Letters from the Editor

Letters from the Editor: On balancing writing with the real world, broken sales embargos, and moreEdit Subject

9/18/2019

Writing in Spite of the Real World:
The Art of Balancing Side Projects with Normal Life

As we prematurely bust out the sweater collection and ease back into our busy lives this month, I’m detecting a certain eau de anxiété from my friends and colleagues who do self-led work.

Writers, freelancers, and artists: this is the season where the real world starts to breathe again, and if there’s anything that interferes with making strides on your side projects, it’s the real world. But striking a healthy work-life-other work balance is possible, and it all begins with the right frame of mind.

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Letters from the Editor: On what agents look for in submissions, remembering Toni Morrison, and more

8/22/2019

The #1 Thing Your book Needs to Have Before You Start Submitting to agents

Let’s say you've finally arrived at the querying stage with your work. You've done all the writing and polishing there is to be done so far, you've researched all the best agents for your genre, and you're ready to start sending your manuscript out into the big, scary world.
At many times during the querying phase, often after a rejection or two rolls in, you might wonder to yourself: is there anything else I can do to get one of these agents to bite?
In fact, there is.

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Letters from the Editor: On building your dream home office, fall must-reads, and more

8/7/2019

As we say goodbye to summer and prepare to settle back into our normal routines, I thought it might be time to dust off one of my favorite articles from the archive: my guide to building a home office that you love.

Not gonna lie, I’m damn proud of my home office. It’s beautiful, it encourages productivity, and most importantly, it’s perfect for me. You might already be happy with the space you’ve put together, but if you feel like you’re missing that extra pizzazz, check out these tips to bring your office-away-from-office to the next level.

Bonus, putting together your office is a great way to ease your way back into work mode without doing real work yet. Call it “work-adjacent.” It’s a little tough to shift gears from summer to fall so suddenly, so this could be a nice project to start that process without giving yourself whiplash.

Happy Reading!

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Letters from the Editor: On the summertime slowdown, Audible's next big move, and more

7/24/2019

Don’t Fight the Summertime Slowdown

For those of us with self-directed jobs and side projects, summer can be a productivity nightmare…but does it have to be?

I recently had a conversation with a writer friend in which I lamented how little “real” work I’ve been getting done post-Independence Day. Sure, I’m meeting deadlines for already established projects, but I’m slacking off when it comes to moving bigger internal projects forward.

Could it really be that *gasp* I don’t want to spend these beautiful summer months staring at Quickbooks?!

The guilt I feel for not being as productive as I normally am is very real. So real, in fact, that I’ve been finding myself overdoing it on iced coffees in an effort to force an eight-hour day to bear fruit, which then makes me stay up all night, which then makes me drink more iced coffee, which then...you get the picture.

My friend, a full time freelance writer, has been having the same experience. Everyone feels a lag during the summer months, but I think that those of us with self-directed jobs (or side projects) feel especially guilty about that drop in productivity. Here we are with a few months to dig deep into our projects and then...that motivation just isn’t there.

Me tubing down the Delaware River, living my best life and a million mental miles away from work

The truth is that the summer months are meant to crawl by at a snail’s pace. Everything from people to work to motivation are supposed to be in slow motion. And it’s sad for those of us with self-led projects, but true; we’re just not at our most productive during the summer.

So why not embrace it?

I think the natural instinct is to push back hard against the summer slump--we have entire days ahead of us and we’re just supposed to let them just float by like that?--but a recent article from the W/W Club kind of made me feel better, or at least less guilty about the whole thing. The idea is that you can adopt the pace of summer as your own and let that leisurely energy carry your efforts through until fall. Use the summer months to refuel and set yourself up for when we start to snap out of the lull in September.

The trick to pulling off a seamless summer-to-fall transition without turning into a human potato is to know the difference between “not doing” and “non-doing.”

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Writing in the Age of Cancel Culture

7/10/2019

Writing in the Age of Cancel Culture

Representation in publishing is more important than ever.
How can authors keep up?

Courtesy of Bill Kerr via Flickr

As of late, the publishing world has placed significant attention on the importance of representation in both the authors of stories and in the stories themselves. We want to see richness, variety in the worlds we read about, and if that diversity comes from diverse writers, all the better! But diversity alone isn’t enough today. I’ve come across a handful of stories in the news lately about diverse authors of diverse stories who faced backlash over insensitive conduct, either in their writing or in their day-to-day life.

Natasha Tynes, a Jordanian-American author, had her book cancelled after going on Twitter to call out a D.C. metro worker -- a black woman -- for eating on the job. Her publisher characterized her tweet as “policing [a] black woman’s body.” Tynes apologized, mentioning that she was not native to the United States and wasn’t aware of the implications of her tweet, but the damage was done. Since then, Tynes has faced a barrage of racially charged attacks and is suing her publisher for defamation. She remains unpublished.

Y.A. author Amélie Wen Zhao was all set for her debut novel, Blood Heir, to be published, but withdrew the work just months before publication after critics who read the book pre-release called her depiction of slavery blatantly racist. Like Tynes, Zhao acknowledged her non-nativity to the US and by extension, her lack of awareness of the weight of slavery here, as reasons for why she wrote what she did. Six months later, Zhao’s three book contract sits in limbo as her work undergoes revision. She remains unpublished.

