How Plot and Character Intersect with Sensitivity Reading
The best way to understand a period in history is to look at the culture’s art and literature. Who knows how historians will make sense of what was said and done in our current era, but living in this moment, the changes that are occurring in fiction are already apparent.
Five Things That Make a Good Query Letter
Hello, beautiful people! Today I want to talk about the thing that scared me the most when I first started looking for a literary agent: the dreaded query letter. I not only was jumping into judgment for the first time, but I had absolutely no idea where to start.
Spotlight: Carling Mars
Hi, Carling! What drew you to Salt and Sage? I was at the Kanab Writers Conference talking to someone about how I write reviews for Lambda Literary (a great resource for LGBTQ+ book lovers!), and one of the lovely people from S&S approached me! Everything that I’ve learned about this company, I like.
Sage Thoughts: Ariane and Margaret
Today we’re talking to two of our Sages, Ariane and Margaret, about their experience of COVID-19 as people who’ve experienced chronic illness. Sachiko: Morning, Ariane and Margaret! How are you doing? Margaret: I’m eating chocolate, so that probably says a lot! Ariane: I’ve noticed a lot of outcry from my chronically ill friends and clients that what everyone is now suddenly experiencing and finding intolerable, is their life all the time, along with a lot of pain around why those people never gave much credence to that fact prior.
Spotlight: Jenna Beacom
Welcome to the Salt and Sage Books Spotlight series! We welcome you into our creative community by inviting you to meet our editors and expert readers, and to hear a little of their own story, in their own words. We believe that by honoring each other’s voices, we’re able to turn creativity into community and change the world through story.
Stories That See Us: Sachiko Burton
My grandmother died ten days ago. This is as upsetting as you’d think. But through the isolation and grief, I recently found a way to reclaim my heritage, identity, and belonging as a Japanese-American. Heritage Fumie Suzuki Swenson with Raymond Takashi Swenson My grandmother, Fumie Suzuki Swenson, was Japanese and married an American.
Six Tips for Revising Your Manuscript
This is the second post in a two-part series about what to do after finishing your first draft of a book. Go here to read the first post: Six Tips on Preparing Your Newly Drafted Novel for Revision You’ve finished writing your book. You’ve prepared your newly drafted novel for revision, and now you’re on the beach and finally ready to begin your first major pass up Revision Mountain.
Emotional Closeness During Physical Distancing
In the weeks of social distancing, we have come to understand self-isolation and maintaining six feet of distance from one another when we step out to do essential duties. We see the tape on the floors of drugstores that indicate where we should stand and wonder what time of day the grocery store might be least crowded.
Stories That See Us: Ronkwahrhakónha (Lune)
Most of the representation I saw depicted Native Americans as the bad guys in old Western movies that my mom’s dad liked to watch. My dad would always remind me our side of the story during those moments, which was good, but not really a positive representation of my culture.
How to Keep Creativity Alive in an Upside-Down World
When my life turns upside-down, my creativity nearly always freezes. My brain puts a halt to everything except what I need for my and my loved ones’ preservation. I quit writing and instead, focus on what matters most to our immediate future—safety, water, food, shelter. (And a supply of chocolate!
Amazon Advertising Account: How to Let Salt & Sage Books Manage Your AMS Ads
Guest post by Erin Olds So you’re ready to get started with your Amazon ads, but their website is confusing… there are too many options, the names vary depending on which resource you’re using, and the guides you can find online are outdated. Self-publishing is pretty wonderful, but there are moments when I’m sure you’d like to defenestrate the Zon.
STORIES THAT SEE US: The Well of Loneliness
Stories That See Us is an ongoing series of book reviews where Salt and Sage Books editors and sensitivity readers share representation done well. Today, our amazing sensitivity reader Helen Gould reviews Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness. Helen Gould Helen Gould is from the UK and specializes in reading manuscripts for POC, gender, sexuality, mental health, and other topics.
Author Interview: Duncan Tonatiuh
Duncan Tonatiuh is an award-winning author-illustrator of several picture books, including Dear Primo, Separate is Never Equal, Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote, Funny Bones, and The Princess and The Warrior. Many of Tonatiuh’s stories illustrate Mexican and Mexican-American history in his signature style, inspired by Pre-Columbian Mixtec art.
Spotlight: Cameron Van Sant
Welcome to the Salt and Sage Books Spotlight series! We believe that by honoring each other’s voices, we’re able to turn creativity into community, and change the world through story. In this spotlight series, we welcome you into our creative community by inviting you to meet our editors and expert readers, and to hear a little of their own story, in their own words.
So You're Considering Self Publishing...
You’ve written a book. (It’s amazing, we just know it.) So what next? Assuming you want to get your book out there, you have two main options: traditional or self publishing. We’ll talk about the process of traditional publication in another post, but today let’s focus on self-pub.
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