Write Your First Novel

NASSER A KARIEM is an author, editor, and creative writing mentor whose work is dedicated to one mission: helping first-time novelists go from blank page to published book. For more than a decade, he has led writing workshops, critique groups, and one-on-one coaching sessions covering the full arc of the novelist's journey, from premise and character development to query letters, cover design, and launch strategy.

His own path to publication began the unglamorous way most do—with a drawer full of half-finished manuscripts and a job that left little room for writing. He learned to write in early mornings, during commutes, and in stolen weekends, and he learned the hard way that talent is cheap and follow-through is rare. Those years of trial and error, combined with his work beside hundreds of developing novelists, became the foundation of *Write Your First Novel*. The book grew directly out of the questions his students asked again and again: How do I start? How do I finish? How long should this take? And, most urgently, what do I do when I want to quit?

As an editor, NASSER A KARIEM has worked on manuscripts ranging from literary fiction to fantasy and thriller, and he is known for feedback that is both unflinching and constructive. He believes there is no single correct way to write a novel—only the way that gets your story out of your head and into the world—and he has built his teaching around that belief, favoring practical frameworks over rigid rules.

He writes and teaches across two continents, and his work has appeared in literary magazines and industry journals. When he is not coaching writers or editing manuscripts, he is reading, hiking, or working on his own next novel, which he describes with a smile as a book that would not leave him alone until he wrote it.