Gay, Roxane. How To Be Heard. Harper. 2026. ISBN 9780062845931. 256p. $26.99. WRITING

Bestselling author Gay (Opinions) pens a book offering writing advice for those wanting to share their voice with the world. She gives realistic and helpful guidance for aspiring writers, offers encouragement and practical tools on how to write, and also details the business of writing, from “How To Write a Short Story” to “How To Handle Criticism.” [Note that the publication date was recently pushed back to 2026.]

Mangum, Lisa. Write Fearless. Edit Smart. Get Published.: A Master Class for Fiction Writers. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781639933013. pbk. 240p. $19.99. WRITING

Writer and editor Mangum (The Forgotten Locket) has worked in publishing for more than 25 years and offers literary advice and inspiration in this book. Collecting the best of her writing and editing tips, she provides a guide that covers the entire writing process, from starting the story and developing characters to crafting a query letter to an editor to submitting a polished manuscript.

Syme, Rachel. Syme’s Letter Writer: A Guide to Modern Correspondence About (Almost) Every Imaginable Subject of Daily Life, with Odes to Desktop Ephemera and Selected Letters of Famous Writers. Clarkson Potter. Dec. 2024. ISBN 9780593235102. 224p. $33. WRITING

Syme, a New Yorker staff writer and originator of the #Penpalooza project, has created a coffee table book that celebrates the art of written correspondence. She shares practical instructions for things like courting and keeping a pen pal and buying nibs for a vintage fountain pen, while also providing inspiration for interesting missives through fragments of letters written by classic authors.