There are plenty of books that tell you how to become a better writer, technically. However, very few books will give you advice about how to survive while being a writer.
That's why I ask every Five Easy Questions guest how they balanced a day job alongside their writing careers, because those survival tips can save your life.
Over at SlushPile, there is an essay about the Holy Grail of writing handbooks:
"I’m talking about a resource that breaks down publishing contracts and business manuvers into minute detail. Pat Walsh’s 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might is probably the best in regards to the mechanics of the industry. I wish there was a publishing equivalent to Marc Ferrari’s Rock Star 101: A Rock Star’s Guide to Survival and Success in the Music Business."
Well, I might have found the answer to that question over at the MFA Blog, where Austin Kleon is writing about a Marriage Guide for Writers. That writer is plugging the writing handbook, Word Work: Surviving and Thriving as a Writer, which seems to be dedicated to the business of staying sane as a writer. No small task...
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