#Authoring

Anna David's done the memoir thing, to critical acclaim. And having shared her own story, as well as that of one very interesting, Golden Globe-nominated actor, in multiple books, now she's created a clever new way to tell even more of her life experiences, while helping other writers figure out how to tell theirs: introducing the "biz-oir."

The biz-oir, as per the term Anna coins, is a combination memoir and how-to on writing your own life tale; like the title says, how to Make Your Mess Your Memoir. We are thrilled to chat with Anna about the grace and vulnerability of sharing her personal life with her readers, and about the advice she has for other writers who are considering this very intimate genre. How do you know if you should write a memoir? How do you decide which stories you should share? How do you know if some of that sharing might get you sued?

Anna tells all, including useful info on getting your book out into the world once it's written, and how to market it in ways practical and creative once it's published.

Resources:

• Anna David
• Make Your Mess Your Memoir
• Launch Pad
• Anna David on Twitter
• Anna David on Instagram

We know it means money in our bank accounts, but beyond that, there is a lot about book advances that a lot of authors don't know. While it might seem, for instance, that publishers are just pulling arbitrary numbers out of the air, there is a process they follow before every contract they offer: the P & L, or profit and loss spreadsheet. How exactly does that work? It's a key document in any traditionally published book project, and we're lucky to have superagent Laurie Abkemeier (Marley & Me, Rise of the Rocket Girls, Seinfeldia) – Jennifer and Kim's agent – to break it all down for us. In this incredibly informative chat, Laurie also dives deep on royalties (Is it ever a bad thing to get them? Maybe …), how the category/type of book your project fits into helps determine your advance, and what it means when your book goes to auction. And what's the deal with "earning out? Does not earning out mean the end of your career as an author? Laurie spills all the details!

And in one of the many reasons we're so proud to call her our agent, she tells us about her exciting efforts to make the publishing industry more inclusive with the We Need Diverse Books internship program and by seeking out diverse voices to represent.

Resources:

• Laurie Abkemeier at DeFiore and Co.
• Laurie on Twitter
• Laurie on Tumblr
• We Need Diverse Books (we can all donate to this great project!)

We continue discussing ways to strengthen your author business plan in a recession with superstar business coach, branding expert, and author Dorie Clark. As Clark explains, authors are uniquely positioned to turn their platform into more money-making opportunities to further fund their writing.

Here, she walks us through why authors should work through their resistance to personal branding, how we can do it in totally authentic ways, and why we should embrace making the money we deserve. She also offers concrete steps for ways to translate our authoring into coaching, public speaking, podcasting, blogging, teaching online courses, and other business ventures.

You can get even more detailed (and life-changing!) plans for money-making opportunities in her indispensable books Entrepreneurial You: Monetize Your Expertise, Create Multiple Income Streams, and Thrive; Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It; and Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future.

Resources:

• Dorie Clark online
• Dorie Clark's books
• Dorie Clark's Entrepreneurial You self-assessment

Whether you're making most of your living from writing books or using it as a side hustle, you still must contend with some sticky financial issues: how to manage large(ish) checks with long dry spells in between, how to pay taxes when they're not automatically deducted for you, and how to pay for, you know, life when those authoring checks aren't enough to live off of.

Journalist and author Jen A. Miller has figured this stuff out better than most: She has been freelancing for more than 15 years and has developed systems for dealing with the uneven flow of money and paying taxes—which she shares with us in this episode. We also talk about how she balances books (like her memoir Running: A Love Story) with her work as The New York Times's running correspondent and her less glamorous, more lucrative gigs creating content for business publications and universities. She spills many of her secrets to making a very comfortable living—even during the current pandemic—but you can get even more in her indispensable e-book Notes from a Hired Pen: How I Made $135,000 in One Year of Freelancing.

Resources:

• The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed
• Jen A. Miller's official website
• Running: A Love Story
• Jen's running newsletter for The New York Times
• Notes from a Hired Pen

We continue our discussion about how to handle book releases when events are canceled, authors are stuck in their houses indefinitely, and it's nearly impossible to break into a packed—and terrifying—news cycle. This week, we get insightful social media tips from Sarah Frier, the author of the excellent new narrative history No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram; and we brainstorm publicity ideas with Edward Gross, the co-author of Nobody Does It Better, an oral history of the James Bond franchise that came out amid both breaking pandemic news and the delay of the latest Bond film.

Resources:

• Sarah Frier on Twitter
• Sarah Frier on Instagram
• No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram
• Nobody Does It Better: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of James Bond

Publishing a book is stressful enough, as we have noted many times on this podcast, even in the most normal of times. But books are continuing to come out, even as much of the world takes to quarantining itself in the coronavirus pandemic. That means many authors are left with cancelled book tours and are now scrambling to refocus their efforts toward online promotion—and hope at least some readers can tear themselves away from the news, tune in, and buy some books online.

