Review

    7. Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence

    For 15 years, this contest has provided visibility for emerging African American fiction writers and enables them to focus on their writing by awarding a $15,000 cash prize. Eligible authors should submit a work of fiction, such as a novel or short story collection, published in the calendar year. (Galleys for publication within the year are also accepted.)

    Deadline: Annually. The entry window closes on December 31

    Website: The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence

    8. PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

    Honoring the best work of fiction published by an American author in a single calendar year, this award has been given to the likes of John Updike, Philip Roth and Ann Patchett. Novels, novellas and collections of short stories are all eligible.

    The winner receives a hefty cash prize—up to $15,000 in the past—and an invitation to read at the award ceremony in Washington, D.C. Plus, there are no submission fees or application forms to deal with; just send a PDF of each book (as many as you’d like) to awards@penfaulkner.org.

    Deadline: Submissions will be accepted from July 1 to September 30

    Website: Pen/Faulkner

    9. PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers

    This contest requires you to have already published a short story in a literary magazine or journal or cultural website. But if you’ve made your debut (but gone no further), you may be eligible for the generous cash prize of $2,000, which is annually awarded to 12 emerging writers, whose works are then published together in an anthology.

    Short stories of up to 12,000 words are eligible and must be published in the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is given. Additionally, keep this in mind: Submissions are only eligible if submitted by an editor. Authors may not submit their own work.

    Deadline: Submissions close November 1

    Website: PEN America

    10. Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards

    Fiction and nonfiction writers who have recently published a book that “contribute[s] to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity” are eligible for this award, which offers $10,000 cash as well as media and publicity opportunities. Plus, winners receive their prize at a ceremony in Cleveland.

    Submissions must be published in the prior year (so books published last year are eligible for the award this year).

    Deadline: Annual submission window is September 1 through December 31

    Website: Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards

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      We’ll also send you our weekly newsletter, which offers helpful advice for freelancing and publishing. You can unsubscribe at any time.

      11. Marfield Prize (aka National Award for Arts Writing)

      Presented by the Arts Club of Washington, this award seeks to honor nonfiction books that deal with the “visual, literary, media, or performing arts.” The prize is $10,000 and may be awarded to works of criticism, art history, memoirs and biographies, and essays.

      Deadline: Annually in the last quarter of the year. The submission window in 2023 is October 15

      Website: The Marfield Prize

      12. W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction

      If you’re a war buff, this competition is for you. It awards $5,000—and a 24-karat-gold-framed citation of achievement—to the best piece of fiction set during a period when the U.S. was at war (war may either be the main plot of the piece or simply provide the setting). Submissions may be adult or YA novels.

      Deadline: Annually on December 31

      Website: American Library Association

      13. Friends of American Writers Chicago Awards

      FAW presents two annual awards: an Adult Literature Award for literary fiction or nonfiction, and a Young People’s Literature Award for a children’s/YA book.

      Authors must reside in the state of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin—or they must set their book in one of those locations. Prize amounts vary from year to year, but you don’t have to bother with an application and all winners are celebrated at the organization’s May luncheon.

      Deadline: Annually in December

      Website: Friends of American Writers Chicago

      14. Hektoen Grand Prix Essay Contest

      Hektoen International, an online journal dedicated to medical humanities, offers two prizes annually for essays of no more than 1,500 words: $5,000 is awarded to the winner and $2,500 to the first runner-up. Eligible topics are broad so long as they have a relation to medicine, and many include art, history, literature, education and more.

      Deadline: Annually; September 15 is usually the deadline

      Website: Hektoen International

      15. Biopage Storytelling Writing Contest

      There’s no denying it: social media is a huge part of our modern-day lives. It’s easy to get used to limiting our communications to 280-character and emoji-strewn snippets, which is why this marketing firm is hosting an essay writing contest to “remind people of the benefits of writing.”

      Essays of up to 5,000 characters (roughly 1,000 words) will be accepted, and right now they’re looking for stories of COVID-19 quarantine life. The grand prize winner will receive $300, and five runners-up will be awarded $100 each.

      The contest is free to enter, but you’ll need to register for a Biopage account to be eligible.

      Deadline: The contest ends January 31 each year

      Website: Biopage

      16. St. Martin’s Minotaur / Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition

      Writers 18 and older who have never had a novel published (in any genre) are eligible for this prize, awarded to an original book-length manuscript where “murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story.” The winner receives a publication contract with Minotaur Books and an advance of $10,000 against future royalties.

      Deadline: December 17 each year 

      Website: Edgar Awards

      17. ServiceScape Short Story Award

      ServiceScape, a platform matching freelance writers, editors and graphic designers with clients (i.e. a great place to look for paid writing work!) offers a yearly Short Story Award of $1,000 to a winning fiction or nonfiction work of 5,000 words or fewer. The winner will also have their story featured on the ServiceScape blog, which sees thousands of readers each month.

      Deadline: November 29 each year

      Website: ServiceScape

      18. Stowe Prize

      This biennial prize of $10,000 honors an American author whose adult fiction or nonfiction work has had an impact on a critical social justice issue (as did Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin). The book must be written by a U.S. author and have been published in the United States during the previous three calendar years.

      Deadline: Contact the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center for this year’s deadline.

      Website: Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

      19. The Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction

      Creative nonfiction essays of no more than 5,000 words on any subject are eligible for consideration for this award, whose winner receives $250 and publication in Lunch Ticket, the literary and art journal produced by the MFA community of Antioch University Los Angeles.

      Works must not have been published elsewhere. Award winners are required to submit a 100-word biography, recent photo and a short note thanking the Woods family for their generosity and support.

      Deadlines: Biannual reading periods are in February for the Summer/Fall issue and in August for the Winter/Spring issue

      Website: Lunch Ticket

      20. The 2023 Brandon Langhjelm Memorial Essay Contest

      Each year, this Canadian organization offers three prizes, ranging from $500 to $1,500, to the essay with the most thoughtful, well-reasoned arguments around a specific human-rights theme. (For example, 2022’s prompt was, “Canadian governments are making Digital ID technologies a precondition of access to essential services and goods. What can Canadians do to protect their Charter rights and freedoms against the dangers of these technologies?”)

      The contest is open to Canadian college and university students, and essays should be 2,500 words or less in length.

      Deadline: November 5

      Website: Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms

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        21. Write the World

        For young writers ages 13-18, these cool contests also serve as mini workshops. Recognizing that “a first draft is never perfect,” submissions actually receive peer review by authors, writing teachers and other experts and writers are given the chance to revise their pieces based on this feedback before submitting them for final prize consideration.

        Contests vary each month, but there’s a $100 prize for the winner and $50 for the runner-up (plus $50 for the best peer-reviewer). All three are featured on Write the World’s blog alongside comments from a guest judge. And since each month’s prompt is from a different genre, developing writers get a chance to test out different styles.

        Deadline: Monthly

        Website: Write the World

        22. Prose.

        Stuck with writer’s block and looking for a way to jumpstart your escape? Prose offers weekly challenges meant to spark your creativity; many are just for fun, but look for the weekly numbered challenges posted by Prose (rather than community members or sponsors) for a chance to win money.

        Prizes are typically between $100 to $200 and word counts are low—some as low as under 150, some as high as 500. So even if all you get from the prompt is a chance to flex your brain, it’s not a bad deal.

        Deadline: Weekly and monthly

        Website: Prose.

        23. The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing

        First-generation immigrants have a chance to win $10,000 and publication by Restless Books for telling their stories (real or imagined). The contest alternates annually between fiction (novel or short story collection) and nonfiction (memoir, essay collection, narrative nonfiction).

        Deadline: Submission window is usually between December and March

        Website: Restless Books

        24. AFSA National High School Essay Contest

        The U.S. Institute of Peace and the American Foreign Service Association sponsor this annual high school essay contest, where the winner receives a $2,500 cash prize, an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., and a full-tuition paid voyage with Semester at Sea upon the student’s enrollment at an accredited university. Essays should be between 1,000 and 1,250 words and have to answer all aspects of the prompt as well as demonstrate an understanding of the Foreign Service.

        Runners-up get a pretty sweet deal too, a $1,250 cash prize and a full scholarship to participate in the International Diplomacy Program of the National Student Leadership Conference.

        Deadline: April each year

        Website: American Foreign Service Association

        25. Science-me a Story

        Born in 2018, the Society of Spanish Researchers invites talented and original writers to write a 100-word blurb for a hypothetical novel. This might sound really easy, but your blurb has to quickly hook readers and make them want to read more. Open to anyone over 18 anywhere in the world, your real or fictional short story for this competition must be either in English or Spanish and “conceived from the objective of scientific dissemination to primary school” to qualify for the cash prizes: £150, £100 and £50. 

        Deadline: April each year

        Website: Society of Spanish Researchers in the United Kingdom

        26. VCU Cabell First Novelist Award

        Virginia Commonwealth University sponsors this award that honors an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year. While you may have published previous books in a different form, the submission must be your first published book marketed as a novel.

