Real Talk for Writers

Copyedits! CEs! The least favorite part of the editing process for may authors, this is the stage where a Grammar Nerd descends upon your book with a digital red pen and point out all your mistakes. 

It's also the part where many authors decide they hate their book actually, and can they set the wh...

So... Last week I cut my pinky in a way that makes it painful (and slow) to write.

Rather than skipping this issue of Real Talk for Writers, I decided to pull a short but insightful email I wrote last year and give it a permeant place here. I hope you enjoy, and I'll be back (hopefully!) on October...

*Reminder: Real Talk for Writers is on a biweekly schedule going forward. If you want more support for your author career, be sure to check out The Author Burnout Cure Podcast, which will continue to post weekly.* 

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Confidence is one of the key "soft skills" for a successful (enjoyable!) author...

In order to build a career as a novelist, you need to write--and publish--multiple books over time.

This is true no matter how many copies any particular book sells. Whether you make it onto a bestseller list or a grand total of ten people buy your novel in the first year, your next step is always ...

Regular celebration is essential to crafting a burnout-free, sustainable fiction career.

Yet celebration is also the most commonly skipped -- or delayed -- parts of the process I teach.

Authors will tell me that it's "too soon" to celebrate when they get a new book deal because it's not "officia...

Many stages in publishing are emotionally fraught, and that is especially true for going on sub with a new project.

This is true whether whether you're trying to sell your debut novel, come back from a gap in your books, making a career pivot, or taking a book out wide after a disappointing experie...

"I have this really great idea for a novel -- you should write it for me!"

"I'd love to write a book. If only I had the time!" 

"You should turn your book into a movie! And then cast me. And all my friends."

"What do you mean I don't get a free copy? I'm your sister's best friend's third cousin t...