Author - Meredith Efken

If you want to write a novel and get it published, there are only really three steps:

1. Write a terrific novel.
2. Get a literary agent (who then pitches your novel to publishers).
3. Sign the contract and work with the publisher on the book.

Unfortunately, each of those steps is a lot more complicated and time-consuming than this. It seems that a lot of would-be novelists forget the first step entirely: Write a TERRIFIC novel. Novels are an art form. To craft a really great novel takes practice and a willingness to learn. Not every writer is willing to put the time and effort into practicing and learning. But this is the first step, and it can’t be skipped. On this page, I’ve included several resources for writers who want to learn and improve their fiction writing skills.

Yesterday, I started an answer to a question about why writing teachers counsel fiction writers to not expect to quit their day jobs when they get published. I covered how an author gets paid by the publisher–both how advances work and how royalties work. You can read that post here....

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If you want professional, thorough and unbiased input to help you gauge things like: characterization and character motivation, sympathetic/logical goals, plot structure that doesn’t lose focus, getting rid of the extraneous, not to mention details like grammar, rhythm, best word choices and sentence structure, then QUICKLY find Meredith Efken. -Maureen Lang, author

I established the Fiction Fix-It Shop in 2006. There are lots of editing services out there—some big, some small—but at the time, I couldn’t find any that really specialized in serving fiction writers. I wanted to create a fiction editing service that could provide the best, most current advice and feedback to fiction writers. A service that was friendly and personalized, something encouraging and honest.