        The award is a $5,000 cash prize, and the winning author must agree to attend the award event, usually scheduled for November.

        Deadline: Annually; the submission window runs from July 1 through December 30

        Website: Virginia Commonwealth University

        27. Daisy Utemorrah Award

        The Daisy Utemorrah Award is for an unpublished manuscript of junior or YA fiction written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples currently living in Australia. Generously supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and the State Government of Western Australia, the winner of the award receives $15,000 and a publishing contract with Magabala Books.

        Deadline: Submission window usually opens at the beginning of each year

        Website: Magabala Books

        28. Short Fiction Prize

        If you’re an undergrad at a college in the U.S. or Canada, this writing competition is for you. (Traditionally, this contest has encouraged applicants with an Asian background, but anyone is invited to apply.) Submissions should be no more than 7,500 words.

        One winner will get a $1,000 prize as well as a scholarship to the next Southampton Writers Conference.

        Deadline: Submission window is usually between March 1- July 14

        Website: Stony Brook University | Lichtenstein Center

        29. Bacopa Literary Review Contest

        The Bacopa Literary Review is an international journal published by the Writers Alliance of Gainesville. Each year, it opens submissions for pieces in four genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and prose poetry. Find detailed guidelines for each genre on its website. First place gets $300, and the second prize in each of the four genres gets $100.

        Deadline: May 30 each year

        Website: Writers Alliance of Gainesville

        30. Insecure Writer’s Support Group Annual Anthology Contest

        As long as you stick to the guidelines, The Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s annual contest welcomes your 5,000- to 6,000-word (previously unpublished) creative story. But before you send it off, make sure your story is polished and formatted! Plus, the prizes aren’t too shabby—winning stories will be edited and published, authors will receive royalties, and the top story will even get to give the anthology its title. 

        Deadlines: September 1 each year

        Website: Insecure Writer’s Support Group

        31. New Voices Award

        Presented by Lee & Low Books, an award-winning children’s book publisher, this award is given for a previously unpublished children’s picture book manuscript of no more than 1,500 words written by a writer of color or Indigenous/Native writers who’s a resident of the U.S.

        The winner receives $2,000 cash and a standard publication contract, and an additional Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000. You may submit up to two manuscripts.

        Deadline: Watch the website for details. 

        Website: Lee & Low Books

        32. St. Francis College Literary Prize

        Since 2009, this biennial literary award has honored mid-career writers who have recently published their third, fourth or fifth work of fiction. The winner receives $50,000 and may be invited to the St. Francis College campus in Brooklyn, New York, to deliver a talk about their work or teach a mini fiction workshop to St. Francis students.

        Deadline: Biennially. The contest was not offered the last three years due to the pandemic and limited campus access

        Website: St. Francis College

        33. Future Scholar Foundation Short Story Competition

        The Future Scholar Foundation is a nonprofit organization started and run by high school students in Redmond, WA. Their mission is to empower young students to develop their self-expression skills through monthly short story competitions. Their efforts have been recognized by the Seattle Times and Northwest Asian Weekly, and their short story competitions have received hundreds of submissions from over 15 US states and five countries.

        Deadline: Monthly on the 28th

        Website: Future Scholar Foundation

        Free poetry contests to enter

        Curious about opportunities for poets? Your stanzas—rhyming or not—could be worth a fair amount of money in these poetry competitions.

        Check out these poetry writing contests.

        34. Black Voices in Children’s Literature Writing Contest

        This contest is open to Black writers who are over the age of 18 and residents of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin.  It’s hosted by Strive Publishing and Free Spirit Publishing and seeks to fill the need for Black representation in children’s and young adult books. Original board and picture books for children aged 0-4 and picture books for ages 4-8 are eligible, provided they feature contemporary, realistic Black characters and culture and focus on character development, self esteem, community and other aspects of positive childhood development.

        Three prizes, ranging from $250 to $1,000, will be awarded, and the first-place winner will be “seriously considered” for publication, though it’s not guaranteed.

        Deadline: Usually late July, each year

        Website: Free Spirit Publishing 

        35. James Laughlin Award

        If you’re already a published poet, this is the award for you; it’s given for a second book of poetry due to come out in the forthcoming year. The winner receives $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid week-long residency at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. In addition, copies of the winning book are distributed to 1,000 members of the Academy of American Poets.

        Deadline: Annual submission window is January 1 through May 15

        Website: Academy of American Poets

        36. African Poetry Book Fund Prizes

        The APBF awards three prizes annually for African Poetry. The Luschei Prize for African Poetry gives $1,000 for a book of original African poetry published in the prior year.

        The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets gives $1,000 and a publication contract for a book-length collection of poetry by an as-yet-unpublished African author.

        The Brunel International African Poetry Prize is a new prize that grants £3,000 to a poet who was born in Africa, or has African parents, who has not yet had a full-length book of poetry published. (U.S. citizens qualify.) To submit, you’ll need 10 poems.

        Deadlines: See individual prize pages or details

        Website: African Poetry Book Fund

        37. Tufts Poetry Awards

        Claremont Graduate University presents two awards each year to poets they deem to be “outstanding.” The Kate Tufts Poetry Award grants $10,000 for a published first book of poetry that shows promise.

        The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award grants a mammoth $100,000 for a published book of poetry by an established or mid-career poet.

        Deadline: Submission window is July 1 to June 30 each year

        Website: Claremont Graduate University

        38. Graywolf Press Walt Whitman Award 

        The Walt Whitman Award is a $5,000 prize awarded, along with publication, to an American poet with a winning first book manuscript. He or she also receives an all-expenses-paid six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy.

        Graywolf Press is also one of the publishers of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, “a first book award dedicated to the discovery of exceptional manuscripts by Black poets.” Winners receive $1,000 and Graywolf publishes every third winner of the prize.

        Deadline: July 1 to September 1 each year

        Website: Poets

        39. Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest

        Now in its 23rd year, this humor contest wants your best published or unpublished work for a grand prize of $2,000; runners-up are awarded $500 and 10 honorable mentions will receive $100 each. Writers of all ages from eligible countries can submit an original, humorous poem with 250 lines or less, and it must be in English.

        Deadline: April 1, each year (and no, this isn’t an April Fools joke)

        Website: Winning Writers

        40. The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize

        This writing competition is looking for the best piece of unpublished, themed writing. For example, one year, the theme was “Untamed: On Wilderness and Civilization.” Submissions may be prose, poetry or non-academic essays. Maximum word count is 2,500, and this is open to all nationalities and to anyone 18 or older. The winner gets a £10,000 cash prize, second place gets £3,000 and third place gets £2,000.

        Deadline: Applications open at the beginning of each year. Follow the Alpine Fellowship on Instagram for updates

        Website: The Alpine Fellowship

        Where to find more legitimate, free writing contests

        Looking for more opportunities to submit your work? Here are a few great sites to keep an eye on for writing contests.

        Winning Writers

        A number of the contests found on our list came highly recommended by this site, which compiles some of the best free literary contests out there. Along with a wide range of recommended contests for writers of all stripes, Winning Writers also lists some contests and services to avoid, which is just as useful!

        They also offer a handful of contests themselves, including the North Street Book Prize.

        Poets & Writers

        Another fantastic source for legitimate writing contests we consulted when compiling this list, Poets & Writers vets competitions, contests, awards and grants to make sure they’re following legitimate practices and policies. It’s worth checking out regularly as it features both annual and one-time contests.

        Freelance Writer’s Pitch Checklist
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          We’ll also send you our weekly newsletter, which offers helpful advice for freelancing and publishing. You can unsubscribe at any time.

          This listing contains affiliate links. That means if you purchase through our links, you’re supporting The Write Life—and we thank you for that!

          The original version of this story was written by Kelly Gurnett. We updated the post so it’s more useful for our readers. 

          Photo via Viktoriia Hnatiuk / Shutterstock

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        • Passive Voice Misuse: 4 Steps To Fix This Rookie Issue

          Passive Voice Misuse: 4 Steps To Fix This Rookie Issue

          If you’ve ever wondered what exactly qualifies as passive voice misuse you’ve come to the right place. Passive voice is an issue many new writers face. In fact, I didn’t know there was a “right way” to write until I was in college.

          As a new writer, I thought great writing came down to the idea and the adjectives used to describe that idea. Point-of-view, voice, and tense were not major factors in my writing. Thankfully, once I began training in creative writing I quickly learned that I had a lot to study. 

          Passive voice misuse can set writers apart as novices or as experts who know how to wield writing rules with power. In this article, I define what passive voice misuse is, why it’s a no-no for new writers, and give four steps to fix passive voice misuse. Let’s get right into it! 

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          Defining Passive Voice Misuse 

          While there is a time and place for this type of voice, passive voice misuse occurs when the subject should be performing the action. 

          Passive voice is simply when the subject of a sentence is acted on by the verb. Can you spot the use of passive voice in the previous sentence? You can make a sentence active by focusing on the subject as the one doing the action. 

