Creating Trust Helps Make Sales

 

Earlier in the week, I was listening to Susan Friedman’s Book Marketing Mentor’s Podcast. Her podcast is all about how we can market our books effectively. Many but not all of her clients are independently published. Her guest for the week was Scott Carley who teaches managers how to tell who on their team or in their department has a good trust score. He was talking with Susan about how these things apply to selling your book. You can find her podcast episode here. 

As I listened to how trust in your book and in you, the author, can help sell your book to readers, I quickly realized that it also applies to selling a publisher or agent on your writing. Here is how three of the five points that Carley teaches his clients to examine apply to your query.

Vibe 

As defined by Carley, this is all about the feeling that someone gets from your book. The cover is often the first thing they notice, and it has to make a good impression. What does this have to do with your query? We no longer send out queries on quality stationary, but we can make sure that they are well organized and easy to read. Good organization and white space are a must. 

Motives 

Carley explained that people aren’t going to buy your book or class if you are simply trying to make money vs giving them something of value. The same is true of the editors and agents you query. You have to be able to show them that this is a topic you are passionate about, and your book offers something of value to the reader. This might be a piece of nonfiction that solves a problem for the reader or a novel that takes the reader on a compelling journey. You don’t want the agent to think you are just writing a romantasy because you’ve heard they are a great way to make money. 

Expertise 

This is the one that gets tricky. Carley explains that what you know is important. And it can’t just be what you know. If this is nonfiction, show that you’ve done research right there in the text. “A 2025 study at MIT revealed . . .” In your query, you can include some of the most important sources. “My research includes scientific findings from 23 academic journals including the Journal of the American Psychological Association and the Journal of Culture and Education.” 

Your expertise will also include whatever hands-on experience that you have. Carley explains that this last part is vital. Research is good, but what is your personal experience with the topic? 

A problem in any one of these areas can present a problem. If your query is poorly organized, no one will know what your book is about. If this isn’t a topic that means something to you, it is going to come across as something you’ve developed just to make money and having zero hands-on experience in an area is going to exacerbate this impression. It may be a mistaken impression, but you need to make certain your motivation and expertise shine through. 

How does your query letter score when you examine it for these topics? Your manuscript? Your independently published book? Your website? Building trust is key at all of these points and more. 

--SueBE

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 80 books for young readers. To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog.

She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin on the first Monday of every month. She teaches:

• Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work 

• Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

• Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

To get a free copy of Sue’s book, What to Do When Your Book Is Banned, subscribe to her newsletter, One Writer’s Journey, here.

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Interview with Sumi Watters, Runner Up in the Winter 2026 Flash Fiction Contest

 Sumi’s Bio:

I was raised in a bicultural household in the U.S., but have lived most of my adult life in Japan, South Africa, and the U.K. After spending several years as a presenter and news/copywriter for a Tokyo radio station, I took on a less glamorous, but deeply rewarding role in 2010 creating and writing English educational materials for Tokyo-based primary and secondary international schools. I’ve been writing creative fiction for about five years, and have been long and short listed in several flash fiction competitions, including the WestWord Prize and Wild Atlantic Writing Awards. I have two completed (but unpublished) novels under my belt and am currently working on a third—(women's) literary fiction set in war-time Japan. (X: @WattersSk)

If you haven't taken the time to read "Out of Character," take a moment to read Sumi's excellent story.  Then come back here to learn about her writing process.

------interview with Sue Bradford Edwards-----

WOW:  What inspired you to write “Out of Character?” 

Sumi:  My writing group's monthly prompt for February was 'music lyrics,' and I happened to hear Dolly's "9 to 5" on my way home from a meeting. So, I took the lyrics--'I tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen,' and thought of all the possible scenarios where one might tumble and stumble. 

My first (in-my-head draft) involved characters performing in a play, and the main characters (Jaykob and Sherbet) having a go at the director for not having a clue how to direct his/her actors. I'd recently seen "A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong," and realized there was nothing original about my story idea. Idea scrapped. 

But what if, I thought, J & S were characters in an in-progress novel? What if they were unhappy with the author's choices and her writing progress? And so, "Out of Character" was born. 

WOW:  You made so many changes before committing a word to the page or the computer file.  Revision is an important part of the writing process. How did this story change during the revision process? 

Sumi: To be honest, once I got the 'right' idea in my head, the story pretty much wrote itself. My word count was a little over the limit when I finished the first draft, so all I really had to do was tweak here, tighten there, and change a few bits around.

