The Good Stuff: 6 Moments to Celebrate on Your Publishing Journey

August 18, 2015 by Maria

As I wrote about here, August is the month of The Good Stuff around these parts. Every week I’m going to be focusing on something worth celebrating in the publishing journey—whether it’s stories about new deals and successes, or writing inspiration, or platform-building encouragement, I want us all to end our summers steeped in the happy moments that make the crazy business of books worthwhile…

One of the things I most fell in love with about nonfiction publishing is that you learn something new from every single book you work on. Yes, this means I now know how to make a mean chicken wing, and I can probably interior decorate any space within an inch of its (well, my ) life. But I’ve especially loved reading and working on so many psychology and personal development books, because it gives you a chance to think about your interior life.

And what do almost all of the dozens of psychology and personal development books I’ve worked on had in common? They all preach the gospel of Gratitude. I’ll spare you the katrillion studies that prove how gratitude can radically improve our physical and mental states, and just jump right into bringing some gratitude to the publishing journey.

After walking this exhilarating, sometimes crazy, publishing journey alongside so many authors and books, I’ve found the best places to stop, take a look around, and breathe a sigh of gratitude for where you are. Here are the 6 most important moments to celebrate on your publishing journey:

New Series! The Good Stuff on Your Path to Publication

August 3, 2015 by Maria

Publishing gets a bad rap sometimes. Too many people see the people within the industry—the literary agents, editors, booksellers, etc.—as overly picky gatekeepers, armed with a “no” for every unsuspecting writer who approaches them.

But that’s really not who we are. We, just like you, really, really like books. So we don’t think it’s fun to say no to books. In fact, we’d much prefer to say yes. We live for those big hearty yeses, where we all clap each other on the back and congratulate ourselves and burst with excitement for that one book we love.

Read, Eat, Drink: Long Lost Books by Beloved Authors and “Recipes” for Toast

July 23, 2015 by Maria

Read:

How I Found the Harper Lee Manuscript (Op-Ed by Tonja Carter, Lee’s attorney, in The Wall Street Journal): The story behind the rediscovery of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman just gets curiouser and curiouser. A rifling through of valuable papers with no supervision? An envelope that hasn’t been opened in 50 years? A possible third or even fourth manuscript? Sometimes I’ve believed as many as twelve impossible things before breakfast, but this ain’t one of those times.

The Great Gift of Reading Aloud (Meghan Cox Gurdon for The Wall Street Journal): “To curl up with children and a good book has long been one of the great civilizing practices of domestic life, an almost magical entry point to the larger world of literature.” And even if you don’t have your own little ones, organizations exist all over the country that allow you to curl up with some kids and read a good book to them. (Jarrett and I read to kiddos in our neighborhood through the wonderful The Reading Connection, but Reach Out and Read runs literary programs across the country.)

Dr. Seuss Book: Yes, They Found It in a Box (Alexandra Alter for The New York Times): Why is this the year of discovering long lost books by beloved authors? (Not that I’m complaining.) As Alter describes: “But alongside the orphaned sketches was a more complete project labeled “The Pet Shop,” 16 black-and-white illustrations, with text that he had typed on paper and taped to the drawings. The pages were stained and yellowed, but the story was all there, in Dr. Seuss’ unmistakable rollicking rhymes. ‘We didn’t know that we had such a treasure,’ said the assistant…” Oh, the places we’ll find books.

New dr seuss book
Photo: The New York Times

Eat & Drink:

Garden-and-Gun-Southern-Food-Issue

Stage Three of Publishing a Book: Hooray–You Have a Book Deal! And How to Write a Book the Sane Way

July 21, 2015 by Maria

This month I’m running a series on how the publishing process works and how to successfully navigate each stage of the journey, with zero bewilderment and maximum fun.

You can catch up here if you want to learn more:

If you’ve been following along, you’ve already learned what The One Thing you should focus on is, and you’ve also figured out how to find a Literary Agent who can help you write a knock-your-socks-off book proposal.

Now your proposal is with editors, and the waiting game begins. But the truth is, if you have a spectacular author platform and a unique yet commercial book concept, this part of the process will be more fun than terrifying. Really—I promise! Any agent will tell you that the very best part of agenting is having a project that everyone wants. We live for these moments of having editors gush to us about how much they love an author (we’re like proud parents!). And if an editor is also able to convince the rest of his/her team that this is a must-have project, then one day you will receive The Call.

On that lucky, hard-won day, your agent will say the words we most love to say: “You have an offer on your book.” Cue the happy dancing, fist pumping, and champagne showers. Even your cat will be slightly impressed.

Once you’ve decided to accept the offer and signed the contract (your agent should spearhead the negotiations, and this process is too complex to get into here), you’ll officially be through the doors! That’s when the next adventure begins: actually writing and producing your book.

The 4 Questions You Should Be Able to Answer at This Stage:

Category: Writing