The Journal.
Writing craft, publishing insights, and behind-the-scenes stories from our editors — for authors at every stage.
From the editors' desk.
How to structure the first chapter of your memoir
The opening pages of a memoir carry more weight than any others. Here is how our editors approach structure, voice, and the one question every first chapter must answer.
Read the post →KDP vs. IngramSpark: which distributor is right for your book?
A straightforward comparison of the two dominant self-publishing platforms — royalty rates, reach, print quality, and what the numbers don't tell you.
Read the post →The five things readers judge in the first three seconds of seeing your cover
Thumbnail recognition, genre fit, typography legibility — our cover designers break down the invisible decisions that separate books that sell from books that don't.
Read the post →What a ghostwriter actually does — and what they don't
There is a lot of mythology around ghostwriting. Our lead writer clears up the most common misconceptions, from ownership of rights to how the collaboration really works.
Read the post →Children's book word counts: the numbers that matter by age group
Board books, picture books, early readers, middle-grade — every category has a target range. Here are the numbers, and why breaking them rarely works in your favour.
Read the post →More posts coming soon.
Our editors are writing. In the meantime, if you have a question about your book project, we are happy to answer it directly.
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