The Lit World of Sylvia Hubbard

by Jane Friedman Photo by Wesley Davi If you’re a Netflix user, you might have noticed they recently rolled out a dedicated hub called “Watch Your Favorite Books.” In the announcement, Netflix’s senior director of product merchandising said, “We’ve seen a real passion from fans around Netflix’s library of book adaptations.” And in fact, book-to-screen content was featured in Netflix’s global…

This perk is only for premium members of Motown Writers Network. The time to book a free coffee chat with our Community Manager, Onicia Muller, is here. BOOK FREE SESSION In 15 minutes you can: Fix website bugs Polish your author bio Create a press kit Schedule a handful of social media posts Organize your inbox Write and send a query letter Pitch a collaboration Make progress on a…

by Elaine Dodge. Myths, monsters, mummies, and murderers. Ghosts, ghouls, and graveyards. Dragons, darkness, and the deep. Mist, fog, water, and ice. Seemingly normal human beings. Strangers. Time itself. Horror can lurk in all of them. And that’s just a short list. A good writer can turn anything into a horror story, including wallpaper. Love them or hate them, horror stories are as old as…

by Nick Schmid Why Your Amazon Book Description Matters Writing a captivating book description on Amazon can significantly influence your book’s sales success. With thousands of new titles published daily, an impactful description helps your book stand out, grabs readers’ attention, and convinces them your book is worth their time and money. A strong book description doesn’t just summarize; it…

Jami Gold  From subgenres to tropes and beyond, there are many ways to categorize a romance story. We may not know exactly what type of story we’re writing while drafting (especially if we tend to write by the seat of our pants), but once we type “The End,” we do need to figure out what we’ve created. First, subgenres, tropes, level of spice, etc. all come with various reader expectations, and…

by Amanda Patterson What Is A Timeline? A timeline is a chronological sequence of events – they happen in the order they occur. We see the results of cause and effect when we show sequences that are related to each other. We watch the events as time passes. We see patterns, turning points, and progressions. History is neither simple nor linear, but when we show events in a timeline, they seem…

Jenn Hanson-dePaula 286 views Jun 16, 2026 Book Marketing SimplifiedIf you have an email list you’ve been ignoring because it feels too small to matter, or you’ve been sending newsletters that feel good but aren’t selling books, this episode is going to change how you think about email entirely. Jenn breaks down why social media and email are not doing the same job, the three most common reasons…

This perk is only for premium members of Motown Writers Network. The time to book a free coffee chat with our Community Manager, Onicia Muller, is here. BOOK FREE SESSION In 15 minutes you can: Fix website bugs Polish your author bio Create a press kit Schedule a handful of social media posts Organize your inbox Write and send a query letter Pitch a collaboration Make progress on a…

By Erica Converso Free. It’s a wonderful word, isn’t it? A limited budget shouldn’t prevent you from becoming the best writer you can be. And if you use the resources available in your community – and outside it on the vast expanse of the internet – you’ll find that the possibilities for finding story inspiration and guidance are limitless. So where should you start? Well, as a former librarian…