This week, we're attempting to remain calm while talking through the options with our guests: Author Andrea Bartz, whose (great!) book The Herd (PLEASE BUY NOW!) is out this week, shares how she's shifting her promotion and joins us in recommending some other upcoming releases for your quarantine reading list; and media strategist Lauren Passell of Tink Media gives us a complete playbook for getting your book onto podcasts, a perfect alternative right now.

Resources:

• Andrea Bartz
• The Herd
• A Mighty Blaze
• Christina McDonald
• Bookshop.org
• Libro.fm (USE CODE: AUTHORING)
• All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban
• Take Me Apart by Sara Sligar
• The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s by Andy Greene
• Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
• By the Book: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer
• Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife by Bart D. Ehrman
• Pop Star Goddesses: And How to Tap Into Their Energies to Invoke Your Best Self by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
• Tink Media
• Lauren Passell's favorite book podcasts to pitch to:
  • Author Hour
  • Otherppl
  • Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannoon
  • The Maris Review
  • Reading With Robin
  • The Book Show
  • The Literary Life
  • Bookworm
  • #amwriting
  • Reading Women
  • So Many Damn Books
  • Feminist Book Club
  • Reading Glasses
  • Writer's Bone
  • Debutiful
  • Feminist Coffee Hour
  • Write Or Die
  • First Draft
  • Just One More Chapter
  • What Should I Read Next?
  • Bookable

There are any number of things related to releasing a book that can send your stress level off the charts … like, for instance, monitoring how well your book is doing on the sales charts! That's why it's so crucial to practice extra good self care at these times in your authoring career.

From setting and maintaining routines with your physical and mental health – yoga! meditation! healthy meals! – and talking to friends and colleagues who've had similar experiences to taking the time to celebrate your work and taking care to make sure the rest of your life doesn't go to H-E-double hockey sticks, we get real about the challenges and importance of keeping everything in perspective during the weeks, months, even years, surrounding the release of your book baby (because really, isn't that how you think of them?).

Resources:

• The Writer's Guide to Self-Care and Preservation
• Surviving a Book Launch as a Card-Carrying Introvert
• How to Survive a Book Tour
• The Ultimate Guide to Becoming Your Best Self: Build your Daily Routine by Optimizing Your Mind, Body and Spirit
• Calm.com meditation app
• Yoga for Writers

It's harder than ever to break through the crowded media landscape to get coverage for your upcoming book release. But one great way to do it—and to literally create your own publicity—is to pitch articles and essays that you yourself can write, tied to your book release.

Novelist Andrea Bartz (The Lost Night, The Herd) has been extraordinarily successful at this, and for good reason: She's also a longtime freelance journalist and former magazine and online editor. In this conversation, she spills all of her secrets, from how she comes up with ideas to which publications to target and how to write the pitches themselves. She also shares the magical email wording that gets editors to respond to your follow-ups.

Resources:

• Andrea Bartz
• The Lost Night
• The Herd
• Sometimes I Exploit My Sexuality and I'm Not Sorry, by Andrea Bartz
• Look, I'm a Self-Promoting Woman. And I'm Not Apologizing for It. by Andrea Bartz
• How I Found My Literary Agent by Andrea Bartz
• 7 Novels About Parties Gone Wrong by Andrea Bartz
• Characters in Literature Who Drink Too Much by Andrea Bartz
• The Real Winner of Last Night's Debate: The All-Female Moderating Team by Andrea Bartz
• Translating Seinfeld by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
• What Would Sex and the City Look Like in 2018? by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
• A Lot of Old Sitcoms Don't Hold Up. 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' Does. by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
• The book-coverage-friendly PopSugar
• Pitch examples from The Write Life
• Pitch advice from Writer's Digest

Think publishing a book is a competitive business? So is promoting one! Book tours are not a given for the majority of authors, and planning an event – even finding a venue to host you – takes a lot of time and know-how.

On this episode of #Authoring, we chat with Allison Sansone, the Program Director of the American Writers Museum in Chicago, who tells us exactly what makes for an appealing author event, some specific things you can do to make yourself and your book event-worthy, and how to get people other than your mom and dad to show up at your event.

Resources:

• The American Writers Museum
• 12 Tips for Successful Book Launch Parties
• How to Set Up a Successful Book-Signing Event
• Book Tour Planning 101

It's harder than ever to break through the endless media noise to get the word out about your book. Grand Central Publishing publicist Kamrun Nesa walks us through how you, as an author, can generate publicity for your work, and how you can better work with your publisher and publicist. She offers insight about how and when to pitch your book to media, what the publicity cycle looks like, whether to hire an outside publicist, and when to ask for help.

Resources:

• You can find her on Twitter @kamrunnesa