The Writer - 04.2020

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FEATURES

April 2020
Contents Volu m e 133 Nu m be r 4

18

DEPARTMENTS

8 From the Front Lines

Objects in Mirror are

Closer Than They

Appear

Make blind spots work

for you.

BY YI SHUN LAI

10 Freelance Success

The risk-free freelancer

Becoming a success-

ful freelance writer

means mastering both

emotional and financial

components.

BY PETE CROATTO

38 Literary Spotlight

Kaleidoscope

BY MELISSA HART

40 Conference Insider

Bouchercon World

Mystery Convention

BY MELISSA HART

IN EVERY ISSUE

2 From the Editor

4 Take Note

42 Markets

47 Classified advertising

48 How I Write

12 Crossing the finish line
It’s easy to keep tinkering with a
manuscript forever, but at some
point, it’s time to cut the cord.
Here’s how pro authors evaluate
a novel to see if it’s ready for pub-
lication – and how you can, too.
BY JACK SMITH

18 Treasure hunt
From the Library of Congress to
the Smithsonian Institution, na-
tional research resources abound
for the curious writer. Here’s how
to use them.
BY JENNIFER L. BLANCK

26 Words as medicine

How Oakland’s OG Rev aims to

make the world a better place

through verse.

BY MELISSA HART

32 Announcing the winners

of our flash contest

We invited readers to submit work

in any genre – fiction or nonfiction

• as long as the final submission
  fell under 1,000 words. Here are
  the first-, second-, and third-place
  winners of our 2019 contest.