          Passive: Passive voice is simply when the subject of a sentence is acted on by the verb.

          Active: Passive voice is simply when the verb acts on the subject of a sentence.

          In this active sentence, the verb is doing the action rather than the subject being acted upon. Many writers unconsciously use passive voice throughout their stories. 

          Why Passive Voice Is A No-No

          The reason writers frown on passive voice is due to its unnecessary wordiness and lack of clarity. For newer writers, writing to just “get the story down” is perfectly acceptable. However, passive voice easily creeps in. Several issues can result: 

          • Protagonists feel reactive 
          • Confusion overrides clarity
          • The writing lacks strength 

          It’s easy to write passively. It takes forethought to write in an active voice. So how do we fix this issue?  

          4 Steps To Fix Your Voice

          One of the best ways to combat passive voice is to simply change your mindset in writing. If the mindset shift doesn’t work, there are some concrete steps you can take to further help. Let’s start with a mindset shift.

          Move Action Forward With Purpose

          At the core of writing lies an advancement of the plot. Consider the classic example of the hero’s journey: The protagonist sets off on a journey (literal or figurative) with an endpoint, or goal, in mind.

          Whether it’s Frodo Baggins taking literal steps toward Mordor or Peter Rabbit hopping out of the garden and toward home just in time, these beloved characters feature a proactive mindset. 

          Personalize this mindset by focusing on the end of your story and proactively, rather than reactively, writing toward it. 

          Simple lines such as the following take on an entirely new meaning. For instance:

          Example 1: Professional figure skating was her dream. The Olympics was a real possibility if she put in the work. 

          Example 2: She dreamed of professional figure skating, and if she put in the work, she could make it to the Olympics.

          In the first example the reader passively takes in information. In the second, there is a sense of urgency. The protagonist is the one proactively dreaming. 

          Create An Active Protagonist 

          Your mindset also plays a role in how you describe your protagonist. Look through the following list and ask yourself how your protagonist would act or speak in the following situations: 

          • Planning a beach day but waking up to rain
          • Responding to a breakup 
          • Getting rear-ended 
          • Pursuing their dream job
          • Spotting a lost child

          In the first three examples, outside circumstances impact the protagonist: Rain, being broken up with, and someone hitting their car. The last two feature the protagonist as proactive, or with the possibility of being proactive. How you write them is imperative:

          • “It’s raining. I’ll go study at a coffee shop” Or, “It’s raining. I’ll have to stay in today.”
          • “He broke up with me. I’ll cancel my plans.” Or, “He broke up with me. I’ll go home and process.”
          • “That child looks lost. I wonder if his parents are around.” Or, “That child looks lost. I’ll go see if I can help.”

          Same situation, similar responses, but one features a passive protagonist and the other a proactive one. 

          Cut Being Verbs

          If the mindset shift isn’t quite doing it for you, try this concrete step: In point number two, look at the subtle difference in how I could write the opening sentence. In the sentence I used, I excluded being verbs. In the second example, I include being verbs.

          Sentence 1: Your mindset also plays a role in how you describe your protagonist. 

          Sentence 2: Your mindset can also be influenced by how you describe your protagonist. 

          In the first sentence, the subject (mindset) leads the sentence actively (plays a role). In the second one, the subject is acted on by the verb. 

          In the same way, if your protagonist must complete a task, how can you shift the focus from their response to circumstances to them impacting circumstances? Frodo makes the active choice to take the ring to Mordor, even though he appears to be the least equipped out of the nine. 

          Imagine Tolkien writing The Lord of the Rings passively. Instead of the iconic line, “I will take the ring. I will take the ring to Mordor!” We could read, “The ring will be carried by me. The ring will be carried by me to Mordor.” This is the difference between writing actively and passively.

          Try Present Tense

          If you’re willing to take action steps even further, I’ve found present tense as a shortcut to learning the power of active voice. In fact, I wrote an entire manuscript in present tense rather than past tense because I felt so stuck in my habit of passive voice misuse. 

          Past tense: I was going home when I was followed by a black car.

          Present tense: On my way home, I notice a black car following me. 

          For some reason, this shift dramatically helped me.

          Caveat: Know The Rules So You Know When To Break Them

          Now that we discussed several cons to passive voice misuse and how to combat it, it’s crucial to remember that there is a time and place to break writing rules. 

          Passive tense is not always, forevermore, and with no excuses, a no. For new writers, studying writing tips and how to write actively will aid their learning curve. However, writing passively is not always bad. 

          Learning how to write in an active voice helps you avoid passive voice misuse while also teaching you when you can use it. 

          Think of a painter: They know the brushes and what they are intended for, but sometimes they may choose a different brush, one that isn’t intended for a specific style, to help present their painting in a more nuanced way. 

          The same is true for tense. Learn the rules, and then enjoy (occasionally) breaking them!

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        • How to Write True Crime In 4 Essential Steps

          How to Write True Crime In 4 Essential Steps

          Since more people than ever before are interested in true crime stories, you might have wondered how to write true crime and what it takes to be successful.

          Out of all the book genres in the world, true crime requires a lot of research and a committed writer who is ready to tell the story behind a gruesome or other type of crime.

          It is certainly not a genre for the faint of heart, but for many writers it is certainly worth it. It will take considerable amount of research skills and time dedicated to talking to people involved in the case, attending trials when you can, and understanding how cases are solved.

          If you have wondered about the true crime book genre, how to write true crime, and wondered what it takes for you to get your foot in the door, we will cover that and more.

          What Defines True Crime Writing

          True crime is an arm off of journalist-style writing. Meaning, it should be objective and focus as much on the facts as possible.

          Of course, not all true crime stories are about murder since there are many other types of crimes out there in the world that are done every day, but murders are the most well-known type of true crime story.

          This is not like crime fiction writing where you want to tell dramatic stories and have some shocking twists. It will be essential for you to stick to the facts as much as possible.

          Yes, there will be sometimes where you have to make assumptions on how dialogue went and what people talked about in specific scenarios, but you want to remain as close as possible to the facts as you see them.

          How True Crime Articles and Nonfiction Books Grip Readers

          People do have a morbid curiosity in general, but for many writers, they love to help try and solve a crime that has plagued an area. Or maybe the crime has already been solved but you are determined to put some of the pieces together.

          As a writer, you can also help bring light to forgotten crimes and help bring closure. Not every writer and written piece helps solve crimes, but every now and then that can be the case.

          As a writer, you will need to take your work seriously to help tell the story to the best of your ability.

          How to Write True Crime

          If you are ready to write true crime, let’s talk about how you can start to put together your first story.

          #1 – Research

          While you will spend a lot of time writing, you are going to be spending more time researching than you ever imagined. It is essential for you to get your facts right for true crime books.

          If you put something untrue in your books, people will now view the whole book with a skeptical lens, and possibly your future work as well.

          This means you not only will Google and research, but you will possibly need to interview people as well and attend trials, just to double-check your facts.

          Always keep in mind that you are writing about real people and real stories, so it is essential to do the best you can to tell the correct story. Not everyone will agree or like everything you say, that’s a given, but you need to get as close to the truth as you can.

          #2 – #1 -Figure out your goal

          Before you start formatting all of your research into a book, you will want to spend some time thinking about your goal for writing your book or article.

          Do you want people to understand the killer? Do you want the crime to speak to a larger crime trend? Do you want to warn others about what killers do so people can stay vigilant? Do you just to tell a story of one crime so people know the truth?

          Above all, you need to give people a reason to pick up your book. You should quickly be able to answer, “Why should someone read this book?”

          This will also help you focus what you are going to include in the overall book. It would be great if you could include everything, but you will often have to make hard choices about which facts and personal accounts go into your book.

          #3 – Decide how much of your own story will be in the book

          Some books, such as I’ll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara, include personal stories from the author. Hers story is about how she became obsessed with this case and her journey of putting the clues together.

          Another example includes The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule, where she tells the story of her personal friendship with Ted Bundy while people are also trying to find a killer in her local area (spoilers: it’s him).

          It will be up to you as the author what you choose to include. Sometimes adding in your personal narrative makes the story stronger, and sometimes it makes it weaker.

          #4 – Put the story together

          Now is the time to commit and do the hard work of actually putting your story together.

          You might need to create one of those true crime type of boards you see in tv shows where you need to lay out everyone involved and all of the stories that tie everyone together.

          Know that you will probably have to go through a ton of drafts just to make sure you get everything right and accurate.

          Successful True Crime Writer Example

          While there are many, many successful true crime writers, Ann Rule was one of the most well-known.

          As the writer of 37 true crime books, Ann Rule knows a thing or two about publishing true crime books.

          She understood that it was a hard field to break into, but she said, “You can’t let the naysayers make think you can’t make it, because you can.”

          One of her top recommendations for true crime writers (besides writing often) is to attend as many of the trials as you can fit into your schedule. You will want to take the time to not only go over the facts, but deeply analyze everyone involved. Watch how the killer moves in his chair, watch how the jury reacts to certain facts, observe how witnesses talk.

