Improbable Press Blog — Atlin Merrick

Here's a picture of a writing prompt I put up recently. Simple, yeah? Some colours, a few words, no biggie. Except, here's the thing about it—it turned into a big thing for me because I had me some thinky thoughts while creating it. See, I'd put together the nice little boxes of colour, but since I had the dumb that day I couldn't think of words, so Skype-asked my friend Anarion for a few. She shared what you see: wifi, spin a tale, and empathy and as soon as I started typing them into the boxes I stopped typing. Cause...

A quick note today, dashing in and out to say: So long as you have something to say about a book, won't you please say it? Reviews mean the world to writers and their publisher. It's one way we know people are there, engaging with what we're sharing. Sure, yes, we hope for good reviews but even less than stellar ones can help someone like me, the commissioning editor for Improbable Press, understand the tastes of the audiences I've reached. MoreDo you believe in ghosts?How My Fascination With Storytelling Began What I'm trying to say is if you don't like...

There's lots of great art on Twitter today for Star Wars May the Fourth (Be With You) Day.Good god I'm loving all of it.Thank you BKD, and you A, also you J, and especially you over there who draws everyone in harem pants (I heart you so much), thank you for creating not only wonderful art but wonderful queer art for today.Whether your wonderful work has a kissing Kylo Ren and General Hux, whether your drawing Rey and Rose Tico, or Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're drawing a galaxy of glories and I am endlessly grateful. More The Ultimate Guide to Getting...

By Atlin Merrick Writers often ask if I want to look at the first draft of the novel they're writing for Improbable Press. It's a sensible question with what may be an unexpected answer for most new writers: No, please, I do not ever want to see the draft of your novel. Ever. What is a First Draft? First draft—what does that even mean? The answer depends on you, actually. If you're the kind of person who plots everything—who knows your book is going to be fifteen chapters, in chapter eight the orphan will find his parents, in twelve the soldier with her rare...

By Atlin Merrick Do pitch again. Sometimes an editor or publisher rejects your story or book but says "we really like your style, but we're looking something with more B, less A." For the love of all that's holy they just gave you a leg up in getting your book further along the process, please take it. All right, sure, maybe you don't want to put a lot more B into your book and that's fine. In that case pitch them another book, this one more B-centric. Do follow the yellow brick road. As an editor, when I turn down...