How to Glow in the Dark

It's Open Thread O'Clock. Please enter ye comments section to introduce yourselves, ask questions, and discuss publishing, contracts, subrights, the writing process, etc.

Today and every day, please remember that anxious obsession is a trauma response and not actually going to solve any of your problems (or the world's).

Remember: creative genius isn't a function of suffering; it's a function of wonder and play.

Some thoughts on what writers and agents can do to shore up our in-house colleagues' sanity.

Tip #1: it's okay to just not do that kind of work right now. (I do have some ideas for trying to do it, though, if you're determined to do so...or you just need to.)

A grab bag of random book ideas in search of an author.

It's not that these things don't sell. It's more that the odds of you personally selling them.......(Regina George cringe face)

A festive spring post on faceplanting, failure, mess, and the inevitability of death. 🐰

The uplifting reminder I'm sure you need on top of everything else you had to deal with today.

I hope all of us are taking notes from this guy while he emerges as one of the most effective and affecting writers in modern history.

Let's commingle our psychological band-aids here as we limp along together.

An open letter to them -- and you

A guide to what you can and can't summarize in a successful nonfiction book proposal.

Editors create profit and loss sheets to quantify authors' platform and market in the present and make projections about the future. Our job is to make THEIR job easy.

None of us can whine, plead, or argue our way out of life's messiness and emotional pain. Understanding this is going to be vital not just to your sanity, but to your publishing success.

Spoiler alert: if you think I'm going to reassure you that you're good or confirm that you're bad, you're going to find this post disappointing.

Behold: another one of my "this is kind of about author career practicalities but mostly an unsolicited life lecture" posts.

Understanding a human psyche—our own, others', and our characters'—requires paying as much attention to our negative spaces as we do our conscious thoughts and external circumstances.

My thoughts on a common question authors ask (or scream) in the throes of proposal and manuscript development. TL DR: the answer is something you feel in your body vs. know in your head.

You may or may not believe tarot cards are magic. I don't: I think they're a delightfully aesthetic way of accessing one's own subconscious needs. May this reading help you find yours.

As stress runs rampant through our bodies and deep focus remains as elusive as a greased watermelon, it's vital that all of us doing creative work surround ourselves with sensory comfort.

Creative genius is not a function of structure, force, or control; it's what happens when external chance and circumstance meet your own unconditional love.

Said blessings do not include “the motivation of spite” or “the catharsis of petty dislike.”

Your author photo is hugely important, but probably not for the reasons you might think. My notes on the when, how, and why of getting your headshot done

Who ISN'T in a terrible mood here at the end of this godforsaken week? Oh, not you, BARBARA? Well, that's just great, you little peppy-ass bit--oh, hi, everyone. TGI Friday lol :)

How today's books become tomorrow's classics--and whether there's anything you can do to help yours along in that direction.

A guide to adaptation rights, aka "where sanity goes to die"

In which authors ask us, "what's the next step?", and we reply that it's the sidestep of an answer we're about to give.

The warning signs of Future Drama are usually subtle, but they're there. Learn to spot them and save yourself the long-term misery of a mismatch.

Thoughts on this painful inevitability - yes, inevitability - of life as a published author.

In my drafts folder, there is a wad of objectively useful advice posts I’ve started before realizing I had maybe one paragraph in me max. Behold: My wad is now thy wad

It can be agonizingly hard to identify and fix the causes of proposal and/or manuscript unreadiness. At least the symptoms are mercifully easy to spot?

In writing as in life, we often tell ourselves “I’m stuck” when what we actually are is unwilling to do what’s necessary to meet our own needs.

Here's what a few of my clients have to say about hawking a book in These Volatile Times--and what they would warn themselves from the perspective of hindsight.

Here's what agents, editors, audiences, Hollywood types, and just about everyone wants to see more of right now--and how to offer them that value, no matter what you're writing.

Great writing is empathic, and perfectionism is the opposite of empathy.

On a genius pitching no-no I learned from James B. Stewart's FOLLOW THE STORY.

On how to be a good art friend by embodying Big Himbo Energy.

Writing a good book might be a function of "grind" for you. It also might not be. The One Weird Trick you need to find out what works for you? Self-knowledge and self-parenting. (Oh wait, that's 2.)

My response to one of the most common author fears: OH GOD, THINGS ARE MOVING TOO SLOWLY AND I'M LOSING MY ONE CHANCE AT SUCCESS, AREN'T I.