Here comes November, and other scary stories
Plus: a quick review of Susan Shapiro's The Book Bible
Hi everyone,
I just finished reading Susan Shapiro’s The Book Bible. Instead of getting to linger in coffee shops like when I was reading Revise, the past few weeks have involved crisscrossing every borough of New York City. I’ve done a lot of reading on the train (see my oh-so-glamorous view of the corner seat on the D train below). This book was fascinating to me because it’s written for everyone from cookbook writers to memoirists - I love anything that gets me out of my academic bubble so I can learn from the larger writing world.
Two great pieces of advice from the book: first, if you’re looking for a nonacademic publisher, try to publish an article related to your book in a mainstream outlet (think: New York Times, The Atlantic, etc). People frequently get agents and book contracts based on those published pieces.
Second, Shapiro tells the story of a memoir she wrote that wasn’t getting any interest at all from publishers. She rewrote the book as a self-help book, and it got a huge contract and made her a ton of money. Her takeaway was this: no one cares what happened to you, people care why it matters for them. I found this story fascinating not only because of the prospect of actually making money for writing, but also because of the way she was able to preserve the core content of the book while also making it not about her, but about her readers.
Verdict: really worth reading if you’re looking to see how successful people outside of academia understand publishing.
(She also talks about how working with an editor was keep to getting her books published, which I also love because it’s my job!)
Next book synopses will be comparing two books on proposal writing, but that will have to wait until December, because…
My November goal: Write every day
At the beginning of October, I gave myself the ambitious goal of clearing everything off of my plate so I could write (almost) every day in November for AcWriMo. Thanks to Wednesday and Thursday writing sessions and the promise of a list-free November, I’ve had the most productive October on record. Three nonacademic articles submitted (got rejected from one, got commissioned to write one today, and have a third under review, so those are pretty good odds!). It’s fall on my side of the world, which means lots of rainy days to look out the window and put words on the page. (Today it’s sunny, which makes writing that much harder)!
I’ve also been working hard on everything but actually writing my book, doing a little outlining, a little market research, following pieces of the Blueprint Challenge. My goal by Monday is to have a list of exactly what new sections need to written, so I can just sit down and write them during each session. We’ll see how it goes! I’m using an inside outline strategy
It’s not too late to join AcWriMo!
Want to write with us? You can read more about AcWriMo here, or sign up here. Once you sign up, I’ll add you to our slack channel, where you’ll get access to the smartest people who are writing the coolest things through the whole month of November. I’ll be posting daily messages and writing tips, and we’ll be hosting writing sessions and two all-day writing retreats. Come for some of it or all of it, and say goodbye to 2022 excited about new writing projects! Writing is better with friends, so bring them along!
Because playing with Dall-E counts as writing, please enjoy these pictures of typewriters in a pile of autumn leaves.
Welcome to new folks
There’s been a pretty epic increase in subscribers over the past few weeks. Welcome! This is the newsletter for Epilogue Editing, the editing and consulting business I run. I have a PhD in political science and earned tenure and chaired my department at a SLAC before the pandemic gave me the nudge to move back to Brooklyn and start editing.
I work with scholars mostly in the social sciences and humanities on books (including manuscripts under review or contracted with Oxford, Cambridge, and Chicago just to name a few recent ones); articles and R&Rs for journals; job and tenure materials; and grant applications. I also do book and career coaching and run writing workshops for departments. I love meeting new scholars and learning about their projects, so feel free to reach out to set up a free 30-minute consultation!
That’s it for now - happy writing, and I’m so excited about seeing a lot of you next month!
Kelly