AUTHOR IN PROGRESS is here to help you Prepare, Write, Improve, Rewrite & Persevere
By Writer Unboxed | November 1, 2016 |
AUTHOR IN PROGRESS is officially releasing TODAY, and we’re so excited for you to meet our book — filled with NEW essays on the journey every writer takes to produce a novel. That’s not just the journey of the not-yet-published author either; it’s also the journey of the published author. The end of one book is never the end of the journey for an author in progress.
AUTHOR IN PROGRESS is divided into 7 sections, with drill-it-down tips to help you move through all the phases of story creation.
1. We’ll help you to PREPARE for writing a book, with:
- Why Write? Understanding Your Deepest Motivations, by Barbara O’Neal
- Setting Realistic Goals: Gain Power by Sidestepping the One-Size-Fits-All Mindset, by Erika Liodice
- Stocking Up on Literary Gatorade: How an Early Dose of Reality Can Help You Succeed, by Margaret Dilloway
- Your Unique Story: Become Your Novel’s Secret Ingredient, by Robin LaFevers
- Being Unboxed: How Faithful, Confident, Boundary-Pushing Writers Rise Above the Noise, by Donald Maass
- Put a Ring on It: How to Know if Your Story Is “The One,” by Erika Robuck
- DEBATABLE pro and con articles on Do You Need an MFA by Jael McHenry and Catherine McKenzie
- Mining for Diamonds: Strike it Rich with Research–Without Getting Buried Alive, by David Corbett
- Go Public: Why Creating the Story Behind the Story Begins Now, by Dan Blank
2. We’ll help you get into the right headspace to WRITE, and keep writing, with:
- This is a Test: Why You Should Allow Yourself to Explore in the First Draft, by Greer Macallister
- Story First, Plot Second: Develop Your Protagonist’s Story-Specific Past, by Lisa Cron
- DEBATABLE writing process articles by Anne Greenwood Brown (Plot It), Ray Rhamey (Pants It) and Anna Elliott (Write ‘Fat’ or ‘Lean’)
- Write Like You Mean It: How to Maximize Your Minutes, by Barbara O’Neal
- Find the Muse Within the Story: How to Recognize and Search Beyond Ordinary Inspirations, by Dave King
- Composing Humans on the Page: How to Mine, Visualize, and Empathize Your Way to Authentic Characters, by Julianna Baggott
- Write True: Bring Authenticity to Your Work with Details from the Natural World, by Juliet Marillier
- Writer’s Block: How to UnClog the Well, by Kim Bullock
- Light It Up–Don’t Burn It Down: What to Do When You Think You Can’t Write Another Word, by Gwen Hernandez
- Say My Name: How to Empower Yourself with One Simple Word (Writer), by Jo Eberhardt
3. We’ll help you INVITE criticism of your work in the best possible way, and understand why it’s crucial, with:
- The Psychology of Critique: Resist the Natural Impulse to Shut Down, by Therese Walsh
- The Art of the Invitation: How Asking the Right Questions Can Better Shape Your Critique Experience, by Annie Neugebauer
- Reading the Tea Leaves of Critique: How to Draw Meaning from Murky Feedback, by Jael McHenry
- Creating Conversations with Story Evolutionists: How Beta Readers of All Kinds Can Help Your Story Evolve, by Brunonia Barry
- Illuminations of Theme: How Critique Can Teach Us What Our Work Is Trying to Say, by Jeanne Kisacky
- Skin Like an Elephant: How Critiques Affect the Stories of Professional Writers, by Sarah McCoy
- Giving Back: How Helping Someone Else Write a Better Book Turns into a Win-Win-Win, by Keith Cronin
4. We’ll help you to IMPROVE your work–and your mindset–as you write, with:
- How Much Craft Do You Need? When to Learn and When to Just Write, by Donald Maass
- A Drop of Imitation: How to Learn From the Masters, by Kathryn Craft
- Where Writers Gather: How to Promote Your Interests at Conferences and Workshops Without Wasting Your Time or Money, by Tracy Hahn-Burkett
- Reading People (and Writing Them, too): How to Dig Up Humanity in the Details, by Lancelot Schaubert
- Driven to Digital Distraction: Why You Need to Deal with the Publishing Business, by Porter Anderson
5. We’ll help you change gears when it’s time to REWRITE, with:
- Power Down: How (and Why) to Begin Reworking Your Novel Away from the Computer, by Kathleen McCleary
- Writing by Ear: How Tuning Into the Sound of Language Can Elevate Your Story, by Tom Bentley
- Leveling Up: Harnessing Revision to Make the Good Even Better, by Heather Webb
- Letting Go of the Reins: When a Complete Rewrite is the Right Choice, by Steven James
- A Mechanic’s Guide to Revision: Consider Story Change as Skillful Overhaul, by Cathy Yardley
- Do You Need a Professional Editor–a DEBATABLE topic, weighing the pros and cons, by Jane Friedman
6. We’ll help you to PERSEVERE, with:
- Resignation Letters: Coming to Terms with the Psychology of Resistance, by Sarah Callender
- Envy: How to Tame the Green-Eyed Monster, by Kristan Hoffman
- The Health and Maintenance of Writers: What You Need to Know to Stay You For as Long as You Are Able, by Jan O’Hara
- Fueling Your Mind: How External Stimulation Can Fuel Your Creative Life, by Liz Michalski
- Tired Writer, Take Care: How Vulnerability Can Increase Over Time, by Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware
- On Quitting: When Moving On May Be the Right Choice, by Sharon Bially
