Tracy C. Gold

Erasure is a wonderfully cathartic literary form. Take an oppressive text, and just cut away the worst parts. Or highlight the worst parts so that all the mitigating fluff is cut away.

I’m thrilled to have a poem in the recently published “Erase the Patriarchy! An Anthology of Erasure Poetry” edited by Isobel O’Hare. My poem cuts away the lyrics of a Justin Timberlake song about a guy cat calling a girl until the girl’s voice shines through instead.

The poems featured in this beautiful book show many artistic and creative approaches to erasure poetry. I was wowed and inspired: feelings that are hard to come by given world events.

You can preorder the book on Amazon, below, or get it now directly from University of Hell Press.

Finally write that novel you’ve always been dreaming about, with support and guidance. I’m excited to teach “Writing Your Novel” via Johns Hopkins Odyssey on Monday nights starting 10/5. Odyssey is Hopkins’ continuing education program. Everyone can join in the class. We’ll do live discussions on Zoom every week and this will be a small, interactive group. I’m bummed it won’t be in person but the silver lining is you don’t have to be in Baltimore to join! We’ll cover different systems for plotting and outlining, what makes a good novel concept, and processes for drafting. If you keep up with the course schedule you’ll have a rough draft of most of a novel by the end (and you can also do NaNoWriMo alongside the course). Please spread the word if you know anyone who might be interested!

The link to register is here: https://aapnoncredit.jhu.edu/CourseStatus.awp?&course=21F91925301

Critiquing an entire book can be daunting. I remember how nervous I was about the first full novel I ever critiqued. I wanted so badly to get to the heart of the novel and help the author figure out how to make it better. Even now that I am a full-time freelance editor who has worked with many published authors, I still look for ways to improve my edit letters so that they are inspiring, kind, honest, and thorough, but not overwhelming. 

Recently, I’ve seen a few people ask on social media about how to write better critiques. I’m not saying I have a magic formula figured out, but I write a lot of edit letters, and I’ve developed a template and system so that I am not reinventing the wheel each time I write a letter. Of course, I customize these as needed, especially when I work on a memoir or non-fiction book instead of fiction.

Why should you trust me? Well, for one, my clients say they love me. You can read testimonials and reviews from them on Reedsy. For another, many of my clients have been traditionally published, I have my Masters of Fine Arts, and I worked for literary agent Carrie Pestritto, who is now my agent. I am always open and learning, though, and would love to see your comments about how you approach edit letters!

So, here is how I approach writing edit letters for my editing clients. 

The Emotional Angle
Before I get into the nitty gritty, a note about the emotion of writing edit letters. My end goal is not to show off how good I am at critiquing someone (see: Guy in Your MFA). My end goal is to inspire an author to improve their work. It’s hard to be inspired when you’re crying, so I always endeavor to make my edit letters positive. I’m not going to go too deeply into the emotional element because this would get even longer, but I loved this post from Michelle Hazen on the topic. In the explanation of my process and template, I’ll briefly touch on the ways that I make sure I am being positive and thoughtful. 

Congratulations to Gary Vikan for the launch of his book “The Holy Shroud: A Brilliant Hoax in the Time of the Black Death.” It was a joy to work with Gary on this book. Judging from my email history, I’ve been reading drafts of this book for Gary since 2016. The world of publishing is long and winding and it is just so exciting to finally hold this book in my hands. It’s published by Pegasus Books, and it’s a beauty, with an insert of color photography.

Four years, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg for Gary. He has been working on the research behind this book for decades as he has searched for a way to debunk one of the world’s biggest hoaxes.

If you like a good detective story, you’ll love this book about an art historian who digs into the centuries of corruption and greed that drove an intricate piece of art to become falsely famous for apparently being the Shroud that Jesus was buried in. Even though carbon dating has long proved this impossible, crowds of millions still flock to see the Shroud on display and claim that it is a true relic. The research Gary presents in this book shows not only when the Shroud was made, but how, and by whom. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t Jesus’s true burial shroud.

Gary is going to be doing a virtual launch event on Thursday, June 4th at 7 pm, with WYPR’s Tom Hall. The event will include a brief reading, Q&A with Tom, and audience Q&A. If you’d like to hear from Gary, please register by using the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqde6qqDIsGNH24BW5CfLr2e5Om_lTkZud

Gary is also happy to set up custom virtual events for organizations and book groups. He’s a funny, engaging speaker. You can contact him via his website.

*Book link is an affiliate link to Amazon, which means I’ll get a few cents if you buy it!

I am writing this from a comfy couch in my very last hour at the Highlights Foundation in Boyds Mills, PA (and posting it from home a few days later!). This is the second year that I’ve teamed up with a group of writing friends that I met via Pitch Wars to do an “unworkshop” at Highlights’ lovely facility in the mountains, and I wanted to share my experience for others interested in booking a stay.

