Have you ever finished a great novel and wondered, How did the author pull that off?
It’s not magic, it’s craft.
The Blue Garret is a free newsletter featuring close readings of contemporary fiction and the tools and techniques behind novels that work.
WHAT READERS SAY
“This is a terrific newsletter digging into the structure of what makes successful novels tick. … Having the mechanics behind the magic is both fascinating and does not lessen my enjoyment of the trick remotely. … The graphs particularly tickle me.”
“Writing fiction can be a lonesome endeavor. Blue Garret provides not only camaraderie, but useful, practical tips to writing that story idea you’ve had marinating around in your head. Highly recommend!”
“It’s one of the newsletters I read religiously and look forward to receiving. You’re doing a great job!”
“I love the Things of Joy. It’s a fun, unique way to inspire fellow writers.”
WHAT’S INSIDE
Close readings of novels that work
There’s no winning formula for a bestseller. But craft is something you can study and learn. In the newsletter I analyze novels—often straight off the current bestseller lists—to see exactly how they’re built, with charts that help you grasp the techniques at a glance and takeaways that show you how to put them to work in your own manuscript.
â—‰ Creative accountability & encouragement
Every issue opens with recognizing where we are in the year, and a little encouragement for keeping your creative work going through a busy, noisy world.
â—‰ Craft Advice
Practical tips from an editor’s desk, so you know what to look for in your own manuscripts.
â—‰ Novel Study
Close readings of contemporary fiction, from the opening pages to the shape of the whole novel, with graphs and takeaways for your own writing.
â—‰ Sentence Study
It’s like Novel Study, but bite-sized and focused on a single sentence.
â—‰ Book Review
Honest reviews of writing craft books. I’ll tell you what you can expect to learn—and when one isn’t worth reading.
â—‰ Ask the Blue Garret
Send me your questions—about writing, editing, reading, the publishing world, whatever you’ve been puzzling over—and I’ll answer in a future issue.
â—‰ Book Birthdays
New releases from my editing clients, because people are putting their work into the world, and you can do it too.
â—‰ Thing of Joy
Every issue ends with something joyful. Need to see some otters or a funny video about fonts? Of course you do!
WHO IT’S FOR
For writers and editors
For anyone who has finished a fantastic novel and wondered How did they pull that off?
Writers with a draft in hand who want to know what to do next
Editors looking for new ways to diagnose and articulate what a manuscript needs
Book nerds who already read this way and would love company
One purpose of the Novel Study project is to take commercial and genre fiction seriously. Reading in your own genre teaches you its expectations; reading outside it gives you new tools.
READ A SAMPLE
See for yourself
A FULL ISSUE
Week 35: What is a bestseller, anyway?
In this issue:
The season turning, and news from the garret
Novel Study: what the bestseller lists actually measure
The first Sentence Study: voice in Tana French’s The Hunter
Book Birthdays and a Thing of Joy
A DEEP DIVE
Keeping readers invested across 500 pages and 500 years in V.E. Schwab’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
In this piece:
How chronology carries a five-century story
World-building and POV shifts that sustain tension
How the structure itself carries the novel’s themes
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ABOUT KRISTEN
Who’s behind the Blue Garret
I’m Kristen Tate, the editor behind The Blue Garret. For over a decade I’ve helped authors write and publish the books that fulfill their dreams and delight their readers. I have a PhD in English from Columbia University, with a focus on the nineteenth-century British novel and publishing history.
My Novel Study books braid together the close reading and analytical skills I gained in graduate school with the practical knowledge I’ve gained by guiding hundreds of writers through the process of revising their work.
More about my editing →
Come read with us.
Close readings of novels that work, craft you can put to use in your own manuscript, encouragement for the long haul, and a Thing of Joy at the end. Free, on Sunday mornings.
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