          The trial can teach you so much about the whole crime.

          Mistakes True Crime Writers Make

          If you want to succeed as a true crime writer, you will need to make sure you know how to analyze and organize research.

          Some of the biggest mistakes true crime writers make it not double checking their facts or rushing through chapters just to get them done so they can move onto other parts.

          Many writers also let their own views interfere with their writing and taint how they present the facts because they are trying to persuade readers to go with their point of view.

          There are a few common mistakes true crime writers make.

          The first one, is becoming so obsessed with the case that it steals your sanity.

          Ready to Write Your Book?

          Ready to start writing your book and getting it ready for publication?

          You do not want to miss out on the nonfiction webinar with all of the tools you need to start putting your book together:

        • Book Clubs: 5 Important Benefits To Inspire Your Writing

          Book Clubs: 5 Important Benefits To Inspire Your Writing

          You have probably heard of Reese Witherspoon’s book club at some point over the years. In fact, recently you may have noticed that the mega popular, novel-turned-major-motion-picture, Where The Crawdads Sing, is not only a New York Times bestseller, but stamped with an important sticker: Part of Reese’s Book Club. 

          So what exactly is this type of club? Why do they matter? Are they just for avid readers or can authors take advantage of these clubs as well? In this article, we get into the following:

          • What Is A Book Club?
          • Benefits Of A Book Club
          • List Of Book Clubs

          If you’ve never been part of a club like, or simply want to learn more details about their benefits and how you can take advantage of them as an author, keep right on reading!

          What Is A Book Club?

          A book discussion club is simply a group of individuals who come together for the sole purpose of discussing books. You will commonly find clubs discussing topics such as:

          • What they liked about a book
          • What they disliked 
          • Their opinions
          • Book takeaways 

          While not every club follows the same format, typically, they are laid back with a deep focus on a particular book. Everyone in the club is tasked with reading the same nonfiction or fiction work, and at a specific, recurring time, they all come together for discussion. 

          Think of this form of club as an in-person forum where you can share your thoughts with other readers, hear their insights, and share the commonality of a love for reading. 

          Benefits Of A Book Club

          Joining a club is a great way to engage with fellow readers, gain more insights into plot and characterization, and hear what’s selling well and why. If you are an aspiring author, joining one such club could be the perfect opportunity for you. 

          Not only will a club surround you with fellow-readers but it will enable you to interact with your potential target audience in person. Below is a list of benefits you may find when joining as a writer.

          #1 – Immerse Yourself In Literature 

          While we may all want to read the classics, it can be difficult to find the time and motivation to do so. Depending on what type of book club you join, you may discover that reading a classic with a group is much more fun than you once imagined. Of course, not every book club reads the classics, but knowing famous stories that stood the test of time can help you grow as a writer.

          #2 – Broaden Your Insights

          The more you surround yourself with other writers and readers, the more you will discover about the world of books. It’s easy to get stuck in a one-track mindset and walk away from a story with one set of takeaways. When you join a book club, the opposite happens. Yes, you experience your own insights, but you also get the privilege of hearing what others discover through the story. 

          #3 – Get A Feel For Audiences Across Genres 

          As a writer, your job is to connect with your target audience in such a way that they read your book and desperately want to read your next one. Book clubs study a myriad of genres, and your target audience is bound to exist in one of them. Joining a book club will help you understand your audience at a more personal level, and ultimately, write better books. 

          #4 – Learn From Genres You Don’t Naturally Read

          While writers read, not all writers enjoy genres outside their own. That said, it’s extremely beneficial to open yourself up to new writing opportunities through familiarizing yourself across genres. Imagine how well you could write historical fiction if you immersed yourself for a month or so in biographies of historical figures? 

          #5 – Discover Feedback Without Sharing Your Work

          One of the larger benefits of joining a book club is taking note of what other readers say about genres similar to yours. It can be intimidating to share your work-in-progress with beta readers, let alone your final draft with an audience. Book clubs allow you the inside scoop on what types of plots and characters work well in specific genres, and which ones do not. 

          Now that you know several reasons why you could benefit from joining a book club, let’s discuss some actual book clubs you could join or even submit your own book to. 

          A List To Get You Started

          Check out the below list to help you get started in your search today!

          #1 – Reese’s Book Club

          Popular for a reason, Reese Witherspoon is known for her book-to-screen adaptations. If you want to read up to twenty-four books a year, join Reese’s club! Join 2 million other readers and keep up with both YA and adult reads on social media. 

          #2 – Between Two Books

          Did you read The Goldfinch or love the movie? This book club began in 2012 and was established by fans of Florence Welch. This is an online club with over 100,000 members. A community that always seems to be involved in books somehow (video readings, discussions, etc.) this is a great club to join if you want a more intimate feel. 

          #3 – Silent Book Club

          What if you are an introvert but you want to get out more and interact with other readers? Join one of Silent Book Club’s more than 240 chapters, spread across over 30 countries. This club focuses on readers coming together, not to talk, but to read books in the presence of other readers. 

          Book Club Steps For Authors 

          What if you are an author and want to submit your book to a particular book club? You may want to try looking into the Greenleaf Book Club, which has been in existence since 1997. When pursuing how to submit a book club, a crucial step is to learn all you can about what readers love.

          Unique individuals fill every book club, so while you may want to pitch your book to famous celebrity clubs, it’s crucial to submit your book to the correct audience. 

          A second way to create an in with a book club is simply by engaging as a proactive member. Invest in the other readers, share your thoughts on books you loved, books you want to read, and authors you aspire to be like. 

          The more you engage as a member, the more likely other members will respect what you have to say and want to hear your opinion. Once you establish yourself as a contributing member of a group, consider talking with the person who runs the book club and pitching your book as a potential read. 

          Just as you need to understand your target audience and comparative works when writing your book, these details are vital to getting your book in for a book club as well. Before submitting your work, ask yourself the following questions: 

          • What types of books has this book club read?
          • What books did the members gravitate to?
          • How is my book similar?
          • How does my book stand out?

          Best wishes as you pursue both engaging with a book club as a reader and submitting your own book! 

          TWL. CTA. Book Outline Template
        • Best Grammar Checker Tools: These 9 Will Make Your Writing Super Clean

          Best Grammar Checker Tools: These 9 Will Make Your Writing Super Clean

          Have you ever wanted a magical editing wand?

          Just imagine: A flick of the wrist is all that would stand between you and the end of editing your writing. No frustration. Minimal time investment. An amazing manuscript or blog post.

          Alas, no such magic wand exists.

          But we do have grammar checker tools, which are the next-best things.

          Just remember grammar checkers are designed to make editing easier, not to eliminate the work completely.

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          Putting the best grammar checker tools to the test

          During self-edits on my latest manuscript, I experimented with editing tools, both free and paid, to determine which could be most beneficial to The Write Life’s audience. Besides being an author, I’m an editor, so I also weighed each tool against what I’d look for when editing.

          Since editing has a broad definition — basically anything that improves your writing — it’s not surprising that the tools I tried had different functions, from checking grammar and style to eliminating unnecessary words, to identifying areas for improvement.

          What you want in a grammar checker or editing tool will influence which one(s) you choose. No one tool can do it all — nor can one of these tools wave away the work and critical thinking necessary for a well-edited blog post, magazine article or book.

          A grammar checker doesn’t replace a human editor. Because language rules and elements of a good story can be so flexible, human eyes will always be superior to the rigidity of automatic tools.

          Here are 9 of the best grammar checker tools.

          1. ProWritingAid

          What It Does:  ProWritingAid is a web editor and plugin that will clean up your writing by detecting grammar and spelling mistakes, plagiarism and contextual errors. It also analyzes your writing and produces reports on writing style, sentence length, grammar, and repeated words and phrases.

          Price: There’s a limited free version. If you upgrade to the premium membership, you can edit in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, access a desktop app and Chrome add-ins, and — best of all — lose the word-count cap.

          A monthly membership is $20, a year’s membership is $120,  or go the whole hog and buy a lifetime membership for $399.

          Who It’s For: Anyone, including students, authors, freelancers or ESL writers.

          How It Works: Click on “Try the editing tool,” create a free account, then paste in your text.

          The Best Part: ProWritingAid has a premium option, but most of the areas you’ll want checked are available for free.

          What Would Make It Better: Though ProWritingAid checks grammar, I slipped in a your/you’re mistake without getting flagged. I wasn’t overly fond of the tool’s inability to work offline, but its overall functionality is hard to argue with.

          Our Recommendation: Use ProWritingAid in the self-editing stage to guide your edits. 

          More Details: For an in-depth explainer of ProwritingAid’s free and premium versions, check out our full ProwritingAid review.

          2. AutoCrit

          What It Does: AutoCrit analyzes your manuscript to identify areas for improvement, including pacing and momentum, dialogue, strong writing, word choice and repetition. Depending on what plan you choose, you can also compare your writing to that of popular authors like Danielle Steel or James Patterson.

