Vitally important things for authors to remember (in aesthetically Instagrammable form)
If I had the skill and time, I'd embroider all of these aphorisms onto throw pillows and then fluff the throw pillows in conspicuous locations around your house so you'd never forget what they said.
Because my working memory is weaker than an expired O’Doul’s, I plaster visual reminders all over my house. I try to put every to-do and Important Life Principle in my passive sightline somewhere, ideally in the space where I’m supposed to execute on it.
Here in my office, for example, I’ve placed the following within my peripheral vision:
Post-it notes that say “DON’T COMMIT TO AN UNNECESSARY DEADLINE,” “DON’T SAY YES UNLESS IT’S A F*CK YES,” and “HAVE YOU OPENED YOUR BULLET JOURNAL TODAY?”
A whiteboard with all of my clients’ last names on it, color-coded by whether or not they’re actively developing something, on submission, under contract, etc.
A resin sign I made ft. a little plastic baby and quartz crystals orbiting the words “not today, Satan.” (I believe this one is self-explanatory, Denise.)
Authors: I recommend doing likewise.
Your specific reminders will vary, of course, but please allow me to cheerlead visual reminders in general and cheerlead them quite hard.
Publishing the most commercial book you can—as efficiently as you can, and without feeling wretched with anxiety the whole time—requires a certain dexterity. There’s a lot you need to hold in your mind as you write and edit: your audience, value proposition, subject, footnotes, mindset, purpose, context, voice, outside feedback, etc. etc.
This is analogous to making a delicate, complicated recipe that requires eight bajillion spices. When you’re making a recipe like that, it’s way, way, way easier to have all your spices laid out in your sightline ahead of time. You know? Assume you’ll have no problem diving for them in the pantry, and whatever you’re cooking is liable to end up in flames.
As you write that book, don’t hold everything in your mental pantry. Put the spices out in your sightline ahead of time. Hang up some visual reminders.
Below is a starter pack of those: all of the most important writing and publishing advice I can think of, condensed into snappy Insta-post form. Some of the advice in is original; some is distilled from my previous newsletters and Instagram posts; one is basically me stealing from Kate Bowler and a rabbi she recently interviewed on her podcast. But I promise they’re all very important for you to know.
Authors who understand the below simply have a much better time in book publishing than those who don’t. They attract more fans. They write more affecting scenes. They write more compelling queries. They wallow in confusion and self-doubt a whole lot less.
They also still encounter problems, of course. Many of their problems are complicated, unprecedented, and large. Such is the nature of life in book publishing and, well, [gestures out the window]. However: they do tend to see their problems clearly, and I’m sorry to say that sets them apart from most commercial authors.
In this dark, dark wood of book publishing, there’s a lot of spooky shit moving in the shadows. If one learns how to recognize and identify specific animals through the haze, one swiftly realizes they ain’t all that scary. But if you don’t recognize the animals, they’re all just going to inscrutable shame-cloaked trauma cryptids. Cryptids that want to kill you.
Metaphorically.
Anyway, voici my visual reminders. Feel free to print these out and stick them on your wall or share them on your ‘grams or make your own Etsy crafts / Canva posts with them or whatever (just tag me and Neon if you do!!):