WOW: You write both flash and novel-length work. What do our readers need to know about transitioning between the two forms? 

Sumi: Not to toot my horn, but I think Flash Fiction is my thing. I have an idea, then I work all the details out in my head before I physically write the first word. I do this whether it's a 250- or 1000-word story or anything in between. When it comes to FF, I rarely write a true second draft. It's usually just the first with a few minor changes. I've written close to a hundred FF pieces in the few years since I started writing creative fiction. I LOVE flash fiction. 

WOW:  That's amazing!  I'm more than a little jealous. Can you tell readers about the novel you are working on? 

Sumi: As for novel writing.... Well. I enjoy telling a longer story, but I don't always love how long it takes. I start by writing a treatment of sorts--a chapter by chapter outline for the entire novel. I treat every 'scene' as flash fiction just to get the story down. (That means I do it all in my head, then write it down, one scene at a time. The chapter outline for my most recent WIP is nearly 30,000 words long and took me three weeks to complete. I've been working on the actual novel for about six months. As of today, I'm at 14,000 words. Laughable, right? This isn't my first novel, I've completed two others, but for some reason, I haven't had the 'long-term' attention span needed for stringing all those scenes together. Partially this is because of my day-job workload--writing/creating English, History, and Science textbooks for international schools. But it is also because the world has felt like it's burning these past few months. I'll keep plugging away--one word at a time. 

My novel-in-progress is titled Akita Beauty. Akita Beauty is a story about Shino, a (fictional) luxury-brand beauty consultant and celebrated performer, who is summoned home under the pretense her widowed father is gravely ill. When she returns to her hometown in Akita prefecture, she is forced to marry the son of a wealthy, but morally corrupt merchant, only to be sent back to her family a year later for failing to produce an heir. At age twenty-one and no longer a virgin, Shino is branded spent goods—disgraced, discarded, but most damning of all… barren. Set in wartime Japan, Akita Beauty is a story of sacrifice, duty, survival, and hope told through the eyes of a plucky, young woman determined to reclaim her identity and independence, despite Showa-era patriarchal societal expectations and norms. 

My mother was Japanese, so I spent a lot of my childhood in Japan. Growing up, I'd heard so many stories about life during wartime Japan and the years that followed from my mother and maternal grandmother. Shino's story is very loosely based on my grandmother's experiences. Spoiler alert: My grandmother wasn't barren! 

WOW: What do you wish all of our readers knew about writing flash?

Sumi: For me, writing flash fiction has allowed me the opportunity to explore different genres, POVs, and writing styles. My longer pieces tend to be contemporary stories told in the first person, but through flash fiction, I have attempted pretty much everything, even genres I'd never thought I'd write. 

What I love most about flash fiction is that you can tell your story from start to finish in a few hundred words. It's a short-term commitment. An hour of your time. An afternoon or evening. I'm not gonna lie. Writing "The End" at the bottom of Page 1 is super gratifying. A mini-accomplishment, but I count it! 

So, if you're pretty new to writing creative fiction or perhaps still trying to find your 'voice,' try writing a 500-word piece in a style that might be a little out of your comfort zone. You may surprise yourself.

WOW: I love that idea of writing an untried style in flash just to try things out.  Please keep working on Akita Beauty.  I think I speak for the group when I say that we need to see it! 

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Leave a Comment flash fiction, Flash Fiction Contest, interview, runner up , Sue Bradford Edwards, Sumi Watters, Winter 2026 Flash Fiction Contest

Metadata: Make Sure People Can Find Your Book

 

Recently I saw a talk about metadata that emphasized just how important it is to help readers find your book. Metadata is the information that identifies your book. It is what a reader might key into Google or a bookstore search engine. 

Some metadata is pretty basic. These items are upfront and factual. They include: 

Book title 

Your byline 

ISBN 

Publisher 

Publication date 

See what I mean? Your byline is your byline unless you use one byline for romance and another for children's nonfiction.  Back in the olden days you used to find these things on a card in the library catalogue.

But there is more to metadata than this. There are other things that make a book description more searchable. These include your genre and subgenres, keywords, and descriptions 

This second group of items matter because they impact how easy your book is to find, where it will be displayed in bookstores, and book sales. Let me explain. 

You’ve written a mystery. You know that there are subgenres and that cozies are popular. So you include cozy in your description. That’s great because it will help buyers, whether they work at libraries or bookstores, find your book. But if your mystery is actually a closed room mystery and a guest is poisoned and dies during a dinner, this isn’t a cozy. People may find the book but they won’t buy it. 

