In the fall of 2013, I was taking a year off from college while I tried to figure out what I wanted to major in. I didn’t have a job, and despite my love of writing and my lifelong dream of becoming a published author, I hadn’t written anything in months. Call it writer’s block, call it a lack of inspiration, call it a not-quite-quarter-life crisis. Either way, I was...

The following story was the winning submission of our June 2021 First Chapter contest, written by Genesis Conrad. We loved their voice and the story was very well-written. Great job, Genesis! If you’re interested in submitting your work to Scribbler’s contests, take a look at our contest page for the next opportunity to submit. We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell. Oscar Wilde After the rains...

Haven’t read Stephanie’s last post about Finding The Perfect CP? Don’t miss out! Click here to read. So, you wanna break up with your CP.  Maybe you don’t enjoy their writing like you thought you would. Maybe their feedback is unhelpful, or their availability has changed. Whatever the reason, you’ve realized the two of you are not a good match. Just like in our other relationships, sometimes a person can’t provide...

Welcome to Scribbler’s new blog series, where we interview debut indie- and traditionally-published authors regarding their novel and writing processes. We’re very excited to feature Rachel Griffin, the New York Times bestselling author of “The Nature of Witches,” as our first debut author. If you haven’t heard about Rachel’s YA fantasy from Sourcebooks Fire, we’ve included the description below: In a world where witches control the climate and are losing control as...

Writers often neglect side characters in their novels.  A writer’s attention usually falls on their hero or perhaps their villain. But too often, side characters get slapped on as an afterthought instead of being thought through and used as pillars and foundations, obstacles, and conflict generators. Here are three ways to improve your side characters. 1. Understand the Different Types All characters are not made equal. While many craft teachers...

In Katlyn’s blog post last month, she discussed the benefits of reclaiming your book rights from a publisher. This week, she shares how to move forward with the new life of a book with reverted rights.  If you are one of the lucky authors who has been able to successfully revert your book rights, the prospect of publishing it on your own can seem daunting. Now that you’re faced with the...

Finding a critique partner (CP) is easy.  Finding the right CP is the challenge.  It’s a bit like dating. In fact, if some industrious app developer out there wanted to, I bet they could make decent money designing a Coffee Meets Bagel for CPs.  But alas, such an app does not yet exist, so we are left to navigate these waters alone. And in my experience, these waters can get a bit...

This is a sponsored guest post. Thanks to platforms like Amazon, self-publishing is easier than ever these days for authors who don’t want to traditionally publish. With greater ease of access and accessibility comes greater competition. So, how much money can you make by self-publishing a book? The number will vary and will depend on a number of factors explored below. What is Self-Publishing? Self-publishing means that the author publishes...