- Community Comfort: Why You Need a Writing Tribe, Even If You Think You Don’t, by Vaughn Roycroft
- Battling Doubt: How to Push Beyond Your Final Barriers and Finish Your Book, by John Vorhaus
- The Tortuous Waiting: How Waiting Becomes a Part of Writing, by Julia Munroe Martin
- Surviving ‘Nearly There’: How to Thrive When You’re This Close to Publication, by Robin LaFevers
7. And last, but never least, we’ll help you to RELEASE your work when it’s truly finished, with:
- Letting Go: How to Cope with Empty Writer’s Next, by Allie Larkin
- Great Expectations: What to Do When Dreams and Reality Collide, by M.J. Rose
- Writer as Phoenix: When It’s Important to Remember Your True-and-Always Freedom, by Sophie Masson
- Write On: Why the End of the Book Is Not the End of the Journey, by Therese Walsh
If you’ve been counting, you’ll see AUTHOR IN PROGRESS contains over 50 essayists–every single WU contributor and a couple of esteemed guests to boot over 340 pages. Our own ironical Bill Ferris provides comic relief throughout with a parade of boxes featuring tips for ‘How to Get In Your Own Way.’ There are also quite a few cameo appearances, from Jane Green to Karen White to the singular Chuck Wendig.
In one of our book’s most unboxed features, you’ll see conversations following some of our essays, with voices you’ll recognize if you regularly read comments here on Writer Unboxed–and you should; that’s where some of the best observations are made! Cooler still, you can actually join those conversations by using a QR code you’ll find in the book, and hopping onto mirror articles and expanded conversations found in hidden essays here on WU.
Exciting, yes?
We hope you’ll join us in spreading the word about AUTHOR IN PROGRESS far and wide!
How?
Share this post, or simply shout out for the book over social media with an enthusiastic recommendation and link to one of our sales sites (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, or at the Writer’s Digest store).
We’ll give away one very special prize to one person (randomly selected) who leaves a comment in the thread below with a link to their shout out(s)!
We won’t tell you what that prize is yet, but we think the winner will be very happy to receive it.
If you’ve already read AUTHOR IN PROGRESS, please consider leaving a review for us, especially on Amazon and Goodreads. Early reviews can make a significant difference, not only helping others decide if a book is right for them but also by signaling to a retailer that a book is doing well, which triggers improved visibility for that book online.
Thanks for supporting us, WU’ers.
It’s because of you that AUTHOR IN PROGRESS exists at all, which is why it was written to help you. We hope it’s something you lean on time and again as you create your best work. And then your next best work, and your next.
Write on–and happy reading!
Writer Unboxed began as a collaboration between Kathleen Bolton and Therese Walsh in 2006. Since then, the site has grown to include ~50 regular contributors and a variety of guests on rotation throughout a given year.
In 2016, the Writer Unboxed team published a book with Writer’s Digest / Random House. AUTHOR IN PROGRESS: A No-Holds-Barred Guide to What It Really Takes to Get Published is a comprehensive guide focused on helping writers over/around/through hurdles faced at every stage of the novel-writing process. It’s received some ***** reviews; we hope you’ll check it out.
If you’d like to be among the first to know about the next Writer Unboxed UnConference, which will likely tie-in with WU’s 20th Anniversary celebration, please sign up for our mailing list!
Write on!
I’m looking forward to reading and learning from what I’m sure will become an essential craft book.
Check out @JAM3SF0XB00KS’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/JAM3SF0XB00KS/status/793461604524265472?s=09
Thank you, James! I hope you enjoy AiP!
Congratulations and best wishes for a stupendously successful book launch! I love this blog. :)
I shared your post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dana.mcneely.5 and Twitter https://twitter.com/dana_mcneely
Thank you, Dana!
I got my copy a few days ago. This book is truly awesome. Pure gold, offered up by amazing teachers and stellar human beings.
This is so great to hear. Thank you for being a part of our community initiative, Susan!
Got my copy yesterday! Diving in already. Thanks.
Exciting! I hope you enjoy it, Beth! (Let us know!)
Woot woot! So exciting!
Dee Willson
Author of A Keeper’s Truth
Thank you for being a part of our Community Convo section, Dee!
Yeah! So excited for you all for the new release. What a terrific book.
Thank you, Maryann!
Will it be in kindle?
Isadora, it will, very soon. (We thought it would be available by today, but not yet. Stay tuned!)
Hey, is that doofus guy in the video modeled on me? He’s got the glasses, the scraggly hair, he’s paranoid and he’s left-handed—I want a lawyer!
Great to meet several delightful Unboxers in LA (and you most prominently, Therese). Like that perplexed guy in the video, I forgot to pick up my copy, but I will be in a sleeping bag by the mailbox, waiting.