It is also important to use a description that accurately describes potential buyers. “Kid-friendly” isn’t a very narrow term. Neither is “great gift book.” Either of these statements might be true, but your description needs to be both accurate and specific. It is better to work in that it would be a good book for graduation, summer vacation, baby showers, or retirement. 

In addition to including information about who might purchase the book, metadata includes information about the book itself. If you are writing historical fiction or nonfiction, including information about the time period and place. If your book includes specific historical figures, you might include their names. Is your novel about a woman in STEM? Or a stay-at-home dad? Include it. 

The more information that you can include without your book page looking cluttered the better. Remember that the purpose of all of this information is to make your book discoverable by the right people. I’m just wondering why I had to discover something that seems even less fun than writing a query. 

--SueBE

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 80 books for young readers. To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog.

She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin on the first Monday of every month. She teaches:

• Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work 

• Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

• Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

To get a free copy of Sue’s book, What to Do When Your Book Is Banned, subscribe to her newsletter, One Writer’s Journey, here.

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Revision: From Structure to Word Choice

 

The final step in revision

After being off work for several months, I’ve signed a contract for a book due at the end of August. Step One is obviously to write like a maniac. Step Two is to revise. 

But to make the process as smooth as possible, you must know where to start. Too many writers think that revising is all about fixing spelling and punctuation errors. I’m not saying that we should ignore those errors but first, we need to look at the big picture or the structure. 

In nonfiction, that means that I make certain my sections are in the right order. I need a solid introduction and then carefully ordered chapters. When I write history, that’s easy because things are chronological. This time I’m writing about pop culture, so I start with the most popular aspect and then cycle through the rest. 

When you are looking at the big picture in fiction, you start with the overall shape of the book. This can include: 

• The Opening. Did you start your story in the right place? I tend to start too early. Another important point about the opening scene is that it is a contract with your reader. A humorous opening promises humorous moments throughout the story. Action promises action. Fantasy can be tricky, but you should at least hint at the world of magic. 
• The Closing. Just as your story starts in the correct place, it must end in the correct place. In some ways, it should probably come full circle with the beginning. 
• Plot. Does your plot hold together? Does your story have a strong beginning, middle, and end? This means different things for flash and either short stories or novels so do some reading to see how other writers do it. 
• Pacing. Your plot needs a balance of fast-paced moments and quieter moments. If your story is too fast paced, you risk wearing your readers out. Too slow and they’re going to do something more interesting like clean out the crisper. 
• Characters. Are your characters compelling? Even if they aren’t likeable, they need to be interesting. They also must be believable and three-dimensional. 
• Setting. Your setting must feel real. The reader needs to have a sense of where and when the story takes place. And the details that you include need to shore up your plot and your characters.

Once you’ve worked through any structural issues, you are ready to revise at the sentence and paragraph level. This is where you make sure that each sentence and paragraph brings something new to the story. You also look for inconsistencies just so that someone’s eye color or worse yet name doesn’t change. This is also the time to make sure you have used just the right word. Did your character stay in a cabin or was it a log home? A duplex or a town home? 

When I work on this level of revision, I have Word read the story aloud. If I read it on paper, I don’t hear clunky phrases. I miss some of the repetition. So I get out my knitting and I listen, pausing to correct the rough spots. 

Finally, it is time to proofread. This is when you look for spelling and punctuation errors. And typos! Don’t forget the typos! 

To catch these final picky errors, I print my manuscript out. Then I go into the dining room with a lovely candle and a cup of coffee. Reading print, I always spot things on paper that I didn’t see on the screen. 

Whether you are working on a piece of flash, a short story, or a novel, revision helps you hone your draft into the piece you intended to create all along. 

–SueBE

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 80 books for young readers. To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog.

She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin on the first Monday of every month. She teaches:

• Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work 

• Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

• Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

To get a free copy of Sue’s book, What to Do When Your Book Is Banned, subscribe to her newsletter, One Writer’s Journey, here.

  

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Leave a Comment big picture revision, proofreading, revision, rewriting, Sue Bradford Edwards

Interview With Saiyara Khanom, Winter '26 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Saiyara's bio:

Raised in Queens, New York, in a Bangladeshi American household, Saiyara Khanom developed a love for storytelling at a young age, shaped by the rich blend of cultures, traditions, and stories surrounding her upbringing. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from St. John's University, where she further cultivated her passion for literature and creative writing.

