Writing Tips, Workshops, and Inspiration from Bestselling Authors

Q: In my story, a police officer suffers smoke inhalation while trying to extinguish a barn fire before fire fighters arrive. What injuries would he have that would hospitalize him for a few hours to a day, but wouldn't result in enough long-term damage to end his career as an active police officer? A: The major effect of smoke and soot in the air is irritation of the eyes, throat, and bronchial tubes in the lungs. This would cause inflammation, swelling, and weeping of flu

If you’ve ever opened Instagram, stared at the screen for five minutes, and thought, I have absolutely nothing to post, you’re not alone. One of the easiest ways to reduce social media stress is to batch your content. Instead of creating posts one at a time, you set aside a block of time to plan multiple posts at once. That means less scrambling, more consistency, and more time to focus on your writing. 1. Start With Content You Already Have Many writers think they need to cr

The Short Mystery Fiction Society has announced the 2026 Derringer Award Winners, and we're excited to share Outliers Instructor Michael Bracken has won for the "Best Short Story (1,001 to 4,000 words)" category for Blind Pig (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September/October 2025). SMFS is a community of writers, readers, editors, publishers, and others dedicated to the promotion and celebration of mystery and crime short stories. Since 1998, the SMFS has awarded the annual

Mystery Writers of America has announced the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Award Winners. Outliers instructor and USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan has won The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award for her novel "All This Could Be Yours" (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books). We're excited to celebrate this honor and recognition, as its another nod to her skill and all other accomplishments! Congratulations, Hank! Outliers is a proud partner of MWA. As stated in T

Talking about your own book can feel awkward. But you know what doesn’t? Letting other people do it for you. Reviews, testimonials, and reader messages are some of the most powerful (and underused) marketing tools you have. They build trust, spark curiosity, and show potential readers what your book feels like. Here’s how to use them effectively without sounding like you’re bragging. 1. Pull the Most Compelling Lines Not every review needs to be shared. Look for the ones that

Join Outliers GET TO KNOW hosts DP Lyle and Kathleen Antrim for a fun conversation with bestselling author and Killer Nashville founder Clay Stafford. 📺 WATCH: Get to Know on Outliers YouTube Channel 🎧 LISTEN: Outliers Podcast Series On Your Favorite Outlet Clay Stafford has had an eclectic career as an author, filmmaker, story and creative consultant, actor, composer, educator, public speaker and business leader. He has sold nearly four million copies of his works in over

Bestselling authors and Outliers co-founders Kathleen Antrim and DP Lyle were recently featued on an episode of The Two Authors Podcast, with Douglas Pratt and Nicholas Harvey. The pair delve into Outliers' unique class offerings, emphasizing the significance of being an 'outlier' in the writing world, and how instructors like Jeffrey Deaver, James Rollins, and Hank Phillippi Ryan bring a wealth of real-world author experience to the program. 🎧 LISTEN NOW: The Two Authors Po

Join DP Lyle for a fun chat with Retired Detective and Story Consultant Adam Richardson. Adam Richardson spent seventeen of his twenty-eight years in law enforcement as a detective in California, including assignments to state and federal task forces. He has been helping screenwriters, fiction authors, TV shows, and film productions with the cop stuff in their stories since 2015. Join his online community, Writer’s Detective Bureau. "A world-wide membership of crime-fiction