The Writing Life

Now available in Kindle and paperback editions!

Jeff Strand, whose work Publishers Weekly has called “wickedly funny” and Kirkus has called “ridiculously stupid,” has had one of the least meteoric rises to success in the publishing industry. But he eventually got there, even if he should probably put “success” in quotes.

He’s been at it a long time, and has learned a lot of lessons along the way. And he shares them with brutal honesty in this very book, along with plenty of hilarious (and sometimes painful) anecdotes about his career.

This is not a book that will tell you how to format a manuscript or write a compelling query letter. It’s a book about how to cope with rejection and bad reviews. Book signings where nobody shows up. Helplessly watching your peers go on to greater success than you. He’s been through all of that and so much more, and in these pages you’ll have a bunch of laughs as you commiserate and figure out how to get through it all.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction

My Journey Through the Changing World of Publishing

Baby Steps And How They Can Add Up

The Thrill of Rejection

Critique Groups & Beta Readers

The Joy of Negative Feedback

The Desire to be Published, No Matter What

A Trio of Early Disasters, Presented For Your Entertainment

My Tragic History With Agents

Brutal Near Misses

Squandered Opportunities