Saiyara is especially drawn to romance, horror, and fantasy, genres that allow her to explore emotion, atmosphere, and the complexities of human connection through imaginative worlds and haunting narratives. Her work is often inspired by gothic aesthetics, folklore, and the emotional depth found in both everyday life and the supernatural. Through her writing, she hopes to create stories that linger with readers long after the final page.

You can find Saiyara online at Reedsy and Substack. 

----------interview by Sue Bradford Edwards----------

WOW: What was your motivation for “The Plant that Doesn’t Die?”

Saiyara: I've always been interested in the way grief and love can coexist with resentment. We often expect stories about parent-child relationships to end with forgiveness or reconciliation, but real life isn't always that simple. Sometimes someone can hurt you deeply and still leave behind evidence that they loved you in ways you couldn't see at the time. 

The image of a houseplant that simply refuses to die came to me first. It felt like the perfect metaphor for a relationship that continues to exist after someone is gone. No matter how much the narrator tries to distance herself from her mother, even through neglect, the fern keeps surviving. It becomes an unavoidable reminder that some relationships don't disappear just because we wish they would. I wanted to explore the quiet space between anger and forgiveness. The story doesn't ask the narrator to absolve her mother. Instead, it asks whether she can acknowledge that love may have existed alongside hurt. To me, that's a more honest ending. 

WOW:  And that honesty is vital in hooking our readers.  Flash fiction is all about choosing what deserves space in the story. We don’t know the POV character’s name, but we know the plant is a fern. How did you decide what to include and what to omit?

Saiyara: When you're writing flash fiction, every sentence has to do more than one job. I knew early on that the emotional center of the story wasn't the narrator's identity, but it was her relationship with the fern and what it represented. Giving her a name wouldn't deepen that relationship, so I chose to leave it out. I wanted readers to focus on the emotional distance between mother and daughter rather than on biographical details. 

The fern, on the other hand, deserved specificity. Calling it "a plant" felt too generic. Ferns have this reputation for being resilient and quietly persistent, which mirrors the role the plant plays in the story. Naming it made it feel like a real object instead of a symbol. Throughout revision, I kept asking myself whether each detail revealed character, moved the story forward, or strengthened the emotional impact. If it didn't, it probably didn't belong. 

WOW: That's a fascinating way to consider each detail. Who will your character leave the fern to when she passes? Why this person? 

Saiyara: I'd like to think she leaves it to someone who doesn't carry the same emotional history she does; perhaps a niece, a neighbor's child, or even a close friend. Someone who would simply see it as a beautiful fern instead of a complicated inheritance. I imagine she'd tell them only that it's important to keep it alive. By then, the fern would no longer represent unresolved grief. It would represent endurance. The idea that care can outlast the people who first offered it. In that sense, she'd be passing along not just a plant, but a story that has finally become lighter to carry. 

WOW: What a good answer! What piece of writing are you working on now? 

Saiyara: Lately, I've been drawn to stories and poetry that blend the emotional with the uncanny. I'm currently working on fiction that leans into psychological horror and gothic atmosphere, exploring how memory, identity, and fear can shape the way people experience ordinary places. I love writing stories where the supernatural isn't just there to frighten the reader, but to reveal something true about the characters. I've been mostly working on short stories and novellas, but I hope to complete some novels in the near future. But no matter the genre, I hope readers always have something to take away from my writing. 

WOW: What question do you wish I had asked? How would you answer it? 

Saiyara: Question: What do you hope readers take away from the story? 

Answer: I don't necessarily hope readers walk away with a particular message. Instead, I hope they recognize a feeling. Most people have a relationship that doesn't fit neatly into categories like "good" or "bad." We carry love, disappointment, gratitude, anger, and grief all at once. If the story encourages someone to sit with those contradictions instead of trying to resolve them, then I feel it has done its job. I think some of the most meaningful stories don't provide answers, but they simply make us feel understood. 

WOW:  That's a great insight!  Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to share all of this with our readers.  Reminder:  You can find Saiyara on Reedsy and Substack. 

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Leave a Comment interview, runner up , Saiyara Khanom, Sue Bradford Edwards, Winter 26 Flash Fiction contest

The Benefits of Changing Your Mindset

 

I don’t know about you, but it is easier for me to see where other people need to change to achieve writing success than it is for me to see where I need to change. After all, I make sales and have a resume to prove it. 