          Price: Three different plans are available: the “Free Forever” plan, which is free; the “Professional” for $30, or the “Annual Professional” for $297 per year. The latter offers a built-in discount of two months free every year. 

          Who It’s For: Fiction and non-fiction writers.

          How It Works: Paste your text into the online dashboard or upload a document and click on AutoCrit’s tabs to see its analysis. This tool uses data from various genres and more than a million books to provide a word-by-word level analysis of your writing and shows easy ways to improve the readability of your work.

          The Best Part: I spent the most time in the “Compare to Fiction” tab, which provides a comprehensive look at common issues. It highlighted my tendency to start sentences with “and” and “but,” and identified my most repeated words. I felt like I learned something about my writing, and that’s something I don’t think I could say about some other tools.

          What Would Make It Better: A more accurate definition of passive voice. It highlights any use of the “be” and “had” verbs, neither of which fully capture passive voice (you need a past participle in addition to a “be” verb), and many active voice constructions were falsely labeled as passive.

          Our Recommendation: AutoCrit is great to guide your edits in the self-editing stage. It’s best used for developmental edits, rewrites and avoiding common writing no-nos.

          More Details: For an in-depth explainer of Autocrit’s Free Forever and paid versions, check out our full Autocrit review.

          3. Grammarly

          What It Does: Grammarly is a grammar checker and proofreader.

          Price: A limited version is available for free, and Grammarly also offers a number of other free services such as a wordiness checker and tone detection. The business plan starts at $25 per member per month. For the most up-to-date info on Grammarly pricing, see their website. 

          Who It’s For: Anyone, including writers, business people and academics.

          How It Works: Copy and paste or upload your text into the online dashboard and let Grammarly work its magic. It flags potential errors, gives suggestions and provides an explanation so you can learn why it suggests the change. There’s also a free Grammarly Add-in available for Microsoft Word and a Grammarly for Chrome extension that’s also compatible with Google Docs.

          The Best Part: Grammarly is easy to use and pointed out a vocabulary issue or two that none of the other tools did. It’s superior to Microsoft Word’s grammar checker. Its synonym suggestion feature is pretty nifty, too.

          What Would Make It Better: As an editor, I work with many styles of writing, so it’d be helpful if Grammarly provided the option to switch between a few to ensure writers receive fitting suggestions to improve their work. For example, if you don’t use the Oxford comma, the editor will prompt you to do so, which isn’t right for all writing styles. 

          Our Recommendation: Grammarly is best for the final proofreading stage, or for people who want to learn more about the technical aspects of grammar. If you’re an editor or strong writer, you might find yourself ignoring more flagged items than you fix.

          More Details: For an in-depth explainer of Grammarly’s free and premium versions, check out our full Grammarly review. You can dig deeper into Grammarly features and benefits here.

          4. Hemingway Editor

          What It Does: Hemingway Editor is like a spellchecker, but for style. It provides a readability score — the lowest grade level someone would need to understand your text — and analyzes your writing to identify areas for improvement. Because it doesn’t require an internet connection, you can use it anywhere.

          Price: Free online, and a one-time payment of $19.99 for the desktop version, which is available for both Mac and PC.

          Who It’s For: Anyone

          How It Works: Paste your text into the dashboard and scan for highlighted sections of text. The highlighted text is color coded depending on your area of improvement, whether it’s hard-to-read sentences, the presence of adverbs, or passive voice.

          The Best Part: In addition to providing examples on how to fix passive voice or complex phrases, Hemingway Editor also identifies how many “-ly” adverbs and passive voice constructions you’ve used and suggests a maximum number based on your word count.

          In my prologue, for example, I had one use of passive voice, and Hemingway Editor suggested aiming for six uses or fewer — which I nailed. These recommendations reinforce the idea that not all adverbs or passive voice constructions are bad, and that’s something other tools miss.

          What Would Make It Better: Hemingway Editor was the cleanest and easiest to use of the free editing tools, but it’s not a true grammar checker or proofreader. Even though it’s not meant to catch grammar and spelling mistakes, any editing application that catches those mistakes is instantly more attractive.

          Our Recommendation: Use Hemingway Editor to increase the readability of your writing and identify problem sentences during the copyediting stage, but supplement your efforts with a grammar and spell checker.

          5. WordRake

          What It Does: WordRake cuts out the unnecessary words or phrases that creep into your writing. It works with Microsoft Word and Outlook, depending on which license you purchase. I tested the Microsoft Word version.

          Price: The Microsoft Word version is available for Mac or Windows, and you’ll pay $129 for a year or $259 for three years. The Microsoft Word and Outlook package version is only available for Windows, and it costs $199 for a year or $399 for three.

          Who It’s For: Bloggers, authors and editors using Microsoft Word or Outlook.

          How It Works: WordRake is an add-in for Microsoft products and requires you to install the program before using it, though it’s as easy as following the instructions. Select the text you want to edit, then use the WordRake add-in. It uses Track Changes to suggest edits, which you can accept or reject.

          The Best Part: WordRake is as close as you can get to an automatic editor. It appealed to me more as an editor than a writer, but it’s great at eliminating unnecessary phrases and words that bog down your writing.

          What Would Make It Better: I threw a your/you’re mistake in to see if WordRake would catch it. It didn’t, even though Microsoft Word flagged it. If WordRake could catch common writing mistakes like your/you’re or their/they’re/there in addition to unnecessary words, it’d be a hard tool to beat.

          Our Recommendation: WordRake is a great tool for the copyediting stage. Verbose writers, authors wanting to cut down on editing costs or editors looking to speed up their editing process will most benefit from WordRake. Watch out if you’re running Word on a slow computer: WordRake could increase your load time.

          6. Ginger Software

          What It Does: This AI-powered writing assistant and grammar and spelling checker works to improve your style and speed, plus boost your creativity. It also scans full, complex sentences and suggests context-based corrections. 

          Price: Ginger offers a free (but very limited) plan, so you’ll find it to be more effective through its premium offerings: $13.99 per month, $89.88 per year or $167.76 for two years. Heads up: It’s currently running a 30% off promo for all plans, so these prices may increase at any time. For most up-to-date pricing, check this page.

          Who It’s For: Anyone.

          How It Works: Whether you choose to download Ginger to your Chrome browser, as a desktop app or otherwise, all you have to do to get started is follow the setup instructions to install it. As an add-on or app, Ginger will highlight spelling, grammar and punctuation errors, and it’ll even help you rephrase sentences by giving you tons of alternative options.

          The Best Part: One word: cross-compatibility. Writers can download Ginger as a desktop app for Mac or Windows or directly into Google Chrome or Safari, and it works seamlessly with programs like Outlook, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint — you can even download it as a keyboard or app for Android phones and an app for Apple phones. 

          What Would Make It Better: Most grammar checkers offer a plagiarism detector, but Ginger doesn’t. Even if it only added it to premium plans, this would be a helpful feature to include. 

          Our Recommendation: Download Ginger If you have a good grasp of grammar and punctuation, and you need a grammar editor to back up your knowledge. 

          7. Scribens

          What It Does: Scribens is a free grammar checker that corrects more than 250 types of grammar, spelling and stylistic mistakes including nouns, verbs, prepositions, pronouns, homonyms, typography and punctuation.

          Price: Free for everyone.

          Who It’s For: Anyone, including writers, editors and authors of any genre, business people and academics.

          How It Works: Choose which extension(s) where you want to install Scribens, then download it and begin writing. To test it first, click ‘Grammar Check,’ then paste your text or import a file into the editor. Through color-coded suggestions, it’ll check your style, vocabulary, grammar and spelling, it detects patterns in your writing, and it grades readability. 

          The Best Part: You can download the Scribens extension in just about any place you’d need to write — i.e., social networks, websites with text zones (WordPress or forums), email platforms and more. Writers will be sure to enjoy this flexibility and the assurance that they can edit their writing right from any website or application. 

          What Would Make It Better: For a free grammar checker, Scribens offers more than the average free tool, but it’s not as intuitive as others on this list. I tested a simple their/they’re mistake and it didn’t flag it. It’s helpful that it notes bigger grammar errors like compound predicates, but as a grammar corrector, it should also be able to avoid smaller ones from slipping through the cracks.

          Our Recommendation: Use Scribens in the final stages of your copyediting. With minor issues out of the way, you can focus on addressing readability, syntax errors and stylistic elements with Scribens deeper analysis of your work.  

          8. WhiteSmoke

          What It Does: WhiteSmoke is a grammar checker and proofreading software that corrects spelling, word choice, grammar, punctuation and style mistakes. It also offers a translator and dictionary that supports more than 50 languages. 

          Price: WhiteSmoke offers three plans that include a web plan for $5.99 per month, which is compatible with all browsers. Its premium option is $6.66 per month. Its business option is $11.50 per month. For updates on pricing, check this page.

          Who It’s For: Students, professional writers and bloggers, business executives and employees and English learners.

          How It Works: After you register, choose a package and install this grammar checker, WhiteSmoke’s all-in-one English tool will provide grammar, spelling, punctuation and style checks when you click on highlighted text from any application or browser. 

