101: How to Get Published in Literary Journals and Write Better Query Letters with Dani Hedlund

Summary: Dani Hedlund published her first novel Threads of Deception at the age of 18. After experiencing the difficulties of getting her book published she founded Tethered by Letters in 2007 to help other new writers perfect and publish their work. Tethered by Letters is a nonprofit offers free writing coaching, publishing, and editing guidance and it has grown into an amazing community of writers, editors and artists from all over the world.<br> Dani began writing Threads of Deception when she was 15 years old. When she finished writing the book a year later she had no idea what to do with it. She grew up in a farming community and didn’t have any publishing contacts. She spent the next two years of her life trying to get someone in the publishing industry to take her seriously.<br> When she was finally able to hold a copy of her published book in her hands she thought of all the times she almost gave up. That’s when she decided to create Tethered by Letters to help new authors navigate the publishing industry.<br> One of the breakout successes that Tethered by Letters helped to navigate the publishing industry is Isaac Marion who wrote the short story that inspired the movie Warm Bodies. He has since written a novel that expands on the short story.<br> Our conversation covered many topics including: the best way to break into the publishing industry, strategies for writing query letters, and common mistakes that new writers make.<br> Here are a few of the highlights from the interview:<br> <br> * If you want to make a career out of writing you can’t simply wait for the muse to bless you with a wealth of ideas.<br> * Writers Write. You have to put in the “butt in chair” time working at your craft if you want to succeed.<br> * If you want to be traditionally published today the most important thing you need to do is build a platform. The easiest way to do that is to get your short stories published in journals, magazines and anthologies. When agents see that you’ve already been published they are more likely to look at your work because they see that other people have taken a chance on your writing. It’s classic social proof.<br> * The short form side of the publishing industry is incredibly diverse. Over 90% of literary journals do not pay writers for their submissions. Those journals have value because agents and editors read them. Tethered by Letters does pay for the submissions that they end up publishing.<br> * Why book deals and film deals are the way to earn the most money in the industry for fiction writers.<br> * Every time you publish it helps your career.<br> * You should practice your craft by writing short stories. When you write short stories you’re exposed to your errors in a much more condensed and navigable way. It’s much easier to understand what you’re doing wrong in a shorter piece of fiction because there are fewer moving parts. This can lead to faster learning and improvement.<br> * Enjoy the process of writing and submitting your work. It’s the only way to survive the journey and become successful.<br> * You will grow faster in a less painful way if you write short fiction first.<br> * Writing short stories is a good way for you to figure out what kind of writing sells well in your market. It’s a good way for you to judge the audience reaction before investing time in writing a novel or series of novels.<br> * Any author that tells you, “I only write for myself and I don’t care what other people think,” is lying.<br> * Authors write because we want people to hear what we have to say. In order for people to hear what we have to say we have to find our audience and entertain them while exposing them to our point of view.<br> * The most common misconception among new writers is: “If my reader didn’t understand what I have to say then my reader isn’t smart enough.