Alan Rinzler

Consulting Editor

  • Home
  • About
  • Author List
  • Services
  • Testimonials
  • FAQ
  • Video
  • Blog
  • Contact

The blog for writers

The Book Deal

Writing habits of successful authors I have known

August 20, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

The most productive writers I’ve known develop skills and techniques that carry them through episodes of writer’s block, procrastination, and loss of focus. Writing is an art, a craft and a discipline. It takes a lot of energy and creativity to work all alone for the most part, to overcome bumps in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Craft of Writing

George Lucas’s blockbuster books: Q&A with the editor

August 13, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

What’s it like for a writer to work at the elbow of legendary filmmaker George Lucas? For the answer, I turned to my son Jonathan, an executive editor and writer at LucasBooks. He's worked closely with the boss and other staff for the past seven years to write and produce dozens of titles related … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Industry Trends, Craft of Writing

Ask the editor: 6 steps to writing a memoir

July 30, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

Q : I have so much material for my memoir. How do I sort out what to include and what to leave out? A : This is the key problem a writer faces when constructing a non-fiction memoir. Here are six specific steps to consider when making your decisions: 1. First, skip to the end Every memoir … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ask the Editor, Craft of Writing, How To Get Published, Memoir

Choosing a title for your book

July 11, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

Editors pray for the perfect book title: a tight high-concept combination of words that crystallizes the content and intention of the work. A title so scintillating and irresistible that millions of readers want to run out and buy this book immediately. Eureka! It happens. Think of Chicken Soup … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Industry Trends, Craft of Writing, How To Get Published, Marketing Your Book, Parts of a Book

Ask the editor: Constructing the “narrative arc”

July 7, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

Q:My writers group thinks I need to strengthen the narrative arc in my novel. How can I do that? A:The “narrative arc” is a fancy way of saying that every story needs to have a beginning, middle, and end. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, you need an act one, act two, act three. Take … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ask the Editor, Craft of Writing

Clay Felker’s impact on a young book editor

July 3, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

I’m among the publishing veterans who admired and benefited from the creativity and courage of Clay Felker, who died this week at the age of 82. This celebrated and deeply influential editor made a big difference at the start of my own career when he assigned his young star reporter Tom Wolfe to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Craft of Writing, How To Get Published

How Hunter S. Thompson beat back his writer’s block

July 2, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

Writers sometimes suffer bouts of major paralysis. They want to write, are desperate to get down something great, but it's just not coming easily, in fact not at all. No one had a worse case of writer's block than Hunter S. Thompson. After the presidential election of November, 1972, his … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Craft of Writing, Guts Ball: Editing Hunter Thompson

Tips for creating three-dimensional characters

June 18, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

A developmental editor can help a writer find ways to add greater depth and stronger identity to characters in a story. One approach combines two characters into one more complex and diverse individual, or instead, may split apart one character into two separate individuals, each … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Craft of Writing

Secrets of writing good dialogue

June 16, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

Writers I work with occasionally forget about dialogue entirely, summarizing the action in a stilted “told to” style, while others write quote after quote, in a voice that sounds all the same, often coincidentally like the author’s own. I have a few tips for all such folks: Read out loud and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Craft of Writing

Hidden agendas: primary sources & writing biography

June 13, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

I was interviewed last week for yet another book about the early days of Rolling Stone Magazine. This marks the latest of nearly a dozen long interviews over the years as a primary source for writers on the founding and initial development of what was then a startup with grandiose ambitions, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Craft of Writing

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • Next Page »

About The Book Deal

Welcome readers.  Let me introduce myself and offer up some credentials for the opinions, perspectives and insights in this blog. In nearly … more »

Working with Alan

I can’t thank you enough!

"Working together was interesting, challenging, and fun. I can't thank you enough for taking my stories and putting them in a comprehensible order, focusing more on my younger, formative days with my parents, and helping me remember great events that added so much to the book."

– US Senator Barbara Boxer. Her memoir, The Art of Tough, was published by Hachette in June 2016.

Figure out how to get Alan on your side

"Figure out how to get Alan on your side. He took my rambling manifesto and helped me hone it into a sharp, funny, culture-changing book featured in the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, the Times of London, and most recently on The Daily Show."

– Lenore Skenazy, author Free Range Kids – How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children Without Going Nuts with Worry.

Enthusiastic, imaginative and razor sharp

"Alan is enthusiastic, imaginative, razor-sharp, concise. His line-editing is specific and actionable; his developmental advice truly invaluable, providing focus and direction to the often chaotic process of writing a first novel."

– David Tomlinson, author of The Midnight Man.

An advocate, friend and mentor

“Alan can tell you at one glance, where a manuscript works and where it doesn’t. More than an editor, he’s an advocate, friend, mentor, and a bullshit detector of the highest caliber.”

–  Celeste Chaney, author of In Absence of Fear

A 5-star Olympic Gold Medal for editing!

"Alan Rinzler has edited seven of my books, and no one compares to his competence as an editor. Everything I write he makes better. Alan knows the business, knows writing and understands a writer’s needs. He has my 5-Star Olympic Gold Medal for editing! I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him."

– Michele Borba, author of Building Moral Intelligence, The Big Book of Parenting Solutions, and others.

Featured Video

view more »

Ask the Editor

Tips for blending in the backstory

Tips for blending in
the backstory
2015-07-28T14:50:53-07:00
Tips for blending in the backstory
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/tips-for-blending-in-the-backstory/

Wake up your readers! How to thicken a plot

Wake up your readers!
How to thicken a plot
2015-07-28T15:29:05-07:00
Wake up your readers! How to thicken a plot
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/another-link/

Memoir or novel for my true story?

Memoir or novel
for my true story?
2015-07-28T20:47:16-07:00
Memoir or novel for my true story?
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/3172/

Is your book in need of emotional glue?

Is your book in need of emotional glue?
2015-07-28T20:51:25-07:00
Is your book in need of emotional glue?
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/is-your-book-in-need-of-emotional-glue/

Can I really become a better writer?

Can I really become a better writer?
2015-07-28T21:05:22-07:00
Can I really become a better writer?
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/can-i-really-become-a-better-writer/

7 techniques for a dynamite plot

7 techniques for
a dynamite plot
2015-07-28T21:17:53-07:00
7 techniques for a dynamite plot
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/7-techniques-for-a-dynamite-plot-2/

What to expect from a developmental editor

What to expect from
a developmental editor
2015-07-28T21:21:18-07:00
What to expect from a developmental editor
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/what-to-expect-from-a-developmental-editor/

Categories

  • Ask the Editor (23)
  • Book Industry Trends (81)
  • Book Proposal Critiques (4)
  • Craft of Writing (72)
  • Guts Ball: Editing Hunter Thompson (3)
  • How To Get Published (80)
  • Literary Agent Profiles (11)
  • Literary Destinations (3)
  • Marketing Your Book (33)
  • Memoir (7)
  • Parts of a Book (5)
  • Self-Publishing (34)
  • The writer's toolkit (3)
  • Writers at work (2)

Follow me on

2008-2025 © Alan Rinzler Consulting Editor