          The Best Part: If you’re unsure about grammar rules during your writing process, check out WhiteSmoke’s handy video tutorials that focus on common writing problems and how to avoid them. Plus, if you need a template, it has more than 100 document and letter templates you can access.

          What Would Make It Better: Unfortunately, this grammar editor isn’t the most intuitive tool on this list, plus it has a limit of 10,000 characters at a time, where each letter, punctuation mark and space counts. (For reference, you can check 150,000 words on Grammarly!) If you write long-form pieces, this may not be the best tool to use to check your work. 

          Our Recommendation: WhiteSmoke offers many innovative features, but it shouldn’t be your main squeeze. Although it uses Natural Language Processing technology to enhance your writing, WhiteSmoke openly warns it won’t catch every grammar mistake, so supplement this checker with another one. 

          9. LanguageTool

          What It Does: A multilingual grammar, style and spell-checking software, LanguageTool is an Open Source application that checks your spelling, grammar, tone and writing style and instantly generates context-aware suggestions for more than 30 languages.

          Price: Besides the free plan that allows basic grammar checks of up to 10,000 words, LanguageTool also offers monthly or yearly plans for individual users. You can expect to pay $4.99 per month or $60 per year. For updates on pricing, check this page.

          Who It’s For: Anyone, including students, authors, freelancers, ESL writers and business people.

          How It Works: Try the grammar checker on the website’s homepage or download it as a Google Docs add-on or a Microsoft Word add-in. Write or paste your text into the editor, and it’ll underline your errors in red, yellow or blue to indicate whether you need to correct your spelling, grammar or style. 

          The Best Part: Similar to Hemingway Editor, you can take advantage of the web-based platform of this grammar corrector without the need to install anything. And because it’s multilingual, it offers a premium feature that detects gender while proofreading, which is super helpful when you’re unsure of how another language structures gender in writing. 

          What Would Make It Better: While they offer fun features like detection of incorrect numbers and of incorrect names and titles in emails, LanguageTool’s premium plans limit you to 60,000 characters per text field. It’s an improvement from the 10,000-character limit in its free plan but still a pain point for long works.

          Our Recommendation: LanguageTool grammar checker is a worthy writing assistant to consider if you write in or for other languages regularly, especially for its value. 

          This post contains affiliate links. That means if you purchase through our links, you’re supporting The Write Life — and we thank you for that!

          This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure they’re useful for our readers.

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          Photo via rCarner/ Shutterstock 

        • How to Write a Book Proposal: A 19-Step Guide for Nonfiction Writers

          How to Write a Book Proposal: A 19-Step Guide for Nonfiction Writers

          how to write a book proposal

          As a literary agent at Trident Media Group, a plethora of nonfiction book ideas come across my desk.

          So many people think they have a book in them, but it takes more than merely being audacious to see a book through to publication.

          What’s unique about nonfiction is it can be sold on a proposal-basis to book publishers. That’s because it’s idea-driven, as opposed to fiction, which needs to be sold on a fully-written and polished manuscript.

          How to write a book proposal for nonfiction

          Want to write your own nonfiction book proposal? Use these guidelines as your template, with each section on their own page(s).

          Here’s what you should include when you write a book proposal.

          1. Title page

          This is simple enough. Add the title and/or subtitle (separated by a colon or on a new line) and “A Proposal by” followed by your name.

          2. Contents

          As with a book’s table of contents (TOC) listing the chapters, a nonfiction book proposal will have a TOC page listing the individual sections and page numbers of the proposal.

          Look at most any TOC inside a book to get a sense of what this page will look like.

          3. Proposed title(s)

          Slightly different from the Title Page section of the book proposal, this is where alternative titles and subtitles can be proposed in a list format.

          4. Author(s)

          The author(s) name(s) of the book proposal will be listed here. Titles and suffixes can be excluded.

          5. One-sentence description

          In a one-sentence tagline/hook sort of fashion, capture what the book is about in its entirety.

          This can be a stressful practice for authors as storytellers by nature, but it’s good to learn to speak about your book concisely.

          6. Categories

          Categories and subcategories the book will fall into are listed here.

          For example: motivational self-help, personal transformation/growth, philosophy, positive psychology, etc. You can find a more indepth guide on keywords and categories, or purchase a tool like Publisher Rocket.

          7. Quotes

          This is a section for inspirational or framing quotes that one would see in the opening pages of a book.

          In a business book, a writer might want to quote Warren Buffet, or in a technology book, Steve Jobs. A poem or short passage from a book could even go there.

          Limiting this section to a few quotes is ideal.

          8. Audience

          In a paragraph or two, add the target demographic(s) for the book.

          A testament of the public’s powerful desire and current trends around the topic could also be listed here.

          9. Purpose and need

          On a much deeper level, this section tells us why we as readers need to read this book, and why now? In a simple way, the reader has a problem or a yearning, and this book fulfills that need with its purpose.

          It’s OK to take a page or so to explain.

          10. Unique angles

          Explain how the book will carve out its place in a busy marketplace of similar books. Some of the takeaways that can only be experienced from this very book should be shared here, perhaps in bulleted format.

          11. Reader benefits

          What will the reader gain from reading this book? This section answers that question with a number of benefits to the reader.

          Will the reader experience joy? Will they feel a part of something bigger than themselves? Tell us here in this section along a short list.

          12. Potential endorsers

          This section is devoted to people of note who could provide advance praise/blurbs for the forthcoming book.

          They might even be people of note who would be willing to write an introduction or forward to the book. Not only names should be listed here, but titles and why these are important endorsements.

          13. Book structure overview

          List the format, eventual word count (preferably within normal or appropriate range), page count, and deadline by which a finished manuscript could be turned into the publisher (should you get a contract).

          14. About the author(s)

          Can you guess what you do here? Write a little something about yourself!

          It can be as simple as one paragraph or a couple of pages. Relevant writing experience, credentials, awards/accolades, previous publications, fun facts, links to author sites and social media pages (as well as the number of social media followers, if impressive), fun personal facts, and contact info can be listed here.

          For nonfiction, it’s not enough to have a good idea to write about. The author must be an authority on the subject matter. In other words, author platform is key. (This is different than fiction, which is less reliant on author platform.)

          15. Sales history of previous books

          For authors with previously published books, this is a list of titles, along with publisher name and publication date.

          Below that should be the total sales numbers on the book, from publication-to-date.

          If a book from this list was translated into other languages, had a film/TV adaptation, or was turned into an audiobook, that can be mentioned here, too.

          16. Chapter outlines

          Provide a sparse outline that breaks down each chapter by name and number into a one or two-sentence description, followed by bulleted chapter contents and/or very short description.

          17. Bonus content

          Have ideas for any fun bonuses, such as activities or interactive/online content having to do with the book? Add those here.

          18. Marketing plan

          The sky’s the limit!

          Share what you and/or the publisher might do as marketing and publicity behind the book’s publication. For a full book marketing plan, check out this article.

          19. Sample chapters

          Include 3-5 fully-written and polished sample chapters from the forthcoming manuscript.

          How long should the book proposal be?

          With all of this information, you’ll likely end up with a book proposal that’s dozens of pages long.

          Nonfiction book proposals can top out around 50-75 pages, not including sample chapters. Add in those samples, and you’ll have a complete proposal ready to be considered by a literary agent!

          Need guidance for how to write a book proposal?

          This course on Book Proposals from Chad Allen is one we recommend for authors. We have found it extremely helpful.

          This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure they’re useful for our readers.

        • Funny Book Titles: 4 Ways to Make It Work [Examples Included]

          Funny Book Titles: 4 Ways to Make It Work [Examples Included]

          The title of your book is maybe one of the most important things about it, aside from the cover. 

          It’s got a lot of work to do: the title needs to be memorable, it needs to fit in with other books like yours, it needs to catch your reader’s eye, and it needs to represent the book as a whole. It seems unfair that one single title should represent tens of thousands of words, but such is the job of an author. 

          Writers use tons of different gimmicks to make their titles catchy or trendy. You may already know about the “blank of blank and blank” trend in fantasy, especially YA fantasy, which some readers criticize because it makes the titles all sound the same. This is one example of writers using a specific trend to slot their book in with their contemporaries, focusing on unique nouns to add a creative twist. 

          Another way writers might make their book title stand out is by making it funny. 

          In this article, we’re going to talk about funny book titles, why you might use one, when you should avoid using one, which types of books use funny titles, and we’ll give you some examples of funny book titles in different genres. 

          What is a funny book title?

          Humor is subjective, so it’s difficult to say with absolute certainty which book titles qualify as ‘funny’ book titles. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take a stab at defining funny book titles. 

          A book title that tries to make a joke, advertises a funny story, or generally is worded in a way that tries to evoke laughter from the reader is considered a funny book title. It might not make you laugh, but you can tell it’s supposed to. 

          These titles are often a little wordier than your standard title, and they usually include a play on words of some sort. They might have a subtitle with a more serious explanation about what the book is about, or they might have a subtitle with an additional joke—it depends on the book. 