You probably know Highlights from their wonderful magazines for children, but they also have a campus where they offer workshops for writers, work with groups to provide custom events, and offer “unworkshops” year-round for writers to make their own retreat weekend. In an unworkshop, writers come to campus whenever they want, and use their time however they want. Highlights provides delicious meals, which writers can eat while chatting with other unworkshoppers, or take back to their cabins to enjoy in solitude. The campus includes a beautiful barn with meeting rooms and a dining room, several one-writer cabins with private bathrooms, a farmhouse with five rooms and five bathrooms, and a lodge with a meeting room and several private bed/bathroom suites. Each room has a chair and desk for writing, plus bug spray and a flashlight!

When you arrive, there is no official check-in. You just find your name on your cabin/room and the key is in the door.

I somewhat can’t believe that I am writing one of these again, but here I am: entering Pitch Wars with a shiny new YA manuscript for the third year in a row! I was a Pitch Wars mentee in 2015, chosen by the awesome Rachel Lynn Solomon, and in 2016, chosen by the awesome Diana Gallagher.

Why am I entering again if I was lucky enough to be chosen twice before, you may ask? Maybe I am tempting fate by seeking ANOTHER mentor as amazing as the first two, or fellow mentees as supportive, wonderful, and generally life-affirming as my friends from 2015 and 2016. Maybe I am a glutton, hoping for more of a good thing. Certainly, I love deadlines, structure, and constructive criticism. I’ll need a lot of help with this year’s book, as I’ve never written a full-length historical novel before, and whew, that’s tricky. Also, I’ve learned enough about this industry to know that the writers who succeed fight for every opportunity, even if it means their hearts could be broken by rejection. I’m not going to let this opportunity pass me by. Besides, I have a lot to give back to the Pitch Wars community, and would love to provide counsel and comfort to a new group of fellow mentees with my perspective from past years.

So here I am. Still unagented, though not for lack of hustle and revision. Still fighting. Ready to teach my battle techniques to the writers fighting alongside me, striking down the foes of rejection and self-doubt.

Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this month, I posted about giving a few critiques away in exchange for donations to charity. All three slots for this round have been taken, but you can follow me or Sounding Sea on Twitter to be the first to find out when I do another round! You can also sign up to get email alerts via Sounding Sea here (don’t worry, they’re infrequent!). Last week, I gave feedback on Carly Heath’s query and first page.

This week, I have feedback for writer Ally Ovary, who generously donated to the White Helmets, a neutral organization rescuing Syrian civilians.

My line notes are in bold and brackets, and I have overall thoughts below.

Dear Agent:

A princess controlled by an evil shadow and the thief she sentenced to death become unlikely allies when they try to uncover the truth about one murder and prevent another.

I am seeking representation for my young adult fantasy novel, CURSED STARS, complete at 101,000 words. [I love this query format, which lets us know what to expect in the rest! 101,000 words is at the upper limit for YA fantasy, but not a red flag. The title seems a tad familiar (star-crossed lovers?). A more specific title could be better, but it also sounds intriguing, so I’m ambivalent about it without knowing more about the book.]

Read the rest of this entry »

We have an abundance of wonderful Pitch Wars mentees this year, and I volunteered to host interviews for a few mentees who didn’t get on Brenda Drake’s site before the glorious agent round began. Enjoy learning about these awesome teams!

This post includes…

Mentee Lana Pattinson

Twitter & Website 

Mentor Marty Mayberry

Twitter & Website

Lana, why did you choose your mentor? 

There were such great mentors to choose from this year! But I knew I had to submit to Marty right away. She’d mentored the year before, so she already knew the time involvement needed. She seemed like she’d be a firm but low-key mentor, which is what I needed. And finally, when she professed her love for kilts, I was IN.

And Marty has been super easy to work with. She’s a machine, such a fast worker it makes my head spin. She has amped the romance to a capital R in my manuscript, and for that I’m thankful. And mostly, I’m thankful that she believed in this manuscript and encouraged me to get my revisions done.

Marty, why did you choose Lana as your mentee? Read the rest of this entry »

We have an abundance of wonderful Pitch Wars mentees this year, and I volunteered to host interviews for a few mentees who didn’t get on Brenda Drake’s site before the glorious agent round began. Enjoy learning about these awesome teams!

This post includes…

Mentee Ashley Leath

Twitter & Website

Mentor Kim Graff

Twitter & Website

Ashley, why did you choose Kim?

Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, it’s important to take care of yourself when you’re involved in a contest as emotional as Pitch Wars. On the hashtag, I see a lot of people doing this with food and alcohol. Chocolate and wine are delicious ways to deal with those good and bad emotions. But here’s the thing. I’ve been there. As much as I hate to say it, I’m here to tell you that too much chocolate, wine, or [insert your favorite treat] can 100% be a bad thing, especially when it comes at the expense of healthy food.

Many readers know me as a 2016 Pitch Wars hopeful, but I was also a mentee last year, with a different manuscript, and the marvelous mentor Rachel Lynn Solomon. A few things have come up on the hashtag and in our 2015 mentee Facebook group that made me think I needed to write this post. Read the rest of this entry »