Comma Splice

The first pages of your novel have a simple but incredibly important job: Give the reader NO CHOICE but to keep reading. But is your opening hitting the mark? Here are the four key elements every strong opening includes:

Five years ago (almost to the day), I posted a video on YouTube called "How to Get a Book Published by a Big 5 House." No fancy camera, no mic. Just me sitting on my couch reading notes from my laptop, hoping a few authors would find it helpful. In that video, I say, "I'm going to demystify the publishing process," and that's the mission that drove me to start posting on YouTube (even though it terrified me, as a major introvert). I had left my job at Penguin Random House due to a move out of NYC, and I was surprised to see how little support and resources debut authors had online. I wanted to give them a place where they could get their burning publishing questions answered and feel supported through the scary, confusing — and often lonely — process of writing a book. I NEVER thought this little YouTube experiment would grow to a 100,000-subscriber channel, a book deal of my own, and a growing editorial business. Whether you found me years ago or just stumbled on a video, I'm so incredibly grateful for your support. Being a small part of your writing journey means everything to me. 🩷