Craft and mindset tips for authors: November 10, 2026

The publishing experts we follow have plenty of craft and mindset advice to offer. 

Here are the ones that we thought were can't-miss for our authors:

• Eight tips for revealing secrets in a thriller: Author Monica Arya shares her strategies for ensuring that her readers keep turning the pages (Writer's Digest).

• What happens when you don’t write to market?: Author Ingrid J. Adams firmly believes that sticking to her very specific niche and not adjusting it to what was trending in fiction was worth it, but she's not going to sugarcoat its challenges (Women Writers, Women's Books).

• The worst writing advice I ever received: Author Stephanie Wrobel is a big fan of giving up ... on individual projects, that is, not writing as a career or passion; here are the questions she asks herself to determine if it's time to move on from a particular project (Writer's Digest).

• The trouble with writing what you know: Fussy author Tudor Robins describes why she moved away from horse fiction for a time and how it reset her personal beliefs and expectations, letting her return to the genre with a fresh perspective (Jane Friedman).

• Taking stock: With her first self-published novel weeks from release, author Kit Aldridge reflects on how it can feel anticlimactic or, worse, disappointing — and how to react instead (Writer Unboxed).

• Prepare yourself for feedback on your book's draft: Book coach Suzy Vadori provides five steps to both put yourself in the right position to accept suggestions on your draft and to also elicit the type of input that you will actually use when revising your work (Writers Helping Writers).