That said, I also have dozens upon dozens of computer files of drafts I have never finished. And I don’t mean finished ready to send out. I mean that I often don’t finish a full draft if no one is waiting for the project. 

Recently I picked up a copy of Make It: Turn Your Creative Skills into a Business and Thrive Doing What You Love by Martina Flor. Flor is a lettering artist and author. She has written this book for other creatives who want to make a living as actual creatives. 

One of the topics that Flor discusses is turning from being an amateur to being a professional. In Flor’s mind, an amateur is someone who treats the work that they do as practice. A professional is someone who treats the various projects that they are working on as contracted jobs. What does this mean? They plan it out, consider the steps, and take it to final. 

Ouch. Does that mean I’m an amateur? 

I think it all depends on what we are talking about. I make a living writing nonfiction. Fiction is what often goes unfinished although I do have several unfinished nonfiction projects. So what can I learn from Flor’s approach? If I want to publish fiction, I have to finish it. I know that, but sometimes I need a reminder. And I need to decide if I want to one day call myself a fiction author. 

Just when Flor's ideas were sinking in,  I saw Susan Freidman’s blog post, “Do Podcast Interviews Sell Books? You’re Asking the Wrong Question.” You can find it here.  

In her post, Freidman discusses the number of authors she knows who are disappointed after they appear on a podcast and then don’t see the sales of their books go up as a result. Like Flor, Freidman wants people to change how they are looking at things. Appearing on podcasts isn’t an opportunity to sell books as much as it is an opportunity to build recognition. 

Let’s say you’ve written a book about essay writing. You want people to buy it. So you work to get podcast appearances. You don’t see your sales go up so you quit trying to get those interviews. 

According to Freidman, you need to change your focus. You need to look instead for the ripples. One podcast interview leads to another which leads to a different speaking opportunity. Your authority and expertise grow. You are invited to teach a class, and everyone is required to buy your book. Eventually podcast interviews may lead to book sales. But that will be because they lead to expertise and other opportunities first. 

Are you getting what you want from your creative career? Maybe you need to change how you are thinking about something before you can succeed. 

--SueBE

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 80 books for young readers. To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog.

She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin on the first Monday of every month. She teaches:

• Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work 
• Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 
• Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

To get a free copy of Sue’s book, What to Do When Your Book Is Banned, subscribe to her newsletter, One Writer’s Journey, here.

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2 comments interviews, mind set, perspective, planning a writing career, podcast, Sue Bradford Edwards

The Author Life: A Choose Your Own Adventure

Recently I was reading a post about the importance of revising. The author emphasized that we never get things right on the first try. Our first drafts are simply the starting place. And I get that. I’m working on five short pieces of nonfiction for Highlights High Five. Writing for preschoolers is not my sweet spot so revision has been essential as I shape each piece and select the right words. 

But at least one of my writer friends has taken a class on fast drafting. They have a set time to write an essay. Then they send it out. They don’t spend weeks or even days revising. Out it goes. Hey, I see you! Yes, you! The one shaking your head. This isn’t a gimmick. They make sales. And I've had one or two pieces that came together on the first try.  It is an amazing feeling.   

Writing isn’t a single path. It is more like a choose your own adventure. There are so many things that you can select to do. 

I realized how true this was when I was at a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference in LA. I had dozens of sales but not a single one was a book sale. While no one said anything to me specifically, it was clear. “We are book writers.” At that time, I had chosen another path.

One writer who emphasized this need for each of us to make our own writing journey was Jane Yolen (1939 – 2026). Even when she spoke to new writers, she let them know that this was what had worked for her. They would need to find what worked for them. 

When do we need to apply that independence? It starts with our writing habits. Do you write daily? For some writers it is a must. Other people work better if they set aside a large block of time once a week.

Where do you write? There are café writers and quiet writers. I simply cannot focus in a café or coffee shop. 

What do you write? Some people specialize. There are essayists and poets who write only essays or poetry. Then there are people who write a bit of this and a bit of that. I’ve written how-tos, book reviews, articles, and books. 

Who do you write for? Some people write only for young readers. Then there are the ones who write for adults. Although I write for both, most of my writing is for young readers or my fellow writers. 

Do you write in only one genre? There are people who write only mysteries or fantasy. But there are other writers who follow a story wherever it leads. They might craft a thriller and next write historical fiction. 

Traditional publishing or independent publishing? Outliner or pantser? Paid developmental editors? In person or online critique group? Word or Scrivener? Mac or PC? The possibilities are endless. 

