The Writer's Roller Coaster

Many people dream of writing a book, but precious few succeed. Inspiration can strike one day so that it seems the muses are singing about the promise of your glorious brainchild! But when negative emotions creep in, they can make you shrivel up in fear and shame, and you want to light your manuscript on fire, burn sage, and stomp out any cinder of its pitiful life.

No one is immune to feeling queasy at any point in the loop de loops of book publishing, whether it’s not knowing where to start, trying to find time for writing in your busy life, or overcoming the angst in showing your work to friends and querying agents. Next is the death spiral of anxiety before your book comes out: Cue the fear that people will find your book weird, terrible, and riddled with bad writing. Your guide to managing these unruly emotions-before they put an end to your dreams-is editor and author Betsy Thorpe. For more than three decades, she’s coached and held the hands of best-selling authors at major traditional publishing houses and also those of indie writers. In this book, she’s here to help cheer you on to the finish line too.

Writers, buckle in to tackle all those self-sabotaging feelings and embrace the truly positive ones. It’s time to move you from tortured, angsty artist to a euphoric published author.