Before and after the book deal : a writer's guide to finishing, publishing, promoting and surviving your first book / Courtney Maum.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Everything you've ever wanted to know about publishing but were too afraid to ask is right here in this funny, candid guide written by an acclaimed author.

There are countless books on the market about how to write better but very few books on how to break into the marketplace with your first book. Cutting through the noise (and very mixed advice) online, while both dispelling rumors and remaining positive, Courtney Maum's Before and After the Book Deal is a one-of-a-kind resource that can help you get your book published.

Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer's Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book has over 150 contributors from all walks of the industry, including international bestselling authors Anthony Doerr, Roxane Gay, Garth Greenwell, Lisa Ko, R. O. Kwon, Rebecca Makkai, and Ottessa Moshfegh, alongside cult favorites Sarah Gerard, Melissa Febos, Mitchell S. Jackson, and Mira Jacob.

Agents, film scouts, film producers, translators, disability and minority activists, and power agents and editors also weigh in, offering advice and sharing intimate anecdotes about even the most taboo topics in the industry. Their wisdom will help aspiring authors find a foothold in the publishing world and navigate the challenges of life before and after publication with sanity and grace.

Are MFA programs worth the time and money? How do people actually sit down and finish a novel? Did you get a good advance? What do you do when you feel envious of other writers? And why the heck aren't your friends saying anything about your book? Covering questions ranging from the logistical to the existential (and everything in between), Before and After the Book Deal is the definitive guide for anyone who has ever wanted to know what it's really like to be an author.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

In this readable, well-organized how-to by Maum (I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You), the author draws on her publication experiences to distill what she learned into a useful guide for would-be writers publishing either fiction or nonfiction. The book is organized in two parts: before and after the book deal. Maum starts at the very beginning, before a writer signs a contract; she encourages writers to finish that project they've worked on indefinitely (developing their voice, revising) and then discusses how to get the book "out there" and how to deal with rejection. Next, she covers finding an agent, negotiating an advance, dealing with contracts, working with an editor and others at the publishing house, promotional activities, book clubs, social media, and more. Far from dry and dusty, this account is laced with humor not for its own sake but to make a point--eschewing "perfectionism," Maum claims, "bad writing is the only way you're going to start writing well." VERDICT Highly recommended for anyone who thinks they have a book in them.--Edward B. Cone, New York

Publishers Weekly Review

This witty, quirky guide to writing books as a profession, from novelist Maum (Touch), manages to be both funny and informative. Loaded with anecdotes and advice from her own career and from writer friends and acquaintances of hers, it provides a comprehensive guide to writing and selling books, from getting started and making time to write, to understanding book deals, to managing one's emotions post-publication. Maum's approach is eclectic and subjective, which makes the book uneven in places. Her opening section on the craft of writing offers little that hasn't been said elsewhere; similarly, her section toward the end about whether writers should pursue an academic job unsurprisingly warns against the dangers of adjunct or visiting professor status. At best, however, Maum gives an insider's take on the path to becoming a published writer. She explains why one shouldn't feel bad about not earning back an advance, how destructive checking sales figures on Amazon can be to the writer's ego, and how to manage the various woes of book tours, among other subjects. Maum's book should prove invaluable to new writers seeking advice and support in navigating their first publication. Agent: Rebecca Gradinger, Fletcher & Company. (Jan.)

Kirkus Book Review

A seasoned writer offers advice on "the professionalization of creativity."Novelist and founder of the learning collaborative The Cabins, Maum (Costalegre, 2019, etc.) mines her own experiences as an author, as well as advice and anecdotes from editors, publicists, literary agents, and other writers, to offer a sensible and brightly encouraging guide to publishing. Maum covers just about everything a first-time author needs to know: how to make time to write, learn to revise, deal with rejection, find an agent, choose a publisher, and juggle the many tasks involved in promotion. With warmth and candor, she addresses the emotional stresses and "existential ups and downs" that buffet many writers and responds to myriad questions that novice writers ask, from whether to go to book parties to whether to enroll in an MFA program. What about multiple submissions? Or self-publishing? Or deciding if an advance is fair? How crucial is it to have an agent? "It is very, very hard to get a book published," admits the author, but getting a contract is not the end of the process: There are editorial revisions to consider, a publishing team (designer, publicist, copy editor, sales and marketing departments) to work with, blurbs to request, social media connections to make, and a publicity campaign to get rolling. Maum offers useful information about the different kinds of publishing houses, including micropresses, nonprofit independent presses, for-profit independent houses, midhouse publishers, and the Big Five. "Many writersmyself included," Maum writes, "toggle between commercial and independent houses based on the nature of the book that's up to bat." Once a book is published, pressures don't abate. For example, anticipating and reading reviews can generate "elation, doubt, despair, pervasive unease, and bolts of white-hot pride." Maum cautions writers to tamp down their expectations of having a "break out" book that sells tens of thousands of copies. Most debuts, she reveals, perform conservatively (under 5,000 copies). She also advises authors to read only professional reviews, not "the reviews of overcaffeinated strangers who just want to vent online."A valuable companion for aspiring writers. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.