The point that I hope you are getting is that your path as a writer is just that. It is your path. It might be similar to mine for a time and then be more like Renee Roberson’s or Angela Mackintosh’s. 

You need to write what only you can create and follow wherever it may lead you. 

--SueBE

• To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog.

• Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work 

• Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

• Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

To get a free copy of Sue’s book, What to Do When Your Book Is Banned, subscribe to her newsletter, One Writer’s Journey, here.

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 80 books for young readers.  

She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin on the first Monday of every month. She teaches:

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2 comments career choices, career path, decisions, Making Choices, Sue Bradford Edwards

Interview with Deborah Thompson: Fall 2025 Flash Fiction Runner-Up

 

Deborah’s Bio:

Deborah Thompson is a short/flash story writer, Pilates teacher and Graphic designer. Her writing has appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine, Fairfield Scribes, The Remington Review and the To Hull and Back Anthology,and recently won an Off Topic short story competition.

She has an MA in Creative Writing from Kingston University, lives in London UK with husband and two adopted children. and spends far too much playing online Bridge with robots.

If you haven't read her story, "Big Eye," take a moment to do so and then come back here to learn more about her writing process.

WOW: What was the inspiration for “Big Eye”?

Deborah: I sometimes use competitions to kickstart a story. This story was originally inspired by a Globe Soup flash competition, with a list of paranormal subjects to write about. When I saw the word ‘Kraken’, an image floated into my mind of two young things playing together, human and non-human. A Kraken in popular folklore is a giant, octopus-like creature, and when I did some research into octopi, their intelligence, their reproductive cycles, I wondered what the friendship between two such different species would look like as they grew. Would it even be possible? That’s when my imagination fired up!

WOW:  And that imagination comes through loud and clear in this story!  How did “Big Eye” change during the revision process?

Deborah: The story and its themes were pretty much there in the first draft. I enjoyed subverting the idea of the Kraken as a terrible, man-eating male, turning her into a creature who, like any powerful female, is both misunderstood and feared (by men). This particular story seemed to write itself – the non-verbal bond, the simple fun they had as children, their separation through the undeniable fact of growing up, the understanding that females endure, and sometimes sacrifice, for their children—a powerful bond which replaces the simple one of their childhood. In subsequent revisions, I tightened the writing, choosing words that reinforced the themes of connection, loss, and grief, and the final reconciliation of these three things. Final lines are important in short stories, and I tried various words and sentence structures, opting in the end for simplicity to try to suggest joy, endurance and love.

WOW: There are so many details that are left out of flash fiction. How do you decide what to include and what to omit?  

Deborah: As a writer, I need to be clear what the story is really about – what it is I’m trying to say, what the themes are, and then choose words that most effectively illustrate this. Evocation is key – what words will evoke, or infer, rather than explain? Generally, I look at a paragraph I’ve written, and then ask myself how I can say (or infer) exactly the same thing, only with fewer, more evocative words.

WOW:  That's an excellent way to do it, and a great lesson for us all.  You identify yourself as a flash/short story writer.  What do our readers need to understand before attempting to write flash?

Deborah: With flash, you don’t have time for lengthy descriptions, backstories, explanations. It’s very possible for a flash story to roam through time, as "Big Eye" does, but generally it’s best to stay in one moment of time and write about what is happening as vividly, and viscerally, as possible. Replace explanation with inference, and use descriptions and backstories sparingly, trusting the reader to read between the lines, to fill in the blank spaces with their own imagination and experiences. It’s quite an interactive process between writer and reader. I love writing short fiction for that reason. Hemingway’s famous 6-word story—‘For sale: Baby shoes, never worn’—is a perfect example of this interaction.

WOW: Keeping the reader in mind as an interactive partner works so well for you.  How has your MA in Creative Writing helped you compose flash fiction?

Deborah: In the MA, I learned about the 3- (and 4- and 5-) act structure, about the classic story arc which consists of establishing a status quo quickly followed by some sort of conflict that changes the status quo, then the quest by the protagonist to find a way to return to the status quo, and the final resolution and/or epiphany that leads to a different, (better or wiser) status quo. The MA gave me a chance to play around with this, in both flash and with longer short stories, and to have lots of feedback from tutors and fellow students. The poetry module was particularly valuable. I’d never written poetry before, and found the practice of using simile and metaphor very useful when it came to writing flash stories.