It was great meeting you, Tom! Haha on video guy. See, now I just like him better.
Congratulations, all! I’m eagerly awaiting my copy.
Thank you, Cindy!
I am so excited to read this book! Shared on Twitter and Facebook:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/beckysbooknotes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beckysbooknotes
Thank you for sharing, Rebecca — and for your excitement!
Can’t wait! Shared just now: https://www.facebook.com/noelle.greene.357
Thank you for sharing, Noelle!
Shared three places. Two on Facebook. My page Eileen Dandashi and another I manage, Booktalk with Eileen; https://twitter.com/EDandas/status/793532415394275328
Thank you for the opportunity to get started! I need the push. Will get the book today.
Thank you for sharing, Eileen! I hope you enjoy the book!
Fantastic news! Have been looking forward to this. Popping over to Amazon to order right now. Thanks for all the hard work in putting this book together. I’m sure it will be a frequent go-to.
I hope it makes itself at home on your keeper shelf. Thank you, Linnea!
Yay! It’s on its way!
I hope that sharing Chapters Indigo’s link to buying the book counts, it’s our Canadian Barnes & Nobles! Spreading the words across the border, here!
https://www.facebook.com/veronic.standish
*word. Ghaw.
Absolutely! I hope many friends across the pond find Author in Progress as well. Thank you, Veronic!
I haven’t even had a chance to check out the QR code feature yet. That’s too cool!! Happy pub day, all!
This book is a treasure. I plan to read a chapter per day so I can properly absorb all the wisdom. And I like opening this book at random and reading a sentence to coach me. This is what I got this afternoon: Elmore Leonard said, “I don’t put a lot of time in on my plots. I like to make it up as I go along. No outline at all.”
Ha! I just love it.
Paula
I love your approach, Paula! Great quote, too!
The applications of this book look endless. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.
Yay Therese!!!! And everybody else. I finally posted on FB and will most likely blog about this as well. Happy launch day!!! This book is going to help a lot of writers in all stages of their journey.
Thank you, Vijaya! I really appreciate the time you spend on the community conversations with us, too. And didn’t we finally get you into the WU FB group because of all of that? Win-win-win!
Sounds like a great book. Can’t wait to read it!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/313336915395729/
Thank you, Debbie! I hope you enjoy it, and that it helps you on the road to finishing your book.
My copy arrived last week, and I’m loving it. It’s the old ‘kid in the candy store’ for me–everything looks so good, I want it all and all at once. So, like Paula, I started out skipping around, gobbling up all I could, but I’ve settled down and last night I started at the very beginning and am reading forward.
Thanks so much for this book. I know it wasn’t created just for me, but I’ve already read things that feel so personal they might as well have started with “Dear Carol.”
https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn
“…they might as well have started with ‘Dear Carol.'”
Mission accomplished! Thanks for letting us know how much you’re enjoying the book! Write on, Carol.
I look forward to it and shared it to the Twitter winds. https://twitter.com/ac_in_dc/status/793893618859724800
Thank you, Andy!
Congratulations! Going to share!
Thank you, Kat!
I’m very excited about this book. The list of essays and discussions seems perfect. I don’t have the luxury of escaping my professional job near enough, so, this compilation will be particularly useful. Have tweeted it, will follow the blog, and will review as soon as I get my copy!
Paul Roach
@paulbryanroach.com
-Citizen Surgeon”
-“The End”
Hi Paul, I hope it meets your expectations! Please circle back and let us know. Write on!
I am super excited about this book. Based on all these great essay titles, I feel like it’s going to fill a gap in the market of books for writers. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Will be shouting from the rooftops about it! Thank you for everything you all do for writers, WU contributors!
Thank you, Ashley! Margaret Dilloway said something on Facebook the other day that is just about perfect — the book is like ‘what to expect while you’re expecting’ for writers. I hope that it makes everyone feel less alone and a lot more normal. (Though ‘normal’ for writers is still weird, right? ;-) )
It looks amazing!! Can’t wait to read it. I’m not a new author, but there’s always something to learn. Congrats!
Wise words. Thank you, Pam!
Very excited about this – always looking for new craft books and have never heard of this one until today! https://twitter.com/daryawrites/status/795022220955422720
This books sounds fantastic! I tweeted about it: https://twitter.com/MEBond_writer/status/795733200043552768
In a smaller, private writing group I’ve just joined, they posted a list of recommended books for fiction writers. The list was great, but this book wasn’t on it. So, I’ve shared Author in Progress with the group. The response? Be prepared for an influx of book sales.
It’s awesome! Excited to get my copy. Sure a lot of efforts you did into it. Congrats anyways!
Congratulations on writing a novel in November. Don’t send it to a publisher yet. Let it sit until you’ve forgotten it, then self-edit it a few dozen times, then see what happens.
(That’s me talking to myself, by the way. I loved writing it. We’ll see if I love reading it… later. Much later.)
just read the writer unboxed article by Erika Liodice…super helpful! tons of sage advice. when you feel like you have the right information, you feel more like writing!
thanks!