The Writers Roller Coaster: Survival Strategies for the Wild

"Drawing on her decades of experience at the top of the New York publishing game and then with her boutique editorial, ghostwriting, and book coaching firm, Betsy illuminates the emotional path of the writers life. This smart, honest, sympathetic, and real-world guide will be essential for every writers nightstand."

-Janet Goldstein, former editorial director at HarperCollins and Penguin RandomHouse

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 its 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, shes coached and held the hands of best-selling authors at major traditional publishing houses and also those of indie writers. In this book, shes 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. Its time to move you from tortured, angsty artist to a euphoric published author.