The MA was great fun, and I enjoyed every minute of it, but really, it was a springboard. I’ve learned so much more since graduating, through reading other’s stories, writing in as many different genres (and story lengths) as possible, attending online courses, entering competitions as well as sending stories to online magazines, using rejections as a stimulus to rewrite stories (rather than curl up in a ditch, which I sometimes want to do.)

Above all, I can’t recommend enough belonging to a writers’ group. Mine is a small one, made up of people from the MA, and there’s nothing better than having them critique my stories, and me theirs, to help me improve my writing.
 

WOW: Thank you for sharing so much of what you have learned and how it shapes your writing.  And, most of all, good luck with your current projects.

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Leave a Comment Deborah Thompson, Fall 2025 Flash Fiction Contest, interview, Runner-up, Sue Bradford Edwards

Interview with Elizabeth Cooke: Fall 2025 Flash Fiction Runner Up

 

Elizabeth’s Bio: 

Elizabeth Cooke is a London-based writer whose short fiction has been shortlisted for the Fish Publishing Prize, longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and featured in Litro Magazine. She trained as an actor before taking a practical detour into the corporate world, and now writes fiction in the margins of everyday life. 

If you haven't done so already, check out Elizabeth's award-winning story "Margaretisms" and then return here for a chat with the author. 

WOW: What inspired Margaretisms? 

Elizabeth: The first line of Margaretisms - “The clouds are near and very moist” - came from a prompt exercise with a writing group. It struck me as such an odd, unsettling sentence. It brought to mind something close, damp, and a little claustrophobic, and so the drizzly British seaside setting was. It draws quite heavily on the kinds of places I visited as a child. 

In terms of the characters, the three generations (the protagonist, her mother, and her daughter who lives abroad) was loosely inspired by Alice Munro’s The Moons of Jupiter. I love the way she captures "the sandwich generation" - that sense of being caught between caring for children and aging parents. It made me reflect on my own family, and on what that responsibility might look like in my own life one day - something I've been thinking about even more lately, as my father's been unwell. What amazes me most about Munro is how she conveys entire family dynamics - all the love and resentment and grief and hope - with such precision and restraint. She's a master of showing rather than telling, and if I could summon a drop of what she does then I'd be incredibly proud indeed. 

WOW: I bet a lot of our readers will be requesting their own copies of The Moon's of Jupiter after that recommendation. Flash is such a concise form of writing. How did you decide what details to include and what details to leave out? I noticed the only name we get is Margaret’s. 

Elizabeth: That’s a great observation! And honestly, something I hadn't consciously considered while writing. 

I recently came across a description of fiction as a kind of secret garden. In a novel, the writer builds the entire garden for the reader. But in short fiction - particularly flash - the writer creates the keyhole. The reader only glimpses part of the world, and the rest is implicit. 

So when it came to Margaretisms, I wasn’t trying to create the protagonist’s whole world. Instead, I was thinking about shaping a very specific viewpoint - a single afternoon, a particular feeling - and every detail served that viewpoint. 

It actually feels fitting that Margaret is the only named character. Even if it was unintentional, it reflects how central she has become to the narrator’s life. The absence of other names kind of mirrors that narrowing of focus - how caregiving can reshape someone's entire sense of self and attention. 

WOW:  That one answer gives us so much to unpack and consider.  How did this story evolve through revision? 

Elizabeth: The opening paragraphs for Margeritisms came out of a writing group exercise, then sat untouched in a notebook for months. I work like this quite often - I'll write something, or the start of something, then leave it alone for ages until I've got some distance from it. When I came back to those lines, I didn’t fully remember what I’d originally intended, which was actually helpful. It allowed me to approach the piece more instinctively and build something new from it. 

I can be quite an impatient (and emotional!) editor, and I sometimes struggle to see my own work clearly when I’m too close to it. So giving it time creates some clarity and revision can feel more like I'm evolving a piece rather than refining it. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if I revisit Margaretisms in the future and it shifts into something else yet again.

WOW:  That's so helpful, to think of revision as evolution. What else are you writing? 

Elizabeth: Lots of short stories and flash fiction! I love the room for experimentation with these forms. I’d love to write something longer someday, but I’m still working up the courage. 

WOW:  Growing into a new form definitely takes courage and often time. What question do you wish I had asked? How would you respond to it? 

Elizabeth: Ooh, that’s a great question. I think it would be: How has your relationship with this piece changed over time? 