          There are also book titles that are funny without meaning to be funny. For the sake of this article, I’ll refer to these as ‘embarrassing’ book titles. Unlike a funny book title, an embarrassing book title isn’t trying to be funny. The reaction it gets isn’t what the author likely intended. 

          In this article, we’re talking about writing a book and title that is funny on purpose. And I understand that sometimes it’s tricky to tell—again, humor is subjective. But we’ll walk you through a few examples in a minute to give you a better idea of the difference. 

          Why use a funny title for a book?

          There are plenty of reasons why an author might use a funny title for their book, even if it doesn’t seem like an obvious choice at first. 

          You’re writing a comedy 

          Most obviously, funny titles are perfect for comedies! If you’re writing a comedy, why not prove to your reader before they’ve even opened the book that they’re in for a laugh? 

          This also lets you give the reader a sense of what kind of comedy they’re in for. If it’s a dark comedy, maybe the title reflects that, for example. 

          If you want your reader to also have a sense of what the book will actually be about, you can use subtitles to explain further. This gives you more space to crack jokes and advertise your book. “Oops, Dropped It: Things You Don’t Want to Hear From Your Surgeon,” (a title I made up) both tells us what the book will be about and gives us an example of the kind of comedy we can expect moving forward. 

          You want to hook the reader 

          Jokes make for a fantastic hook because they’re memorable. Think about all of the Netflix specials that have been memed to death—people quote and remember these snippets because they made them laugh. 

          Humor is also a great way to invite a reader into your story. People are generally attracted to content they find funny, and if your title catches their attention, they’re more likely to want to read the rest of the book. 

          To maximize the effectiveness of a funny title as a hook, keep it short, punchy, and catchy. 

          You’re writing with a comedic tone 

          Maybe you’re not writing a comedy, exactly, but you are writing something with a lot of humor in it. This might be a memoir about your life told in a light-hearted way, or it might be a fun action-adventure romp full of quips. 

          Basically, it doesn’t have to be a comedy to have a funny title. If you’re writing something that involves a lot of humor, you’ll want to reflect that in the title. Making the title funny is an effective way of doing that—it lets the reader know what kind of tone they can expect for the rest of the book.

          You want to be relatable or casual 

          Jokes are also a powerful tool when it comes to relatability. Comedy is a fantastic tool for bridging different communities for exactly this reason—jokes just make people feel comfortable, and they make people understand one another better. 

          If one of the goals in your book is a relatable, casual tone, you’ve probably got a fair amount of humor in there. It’s hard to maintain that kind of tone without it. And a funny, catchy title will help advertise that relatability to your reader. 

          When you should avoid using a funny title 

          While there are more chances than you might think to try a funny title, there are also still plenty of times you should avoid it and opt for a more serious one instead. 

          It doesn’t match the tone of your book 

          Most importantly: you don’t want a funny title if the book itself isn’t comedic or casual in tone. 

          If you’re writing dark fantasy, for example, featuring lots of beheadings and very few bouts of laughter, having a joke title won’t work. It’s false advertising, and not only does that mean a reader might be upset when the book doesn’t live up to the title’s promise, but it also means readers looking for a dark fantasy might pass up your book because it looks too light-hearted and silly. 

          Most adult fiction books don’t benefit from having a funny title—we’ll talk more about this in a little bit. 

          It’s corny or too overdone 

          There are also times when you could use a funny title, but probably shouldn’t. 

          This is where we get into subjective territory again. A joke that I think is corny or overdone might be funny to you, and vice versa. We could talk all day long about what makes a joke unfunny, but instead, I’ll leave you with a few guidelines. 

          Dated jokes, like memes or contemporary slang, generally don’t age well. The title should be funny to people in your target audience—adults might not think Captain Underpants: Attack of the Talking Toilets is funny, but for most little kids, it’s a knee-slapper (and they’re right). A funny title that looks like every other quirky self-help title probably won’t age well and will probably be forgettable.

          Basically, you want to avoid dated phrases if at all possible.  

          Use a book title generator and brainstorm your own list. You can also take a look at other contemporary titles in your genre to gain some inspiration. Then, run your title by some people in your target audience.

          Types of books that use funny titles

          There are a few different categories of books that might use funny titles—let’s look at a few. 

          Comedies 

          First and most obviously, comedies might have funny titles. Like I said earlier, this makes sense: what better way to advertise a funny book than to give it a funny title? 

          Memoir 

          Memoirs might also have funny titles. This is usually to signal that the memoir will be relatable and laid-back. Comedians might also use funny titles because, well, they’re comedians, and the book to come is going to be full of their humor. 

          Kidlit and Middle-Grade Novels 

          Children’s books also use funny titles. They might do this because, again, the book to come is a comedy (like Captain Underpants or Diary of a Wimpy Kid), and they might also use them for relatability. Kids respond really well to humor, and they want to have fun, so a funny book title is often a promise that they’re about to have a blast. 

          Self-Help and Motivational Books 

          Self-help books and motivational books use funny titles to get their tone across to the reader. Usually, a self-help book with a funny title is trying to tell the reader that this is going to be a no-nonsense, no-B.S. approach to dealing with a given problem or circumstance. 

          In other words, the funny title is meant to be relatable. Someone might see that title and think to themselves, “haha, yeah! Finally, someone who gets it. This isn’t going to be like those condescending, boring self-help books—this person understands what it’s like for real people to go through these real issues.” 

          And once they think that, they’re infinitely more likely to pick up the book and hear the author out on whatever ideas they’ve got. 

          Examples of funny book titles in different genres

          Let’s take a look at some funny book titles across different genres. 

          funnybooktitle.diary-wimpy-kid

          Not only is this title genius for its use of ‘diary,’ which promises a personal, secretive experience (kind of like putting ‘don’t read this’ on the cover—it’s foolproof in getting kids to read it), but it also describes the narrator as a wimpy kid. This is self-deprecating humor done flawlessly. 

          funnybooktitle.captain-underpants

          For starters, ‘Captain Underpants’ is a genius idea for a superhero. Additionally, each subsequent Captain Underpants book has a different and stellar title. I gave you the Attack of the Talking Toilets example earlier—they’re all great. 

          funnybooktitle.is-everyone-hanging-out

          Here’s an example of a funny title used for a memoir. Here, Kaling uses a relatable situation to hook the reader. Who hasn’t wondered if their friends were hanging out without them? The parenthetical adds a punch of humor, and the entire thing makes Kaling, a celebrity, seem more approachable and relatable. 

          funnybooktitle.hitchhikers-guide-to

          This title is a great example of having a title that matches the tone of your story. This title perfectly mirrors the funny, unusual prose to come, and it’s incredibly catchy, which makes it memorable. 

          funnybooktitle.will-my-cat-eat

          This is a nonfiction book wherein Doughty discusses death and its surrounding processes. But this punchy title promises us that despite the heavy subject matter, this isn’t going to be a super heavy reading experience—for one, we know she’s talking to children, and for another, we know she’s funny. 

          funnybooktitle.on-the-john

          This title is a great play on words, right? A devotional on the Gospel of John that, once you look at the cover, you realize has some toilet humor built-in. It’s something new, something fresh, something that’s honestly a bit out there. Who has ever thought of mixing Bible commentary with dad jokes and toilet humor? But alas, dads are loving it.

          Next Steps

          Grab a copy of one of these books and you’ll learn how authors use humor in innovative ways! And if you have a favorite humor book, post it in the comments and let us know.

          Working on a funny book yourself? Check out this free training.

          Webinar.TWL
        • Write to Market: What it Means for Authors and Freelance Writers

          Write to Market: What it Means for Authors and Freelance Writers

          When you see a trend or niche taking over an industry, it’s easy to think, “Did all of these just coincidentally get published at the same time?: More often than not, this is what is called to write to market.

          Instead of authors and writers taking a story that they want to tell, they look at what is already doing well in the overall marketplace and create stories and writing similar to what is already selling.

          As you can imagine, this can be a powerful tool for writers when used strategically. We’ll be going over what it is, how it works for both authors and freelance writers, and the pros and cons of such a publishing style.

          What Does it Mean to Write to Market?

          When most people imagine writing books or articles, they imagine a writer who comes up with a unique story and then brings it to life. They imagine some wild tale that the author has been dying to tell and they finally put it all together.

          Instead, people who write to market focus on the audience and growing trends first instead of a story they have already created. The audience and the trends dictate what the author writes instead of doing it the other way around. That is, unless, there is some magical overlap between the two.

          For writers who already create content online, this might not be a strange concept. Any blog writer knows how important it is to maximize trends and write directly to the audience.

          Write to Market: What it Means for Authors

          If you’re an author who wants to write to market, you’re going to pick a trending topic that readers are currently buying and create a story that fits into that market.

          One quick way to see what is hot and trending to write about is to go to your local bookstore and take a look at the new releases. You can also see some of the most popular books being sold on Amazon, updated hourly, as well. There are thousands of niches and topics to choose from.