Kosoko Jackson, a black and queer author, withdrew the publication of his book A Place for Wolves after criticism of his portrayal of Muslims and his treatment of war in the novel. The story centered on two American boys falling in love during the Kosovo War, and had initially received loads of good press for Jackson’s tasteful handling of the subject matter, but one critical Goodreads review triggered an avalanche of negative attention on Twitter. He remains unpublished.

Clearly, the sociocultural landscape of publishing is not insulated from the goings on of the world at large. Here, just as in film or music or any other artistic arena, creators and consumers of the products of publishing are not only molded by, but evaluated by the standards of the greater context in which they operate.

Calling out racism, sexism, and prejudice is the right and important thing to do, and I’m so happy that it’s becoming the standard, but you have to accept that the aim isn’t always on the right target. With the world the way it is today, and with the massive, sometimes unpredictable shifts we’re seeing toward a more enlightened progressive social consciousness, how can writers protect themselves from charges of insensitivity without sacrificing their artistic liberty? What’s a writer to do?

Letters from the Editor: On the opportunity in revision, the state of diversity in publishing, and more

6/26/2019

Instead of Starting Over, Try Starting Fresh

The last thing any writer wants to think about when they're halfway through their novel is going back to the beginning.

I recently had a coaching call with a writer from which the main takeway was that there was quite a bit of development to be done, from plot to character and beyond. He was stalling out and couldn't really make any forward movement without addressing the issues in the ground he'd already covered. So, the advice I gave (which I'm sure was dreadful to hear) was that he should take some time to work on that development, fix the bones of his story, and then...start at the beginning. Scary, right?

I was expecting at least a little drama after delivering the news to this writer, but I was surprised by his reaction. Instead of being pessimistic, he was excited, invigorated by the thought of beginning anew. He viewed it as an opportunity not to start over, but to start fresh, and that made all the difference.

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Letters from the Editor: On big things coming (I need to hear from you!), short-lived spelling bee dreams, and more

6/12/2019

What Does the Word "Platform" Mean to You?

If I had to name the #1 thing writers ask me about aside from their manuscripts, it would be their platforms. There seems to be nothing else that strikes such fear in the hearts of anyone trying to get published in 2019; we all hear the stories of writers not getting picked up by agents or publishers because their platform isn't big enough. Yet there is also a lot of misinformation out in the world about what platform really means, how a writer can build theirs in a way to attract a publisher or sell their book, or how relevant it actually is in publishing.

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Letters from the Editor: On momentum, NYC public library budget cuts, and more

5/30/2019

Summer is for Building Momentum

There's no denying it: summer is here. Three months of longer days means more time to think, plan, do, make progress...but what are you focused on? What are you driving toward?

As serious writers know, so much of getting published is about persistence (case in point: Julia Phillips, featured in the Books on Your Radar this issue, who queried 100 agents before striking gold). It's no small feat to become a published author, and the wall I've seen many a talented writer run into is losing that momentum, that drive that ends in success, before they're anywhere near where they want to be.

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Letters from the Edtior: On knowing your book is ready, the textbook publisher merger from hell, and more

5/15/2019

When is Your Book Ready to be Published?

I had a lot of really great questions come out of the AMA I ran a bit ago on Reddit, and a few of those questions sparked some reflection on my end. One question that stuck with me in particular was asking how you can know if your book is ready for publishing, and as I've been turning that over in my head lately, I wanted to share some thoughts with you all.

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Letters from the Editor: On the importance of expertise, publishing scams, and more

5/2/2019

It's May at last! Summer is just around the corner, and with the energy that comes with warmer weather, I have no doubt people are getting ready to put all sorts of big plans into action -- both personal and professional.

I'd like to take this opportunity to caution us all against a rising trend I've noticed in the entrepreneur world of "you can sell anything."

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Letters from the Editor

Writing, editing, and publishing with a twist of candor

Letters from the Editor: On balancing writing with the real world, broken sales embargos, and moreEdit Subject

Writing in Spite of the Real World:
The Art of Balancing Side Projects with Normal Life

Letters from the Editor: On what agents look for in submissions, remembering Toni Morrison, and more

The #1 Thing Your book Needs to Have Before You Start Submitting to agents

Letters from the Editor: On building your dream home office, fall must-reads, and more

Letters from the Editor: On the summertime slowdown, Audible's next big move, and more

Don’t Fight the Summertime Slowdown

Writing in the Age of Cancel Culture

Writing in the Age of Cancel Culture

Letters from the Editor: On the opportunity in revision, the state of diversity in publishing, and more

Letters from the Editor: On big things coming (I need to hear from you!), short-lived spelling bee dreams, and more

Letters from the Editor: On momentum, NYC public library budget cuts, and more

Letters from the Edtior: On knowing your book is ready, the textbook publisher merger from hell, and more

Letters from the Editor: On the importance of expertise, publishing scams, and more

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Letters from the EditorWriting, editing, and publishing with a twist of candor

Writing in Spite of the Real World:The Art of Balancing Side Projects with Normal Life

The #1 Thing Your book Needs to Have Before You Start Submitting to agents

Writing in the Age of Cancel Culture

Archives

Letters from the Editor

Writing, editing, and publishing with a twist of candor

Writing in Spite of the Real World:
The Art of Balancing Side Projects with Normal Life