When I first wrote Margaretisms, it felt more like a thought exercise - but since then, my father has been ill, and what once felt observational now feels much more immediate and real. I’m younger than my protagonist, and I don’t have children - let alone grownup children - but my understanding of what it means to watch your parents age has deepened, or at least become more complex. And alongside that, I’ve gained a greater appreciation for what my parents’ went through in caring for their own parents. 

It’s made the story feel strangely prescient, in a way. 

I also feel a new kind of responsibility toward the character. There are nuances I can see now - emotional textures I didn’t anticipate during my dad's illness - and part of me wonders if I’ve done her a slight disservice by not capturing those. But I suppose that’s part of writing: you can only write from the understanding you have at that moment. And sometimes, returning to a piece later reveals just how much that understanding has grown.

WOW:  Elizabeth, thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to help us grow as writers.  You've definitely given us a lot to consider.  Healing thoughts to your father and good luck on your future writing projects.

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Leave a Comment Elizabeth Cooke, Fall 2025 Flash Fiction Contest, interview, Runner-up, Sue Bradford Edwards

A Dozen Subgenres for Mystery Month

 

I was reading through my email when I clicked on one from Kanopy. I use this app to watch a variety of movies and series including mysteries. “May Is Mystery Month” proclaimed the email. I love good mysteries. But I still wasn't sure where my own project fits into the most popular subgenres. I did some digging and found 12 popular mystery subgenres.

Caper 

A caper is a humorous story about a heist. Much of the humor comes from someone being profoundly inept. My favorites are golden oldies, the Pink Panther and Scooby Doo. 

Cozy 

A cozy detective is an amateur. The murder occurs off-scene and things aren't too gory or graphic. Some definitions have cozy mysteries taking place in small towns. Agatha Christie is known as the Queen of the Cozy. More recent cozy series include Posie Parker by L. B. Hathaway and my favorites the Highland Bookshop Mystery by Molly MacRae.

Hard-boiled 

The hard-boiled detective story involves . . . a hard-boiled, professional private eye ala Sam Spade. The crime is gruesome and the detective is often fighting an emotional battle of their own such as addiction. Think the Robert Galbraith mysteries written by J.K. Rowling. 

Soft-boiled 

These mysteries are a lot like the hard-boiled detective stories but less gory and much more humorous. The soft-boiled detective is often a woman solving crimes in gritty, urban settings. Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books are soft-boiled mysteries. 

Historic 

This category can overlap with any of the others, but the stories are set in the past. The Lady Sherlock books by Sherry Thomas fall into this category. So does the Flavia DeLuce series by Alan Bradley. I simply cannot resist this young scientist turned sleuth. 

Paranormal 

A ghost or some type of magic is involved in a paranormal mystery. I've read books with characters casting spells via the cakes they bake as well as friendly ghosts. My favorites are the Haunted Yarn Shop mysteries by Molly MacRae. Clearly, I really enjoy her books. 

Police Procedural 

Forensics and other police procedures are critical in solving the crime. I really enjoy Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan series, perhaps the only mystery series my husband also reads. Shhh. He doesn’t realize they are mysteries. 

Suspense 

Suspense stories are atmospheric and build slowly. There is often a time element because the protagonist is the villain’s next target. Think When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole or The Safe Place by Anna Downes. 

Thriller 

A thriller is another type of tense, fast paced story that is often international in scope. Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series is one example of a thriller.

Romantic Suspense 

Add a dash of romance and you have romantic suspense. The grand-dame of this category is Mary Higgins Clark. 

True Crime 

This category is nonfiction, but these books read like fictional mysteries. There is a crime, and real investigators struggle to solve it. Think Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me. 

My story did not fit neatly into any of these categories, so I did one more search and came up with . . .

Science Fiction Mystery 

Science fiction mysteries combine all of the science and speculation of science fiction with a sleuth who is working to solve a crime but gets to use technologies beyond what any detective is using today. This genre isn’t new. One of the earliest books of this kind was Isaac Asimov’s The Caves of Steel published in 1954. My story takes place 100 years in the future and my detective is a tween who can code.

Reading through these subgenres, do any of them inspire you to work on your own mystery this month? 

 --SueBE

To get a free copy of Sue’s book, What to Do When Your Book Is Banned, subscribe to her newsletter, One Writer’s Journey, here.

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 80 books for young readers.  

• To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog.

She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin on the first Monday of every month. She teaches:

• Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work 

• Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

• Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

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4 comments Mystery Month, mystery subgenre, mystery writing, Sue Bradford Edwards