Do you have a burning question about publishing?

Submit your writing and publishing questions via Friday Office Hours

Hello and Happy Monday,

Did anyone else have the “Sunday Scaries” last night? I did, big time. Unless you live under a rock without WiFi, the back-to-school energy of mid-August is hard to avoid. Many of you will be returning to writing programs in the fall, or returning to teaching, or trying to find hours in the day to work on your manuscripts while your children are in school, or you’ll be getting up indecently early in the mornings to write before work. So before we all get sucked into the whirlpool energy of September, I wanted to re-boot Friday office hours through the rest of August. If you have a burning question about publishing, please ask it in the comments and I’ll start answering these questions in a public post on Fridays.

As always, commenting is a privilege reserved for paid subscribers. I work hard to keep our community of writers and authors safe, supported, and respected, and paywalling comments has helped me to maintain these goals. If you are a paid subscriber, you know that I aim to respond to every comment that I get and usually offer detailed and personalized feedback to writing questions, which means that for $6 a month, my paid subscribers have a published author at their disposal who cares about their worries and wants them to succeed. If you’d like to participate in Friday office hours, please consider upgrading your subscription.

If you are having a financial hardship, you can respond to this email with your Friday Office Hour question, but please understand that I’ll be tiering questions and responding to my paid subscribers, first.

Regarding topics, you can ask about publishing conundrums, craft concerns, feelings of imposter syndrome, whether MFA programs are worth it, which writing conferences are great, anything you want! Even if your question seems silly or superficial, trust me, you’re not alone. In the book that inspired this newsletter, “Before and After the Book Deal,” I was encouraged to cut the section “What if I die before my book comes out?” I insisted that a lot of writers worried about this question, like seriously feared that they could die pre-pub and their book would disappear. I was able to leave the section in, and guess what? That’s the section I get the most personal notes about.

Speaking of correspondence, don’t forget to leave your Friday Office Hour questions in the comments!

The wonderful nonprofit GIRLS WRITE NOW is looking for new writing mentors!

Girls Write Now pairs women and gender expansive mentors with mentees aged 14-24 for a holistic approach to writing, career and college advice, and wellness. Join us virtually from anywhere in the United States or in-person to learn in dynamic writing workshops, create in community with other women and gender expansive creators, and form a mentoring relationship that can last a lifetime.

You can apply with the below link. Feel free to spread the word if you know someone who would make an excellent mentor.

girlswritenow.org/enrollment-2023-24

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That’s all for today— just wanted to send a quick note to encourage you to send your publishing questions in. I look forward to reading them and wish you a good week!

Courtney