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About Renni Browne

Renni Browne has been an editor for over fifty years and founded The Editorial Department in 1980. She is even better known as the coauthor of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, its first edition published by HarperCollins in 1991 and still a best-selling craft book for writers. Interested in working with Renni as your editor? Please click here.

The Truth about First Novels and Traditional Publication What authors need to know

[by Renni Browne]

What you might hear:

  • “Acquisitions editors at major publishing houses don’t want to read first-novel submissions.”
  • “Literary agents don’t want to take on unknown writers anymore.”
  • “Publishers only want novelists who have a strong platform or a great track record of book sales.”
  • “If by a miracle you get a first novel published, it’ll […]
By |2022-02-15T20:34:15+00:00|Getting Published, RDB, Traditional Publishing, Trends|Comments Off on The Truth about First Novels and Traditional Publication What authors need to know
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Characters: Making Them Real Tips on making your characters convincing and memorable from editor Renni Browne

Most fiction writers begin a novel or short story by coming up with characters firmly in mind and then building a story around them—or by coming up with a plot and then building characters to play the various roles it requires. It’s not really that simple, of course: an unruly character may at some point dictate a […]

By |2019-06-17T19:31:02+00:00|RDB, The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on Characters: Making Them Real Tips on making your characters convincing and memorable from editor Renni Browne
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What Editors (Really) Do A guide for authors, by Editorial Department founder Renni Browne

Licensed Image - Copyright Dec 1999 The New Yorker

So in one of my favorite New Yorker cartoons by Sam Gross, we have a cat maniacally clawing an upholstered chair, obviously not for the first time, and its owner explaining to her guests: “We believe that in […]

By |2022-02-21T19:31:14+00:00|RDB, The Editor’s Craft, The Editorial Process|Comments Off on What Editors (Really) Do A guide for authors, by Editorial Department founder Renni Browne
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The Writer’s Secret Weapon: The Power of What You Leave Out Editor Renni Browne explores the value of what’s left unsaid in good storytelling

Here’s an excerpt from a writing contest entry where a man is driving to San Diego with the servant girl he’s just given a Rolex watch—a girl who gave him something he valued much more:

Amir’s assignment had been to gain access to Bonnie Becker’s house, using Marie’s position as a live-in domestic with lawful possession of the keys and […]

By |2019-06-19T16:42:24+00:00|RDB, The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on The Writer’s Secret Weapon: The Power of What You Leave Out Editor Renni Browne explores the value of what’s left unsaid in good storytelling
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