Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions writers ask most often, each with a link to the full guide.
Litopia Editorial, with Peter CoxUpdated
When should I start building a readership?
Now, before there’s anything to sell. A simple page under your own name and a mailing list take an afternoon to set up, and both grow slowly, so the earlier they exist, the more they’ll hold by publication day.
Full guide: Where to start
Do I need my own website?
You need a page under your own name, and an address that stays the same if you move. That can be your own site or a hosted service, as long as your subscriber list and your writing can go with you when you leave.
Full guide: Where to build
Is a newsletter better than social media?
For keeping readers, yes. A newsletter reaches every subscriber who asked to hear from you, while a social network decides how many followers see each post. Social media is still useful for being discovered, so use it to invite people onto your list.
Full guide: Your newsletter
Do novelists need platform to get an agent?
No. A debut novelist is taken on for the manuscript, and a strong one can find an agent with no following at all. A tidy, current presence online still helps, because agents often look you up. Nonfiction is different: there, platform matters a great deal.
Full guide: What agents look for
How long should my author bio be?
Two to five sentences for the main version, plus a longer one of a few short paragraphs for your own website. Cover what you write, why a reader might trust you, and one human detail.
Full guide: Your author bio
Can I take my own author photo?
Yes. A good phone camera, soft daylight from a window and a plain background are often enough, as long as the result is sharp, recent and recognizably you. Pay a professional when the photo is for a printed jacket or press, or when cameras make you tense.
Full guide: Your author photo
Is blogging still worth it?
Yes, if you treat your blog as a public shelf of your best short writing. Good posts keep being found for years, show readers how you write, and give your newsletter something to send.
Full guide: Blogging
What is the fediverse?
A network of independent social media servers that exchange posts through a shared open standard, so an account on one can follow accounts on the others. Mastodon is the best-known example, and its home feed shows posts from the people you follow, in order, with no ranking algorithm.
Full guide: Social media
What is the difference between a blurb and a synopsis?
A synopsis explains your whole story, ending included, so an agent can check that the plot holds together. A blurb sells the opening situation (a character, a problem and the stakes) and keeps the rest back, to make the reader want the book.
Full guide: Writing your blurb
What is a logline?
One sentence that tells a stranger who your book is about, what’s at stake, and why they should want to know more. It’s your answer when someone asks what you’re writing, and it often opens a query letter.
Full guide: Loglines and comp titles
Where can I get feedback on my writing?
From other writers who read closely and tell you the truth, ideally in a critique group with clear rules, where members give critiques before asking for them. Friends and family rarely make useful critics, and AI tools can’t tell you what happened to a real reader.
Full guide: Getting feedback
Is Litopia free?
Yes. Free membership includes your own Author Page, a blog, public Updates, and the Colony, the writers’ forum, with its Writing Lab. Platform Plus+, Litopia’s paid upgrade, adds a newsletter, a podcast, a shop, seminars, events and the weekly Writers’ Huddles.
More about Litopia: About