Category Archives: Writing

Query Tips: Give Us a Road Map

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Laura Stanfill

Our editors at Forest Avenue Press are continuing to receive submissions that don’t include a paragraph about the manuscript in the query letter. In these cases, there’s usually no introduction either. No introduction means the author couldn’t be bothered to personalize a letter, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Publishing, small press, Writing | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

The One-Title Year

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Laura Stanfill

This has been a wild year, and also a quiet one. I finished my eight-years-in-progress novel, The Serinette, after reading Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven and seeing how her short chapters worked so successfully. With a big-voiced, many POV novel, and … Continue reading →

Posted in small press, Writing | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Sometimes It’s Best to Ask for Help

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Laura Stanfill

I’ve been stuck on my knitting recently. Too busy with other things, not making it a priority, and not having enough time to go to knitting group all contributed to my dropping that favorite (only?) non-literary hobby. When I started … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Fiction, Writing | 5 Comments

Interview: Valerie Geary, Author of Crooked River, on Raising the Stakes, Ghosts, and Celebrating Her Debut Novel

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Laura Stanfill

Valerie Geary’s impressive debut novel, Crooked River, will be released tomorrow by William Morrow. A twisty literary thriller, peopled with eccentrics and ghosts, Crooked River delves into grief, suspicion, and what it means to be a family. Protagonists Sam and … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Fiction, Seven Questions, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Book People Have More Fun…

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Laura Stanfill

One of my favorite things about being a publisher is having a reason to network with booksellers, librarians, authors, and fellow publishers. My people! Readers! We had a booth at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association tradeshow this weekend in Tacoma, Washington, … Continue reading →

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Guest Post: Alisha Churbe on “Sometimes Lies Must Be Told”

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Laura Stanfill

This is the third guest post on the craft of writing in our series by authors of The Night, and the Rain, and the River, a short story anthology edited by Liz Prato, and published by my press, Forest Avenue Press, … Continue reading →

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The Handmade Approach to Publishing

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Laura Stanfill

When we started talking about making origami cranes for the cover of Kate Gray’s Carry the Sky, our fall release from Forest Avenue Press, I piped up to say I knew how. The designer, Gigi Little, asked me to make some. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, small press, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Interviews and List Love

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Laura Stanfill

I’ve had a big week or two! Kate Gray’s new novel, Carry the Sky, which I’m publishing Sept. 1 (hint, it’s available online already), tops a recent list of 11 high school books on Bustle. Read “11 High School Books That Will … Continue reading →

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The Woods, the Words

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Laura Stanfill

I spent a week in southern Oregon, with no Internet, no cell phone reception. Just words. And seven other women. Here are the woods: Here are the women: Here is a truck that gets moved around the property: And here … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Author Interview: Lisa Borders on Point of View, South Jersey, and the Art of the Book Tour

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Laura Stanfill

Lisa Borders’ novel, The Fifty-First State, is a powerful anthem about place, and belonging, and finding a new way to exist in the midst of fresh grief. Told in alternating point-of-view sections, featuring thirty-something New Yorker Hallie, and teen stepbrother … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Fiction, Seven Questions, Writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments