I love talking about my book. I love posting on social media about my book. Having my book come into the world is one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me. What I don’t love is feeling as if I’m a show-off, or begging my friends for help. Every time I post about my book, I’m secretly ducking the negative anti-promotion vibes I’m sure are headed…
When I started writing in a serious, dedicated way, I had 95 undergrad credits and three active student loans. I didn’t have a bachelor’s degree or an MFA and had never been to a writers’ workshop, but I believed in my stories. As a gift, my parents paid for me to take a week-long writing workshop at the Chautauqua Institution, and more importantly, volunteered to babysit my boys (one of…
First of all, when I was shopping Girlish, I went with the “wallpaper the internet with queries” technique. I queried editors and agents and entered emerging writers’ contests—I tried to put my manuscript in front of as many people as humanly possible. One agent I really liked only took submissions through something called authors.me, so I checked it out. Authors.me is basically a dating service for agents, editors, and…
I sat in my very first writer’s workshop the week after I left my soon-to-be-ex-husband. I was going to chase my dreams, damn it, along with raising two boys in diapers and finding a job and a place to live. The presenter said something along the lines of, “you can’t write a memoir before you are forty,” or maybe it was, “no one wants to publish a memoir by someone…
Some people have agents. I am not one of them. It’s not that I don’t like agents, or appreciate their worth, it’s just that I got an offer for Girlish directly from Skyhorse Publishing. You see, I went with the “Wallpaper the Internet with Queries” technique when I was ready to place my book with a publisher. I started on Memorial Day weekend, 2016, and by September, I had an…
This week the Debs are sharing stories about their agents, editors and or publishers. Note, this is a repost of a blog post I wrote on Sep. 26, but fit perfectly for this week’s Deb topic. A few months ago, I wrote a big long article on the Grub Street blog on how long it took me to find an agent and how I eventually connected with the amazing Amaryah Orenstein at…
This week, in prep for Halloween, the Debs are writing about their biggest fears about publishing. The quote in the headline comes from Thomas Hardy in his “A Laodicean.” I found it apt for this post. Why? Because I’m a worry-wart. I probably should have added that to my confessions post,. I over-think nearly most every situation, prepping myself for what might come. I recently learned that the term for…
It is the 2nd Monday in a row that I have the great honor of kicking off The Debutante Ball celebration of another one of our authors—this week, Aya de Leon! I am so grateful to have met Aya on The Debutante Ball! She has been a constant source of positive energy She is wonderfully funny and honest, and always keeps our spirits high. I have learned so much from…
I can sing, word for word, almost every song that has appeared in a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie Late bloomers, take note: I started writing THE CITY BAKER’S GUIDE TO COUNTRY LIVING when I was 38, sold the novel when I was 44, and it is being published when I am 45. I have never lived in the country. I have been a vegetarian for almost my whole…
Dear Debut Author, First off, congratulations! You have sold your first book! Your dream is coming true! Ahead of you is an absolutely thrilling, roller coaster of a year (or two), filled to the brim with new experiences and new people. You will do all the things that only writers daydream about—you will get your author photo taken and it will feel glamorous. You will receive blurbs from writers you…
