Ask Me Anything this August

Friday Office Hours are open!

Hello and Happy Friday,

I’m writing you from Brittany, France—one of my favorite places in the world (picture Maine, but French) where we are staying for the remainder of the summer at my mother-in-law’s ivy-covered stone cottage with her brand new kitten: in other words, heaven.

Before we get to office hours, I want to welcome new subscribers.

Hello! Thank you for being here!

In case you’re not sure what you signed up for, at “Before and After the Book Deal” (named after my publishing guidebook from 2020) readers will learn how to write better and gain valuable, actionable knowledge about the industry at large. To me, “learning to write better” does not only mean improving the quality of your creative writing on the page; it also encompasses writing about your own writing. Learning to identify—and communicate—what makes your writing unique and differentiated and readable is a skill I love to teach. We also do a ton of active reading, looking closely at texts from many genres to understand how celebrated authors write compelling stories. (Here is an example of an active reading post where I pit Ottessa Mosfegh against Colleen Hoover to see who does interiority better.)

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In general, this is how we do things at Before and After the Book Deal:

• Nearly every Wednesday: Posts about craft conundrums and publishing tips with actionable advice, as well as “Craft from the Couch” dispatches (video interviews with other authors). These Wednesday posts are often behind a paywall.

• Occasional Fridays: Friday Office Hours, AMAs, book recommendations, book giveaways, job boards, subscriber workshops, a personal essay or a random rant. Friday posts are usually public but commenting, workshops and book giveaways are reserved for paid subscribers.

Once in a while (as I did last week ;) I sent a Wednesday post on a Tuesday because I got the day wrong, and sometimes I write on Sunday because Wednesday came too soon. In other words: life happens. But I do try to stick to the above publishing schedule as best as I can.

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Which leads us to our Friday Office Hours! I’m opening an AMA (ask me anything) for the entire month of August. Simply type any question or frustration you have about publishing or writing into the comments section under this post and I’ll answer questions throughout the entire month of August. A few guidelines:

• Please post questions in the comments section here under this post. Do not DM or email me your questions: I want our fellow writers to benefit from our exchanges.

• Posting in comments and having your questions answered is a benefit for paid subscribers only. You can upgrade to paid using the below button to take part in this month’s AMA.

• One question per person, please.

• Be courteous and respectful not just in your questions to me, but in your replies to others, please. I reserve the right not to answer any questions or comments that I find offensive.

• I will try and answer questions up until the end of August. It might take me some time to get to each question. Thank you for your patience!

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Off we go! Let’s get to your questions, your frustrations, your challenges, the things you just don’t get about writing and publishing in America. I look forward to reading them.

Thanks for being here.

Courtney

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