Welcome to one of the April 26th stops on the blog tour for Runaway Train by Lee Matthew Goldberg, organized by XPresso Book Tours. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts & interviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Guest Post
What advice would you give to new authors?
The best advice I can give to new authors is to really treat writing as a career if you are serious. Life makes it hard to find the time to write, but you have to carve out space. First, you also need to read everything. Reading only makes you a better writer as you learn to find your voice. In terms of publishing, it’s best to start with short stories to build up your writing resume. Find journals and send out your work when you find that it is absolutely edited and done. Submittable is a good resource, since it shows what different journals are looking for, and when the stories are due. You can always publish your stories onto Amazon as well, but I think it’s better to build up some actual credits before you decide to self-publish.
If you are writing a novel, it’s important to find people who can give you real feedback, warts and all. I did an MFA program, which was super helpful to hone my craft and network, but I understand that financially that’s not feasible for everyone. So find good readers in your life to look at your work. Once you feel like your book is ready for professionals, start querying agents. Do the research online to find which agents would be best for your novel and career. You can look at the acknowledgement section of books that you like because oftentimes a writer will give credit to their agents. It’s a good idea to learn how to properly write a query letter. Make sure it’s personalized to the specific agent and do not send out mass emails. Mention any relevant information that pertains to the novel and ask if they would want to read a sample. Don’t just send it without asking.
Finally, understand that rejection will be a huge part of being a writer. Everyone gets rejected, and it’s crucial not to let it get you down. Take all the feedback you receive and use it to become a better writer each time.
About the Book
Runaway Train
Runaway Train Book One
by Lee Matthew Goldberg
Publishing 29 April 2021
Wise Wolf
Genre: YA Contemporary
Page Count: 290
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
They told me I was an out-of-control train about to crash…
Everything changed when the police officer knocked on the door to tell me – a 16-year-old – that my older sister Kristen had died of a brain aneurysm. Cue the start of my parents neglecting me and my whole life spiraling out of control.
I decided now was the perfect time to skip town. It’s the early 90’s, Kurt Cobain runs the grunge music scene and I just experienced some serious trauma. What’s a girl supposed to do? I didn’t want to end up like Kristen, so I grabbed my bucket list, turned up my mixtape of the greatest 90’s hits and fled L.A.. The goal was to end up at Kurt Cobain’s house in Seattle, but I never could have guessed what would happen along the way.
At turns heartbreaking, inspiring, and laugh out loud funny, Runaway Train is a wild journey of a bygone era and a portrait of a one-of-a-kind teenage girl trying to find herself again the only way she knows how.
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK
About the Author
Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of THE ANCESTOR, THE DESIRE CARD, SLOW DOWN and THE MENTOR from St. Martin’s Press. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. ORANGE CITY, his first sci-fi novel, is forthcoming in 2021 along with his YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, Vol 1. Brooklyn, LitReactor, Necessary Fiction, Fiction Writer’s Review, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, Essays & Fictions, The New Plains Review, and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series (guerrillalit.wordpress.com). He lives in New York City.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Bookbub | Amazon | Goodreads
Giveaway Alert!
Tour-wide giveaway (INT): eBook copy of Runaway Train
a Rafflecopter giveaway| April 26 | Movies, Shows, & Books |
| April 26 | Lady Hawkeye |
| April 26 | 100 Pages A Day |
| April 26 | Westveil Publishing |
| April 26 | Amazeballs Book Addicts |
| April 27 | Thoughts in Progress |
| April 27 | Living in a Bookworld |
| April 27 | I’m All About Books |
| April 27 | Adventures in Writing |
| April 27 | breen.rb |
| April 28 | Iron Canuck Reviews & More |
| April 28 | The Phantom Paragrapher |
| April 28 | Aubrey Wynne: Timeless Love |
| April 28 | Books, Tea, Healthy Me |
| April 29 | Candlelight Reading |
| April 29 | Annie’s Reading Tips |
| April 29 | What Is That Book About |
| April 30 | The Avid Reader |
| April 30 | Rockin’ Book Reviews |
| April 30 | Books A-Brewin’ |
| April 30 | Sascha Darlington’s Microcosm Explored |
| April 30 | Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author |
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Thanks for being on the tour! 🙂