          If you look long enough, you’ll start to see common themes, patterns, and types of stories. These are exactly the kinds of things you’d want to make notes about if you’re considering doing this.

          An example of this type of writing is to think of romance novels with the same types of covers and storylines that have been written over and over through the years. Some years they’re in greater demand than others, but overall it’s a popular style of book that continues to sell well. (50 Shades of Gray, ring a bell?)

          Related: Romance Tropes

          Let’s go through the pros and cons of choosing to write to market as an author.

          Pros to write to market for authors

          One pro of creating a book that’s written to market is that authors might get a chance to write about a topic that they’ve never written about before.

          If you’re an author who is looking for some much-needed inspiration and wanting to change it up, finding a completely new topic might be the creative spark you need.

          With a trending niche, keep in mind that time is of the essence. While this might be a pro or con for you, depending on how you view it, the good thing is that you’ll need to turn that draft around quickly to make sure you ride the wave of its popularity. The con is also that you’ll need to turn it around quickly.

          Following a trend can help you get out of your writing rut and write about something you never have before. If you’ve typically written historical novels, it might be a good change of pace to write a horror book.

          Cons for authors to write to market

          One big downfall of authors focusing on a write to market book is that the turnaround time can take a long time with traditional publishing.

          Authors who choose to self-publish have a better chance of riding the waves than authors who go the traditional route. This is because by the time a book goes through all the traditional editorial stages, often the trend is already over or at least nearing its end.

          Related: Self-Publishing vs. Traditional

          Another con for authors is that the book might not be a topic they want to write about. They’re going based on what is hot at the time instead of a story that they’re excited to write. That can sometimes make the projects drag on or feel tough to write and put in the hours to get it done.

          You might also see your book not do well over the long term. It might only ride the wave of success for a short time and quickly fall off the radar.

          Write to Market: What it Means for Freelancers

          Unlike authors, freelance writers have much more flexibility when it comes to choosing what to work on.

          Similar to picking a niche, when a freelancer chooses to write to market, they are taking a look around at what is popular or in demand for writing.

          If you’re in any freelance writing groups, you might also notice which trends more writers are talking about, which might give you some inspiration for topics and niches to write about.

          Let’s go through the pros and cons of choosing to write to market as a freelancer.

          Picking a niche as a freelance writer

          When it comes to picking niches and topics to write about as a freelance writer, often, the sky is the limit. There are more niches out there than you could spend your entire life writing about.

          While it might be hard to pick just a few, keep in mind that you can always change it down the line. If you write for an industry for a certain amount of time and then decide to change your mind, you always can.

          Generally, it’s a good idea to pick industries and niches you have some experience or knowledge in, only because it’s much easier to write about something you know than something you have to extensively research. Plus, it saves you a lot of time so you can get drafts out faster than you would with a topic you don’t know well.

          Looking to get into a hot market? Take a look at this monster list of 115 potential markets to write for.

          write to market

          Pros to writing to market for freelance writers

          One great benefit to this is a freelance writer is that you can quickly gain attention and popularity by riding the trending waves at a time.

          This is also a quick way to start to grow a following, as you can hop on and ride a trend for a while instead of waiting to put together a huge, labor-intensive project.

          As you can imagine, you might also be paid faster than you would with projects that take longer to create. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be paid more over time, but if you need the cash sooner than later, this might be a smart strategy for you.

          Cons to writing to market for freelance writers

          On the flip side, if you choose to do this as a freelancer, you’ll end up chasing trends. That can be a good or bad thing, depending on how you choose to direct your freelance career.

          Having to chase trends means you will have to publish content at a quick rate to make sure you’re keeping up with the trends. This can prevent you from doing necessary deep work and deep dives into your specific niches.

          Conclusion

          Overall, riding a trend at the right moment can help catapult your writing career, but you’ll want to think deeply about if it’s a strategy that will work for you.

          If you’re planning to become a freelancer, check out this free resource.

          Freelance Writer’s Pitch Checklist
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          • Should I Write a Book? 7 Reasons Why Every Freelancer Should Consider It

            Should I Write a Book? 7 Reasons Why Every Freelancer Should Consider It

            Have you been a freelancer or hobbyist for a couple years and you are starting to wonder what’s next? How do you grow your business, continue to set yourself apart, and stay excited about writing when you may not always be writing about topics that are personally exciting for you?

            • You could start your own blog or get back to your blog you started already. Be more consistent with your posting schedule.
            • You could look at your social media presence and attempt to be more visible and active.
            • Or, maybe you’ve been wondering, “Should I write a book?”

            7 Reasons You Should Consider Writing a Book

            Now before you laugh, say you don’t have time, or say something about having no good ideas (or too many ideas!), stop for a moment and consider what writing a book could mean to you and your brand – both now and in the future. Writing a book could open you up to more business in the future, could open doors for new streams of revenue, and could be the creative outlet you need to be better at everything else. We compiled a list of a few reasons that might entice you to give book-writing a try.

            Writing a book will stretch you as a writer and improve your skills

            Writing a book will help you become a better writer. The time you spend writing your book will also stretch your language and writing skills as you write more than you’ve probably written in the past.

            Because writing a book requires you to be more organized than you have been with smaller projects, it will also just require more from you in general to get it done. You will need to outline effectively, organize your chapter concepts and storyline, and you will need to write cohesively and consistently throughout the book.

            Managing a project of this size also forces you to take hold of your time so you can plan ahead and meet your deadlines, both internal ones you set for yourself and any external deadlines you have with publishers or editors. When you have finished, you can look back and clearly see all you have accomplished and grown from the process.

            Give yourself a creative outlet 

            If you are like many full-time freelance writers, it can be a struggle to find time for a creative outlet of your own. You are focussed on using your writing for making money and not necessarily for getting your own ideas out or letting your own voice be heard. But if you devote a little time each day to getting out of your business space and instead let your mind imagine, design, and then craft a book, you are exercising a creative piece of you that needs to be exercised. Our minds benefit from switching things up, and a book is the perfect outlet.

            You can carve out time for yourself creatively and then continue to work on the freelancing work that might become easier when you know you have a creative outlet to get back to.

            Write about a topic you love

            Speaking of creativity, not only does writing your own book give you a chance to use your own voice, but it also gives you the chance to write about a topic you love. Choose something you are already passionate about and write a book about it. 

            This passion you write about might be a hobby of yours you can turn into a book to inspire others to pursue. It could be stories that you reflect on from your past that you turn into a memoir. Or you could take a look at a fiction genre you are obsessed with and then consider crafting a story in that genre yourself.

            Don’t limit yourself to what you think people will want to read, but instead choose a topic for your first book that you can be excited to tell a story about and that you know you can complete.

            Make a little passive income when it’s all done

            While most first time book authors don’t make millions from their first book, you can start to create some passive income once you have a finished book to sell. It doesn’t take a major book deal to distribute and make money from a book. Instead it takes a few good tools, the right avenues to sell your book, and a few fans that love you and love your book.

            Selfpublishing.com is a great tool with tons of resources to help you with every step of the book-writing process, from the writing and brainstorming itself to the publishing of your finished product. You don’t need to be a household name already to write and publish a successful book.

            Build credibility for your writing brand 

            The next time you are talking to a prospective client for freelancing work, not only will you have current blog posts and writing samples to send over, but you will also have a completed book to show them. This puts you in another league over the average freelancer. You can market yourself beyond what you were doing before and show the amount of effort, hard work and dedication you bring to a project. Don’t be afraid to go after projects that require a more senior writer than you considered yourself pre-book, since you will have pushed yourself in a more advanced writing position than you were in before. 

            Prove you can ghost-write

            This may go without saying, but having a book to show a prospective ghost-writing client can only help you win the contract. You will have a better idea of the time required for a project of that size, the amount you should charge, and the scope that you can expect and be ready for. You will be more prepared for the editing process and the organization and design of the book. Doing it all for yourself is great practice for landing those types of contracts and will give you better clarity about which types of projects are right for you.

            Cross off an item on your bucket list

            Outside of all the practical pieces that might come with writing and publishing a book, keep in mind the big picture of book writing and what it would mean to you and your family once you have completed your first book. 

            Most people do not write a book in their lifetime. 

            It is instead a small group of devoted people that sit down and have the dedication and desire to put the time and effort into writing a book and then turn around and see that book published. It is something to celebrate while you are doing it and something to celebrate once it is complete. Just take a moment and picture yourself telling people about the book you wrote and holding a copy of it in your hands with your name as the author. It is a huge accomplishment and is something that is completely possible if you choose to tackle it.

            So, now that you are considering writing a book, what do you do next?

            First, take this assessment to figure out which book you should write first.

            Second, make a list of your own reasons for writing your book. It might be business-related, it might be more personal, or it might be a bit of both. Keep that list available so you can stay motivated and then dive into it.

            Third, take a look at this article How to Write a Book in 12 Simple Steps to get thinking and planning what you need to do to get started and to succeed with your book.