So your book club chose Wild Dark Shore. Smart choice. Charlotte McConaghy's latest thriller has everything a great book club selection needs: complex characters, controversial themes, stunning prose, and enough ambiguity to fuel heated debates over wine.

Tamora Pierce published her first novel in 1983. Think about that for a moment—when many of today's debut authors were being born, Pierce was already building the foundation of a career that would span decades. What can her marathon approach teach authors just starting their sprint?