Publishers Weekly
09/30/2019
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.)
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"I have worked in and adjacent to book publishing for nearly a decade, and my copy of Before and After the Book Deal is still dog-eared and rumpled, as a pored-over book should be."—Keziah Weir, Vanity Fair
"Anyone who’s trying to get a book published or is in the process of being published should consider this guide required reading . . . An unusually candid guide to nearly every question you might have about the process. It’s also filled with tons of practical writing advice, and is very funny. I’ve returned to it again and again." —Rachel Krantz, BuzzFeed
"For all of you planning, yet again, to write that book that you've had in your head for years . . . A comprehensive guide to navigating the tricky world of publishing." —Alison Stewart, All of It, WNYC
"An all–inclusive guide for writers on how to navigate and, importantly, survive the publishing world . . . Maum peels back the gauzy romantic curtain of a working author's life and replaces it with clarity and detailed advice." —Sarah LaDuke, The Roundtable, WAMC
"Unique in scope and style, Before and After the Book Deal is a gem in the world of writing resources . . . It's informative, it’s relatable, and most of all, it helps me feel prepared to keep moving forward." —Karley Conklin, Write2Ignite
"This book is invaluable for the serious writer who is dedicated to publication, the rare title that’s both a reference manual and a page–turner . . . A logical next step for budding writers who have consumed Stephen King’s On Writing (2000), Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird (1995), and Chuck Wendig’s Damn Fine Story (2017)." —Booklist (starred review)
"This is the how–to book for a new era of publishing." ––Jonny Diamond, Literary Hub, One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Year
"Invaluable to new writers seeking advice and support in navigating their first publication." —Publishers Weekly
"With humor and wisdom and the input of writers from across the literary firmament, Courtney Maum has assembled the go–to book for those looking to publish seriously and make a sustainable career of writing. I wish I could turn this book into a serum and inject it straight into my students' veins. I'll have to settle, for now, for imploring them to read this book." —Rebecca Makkai, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist The Great Believers
“This book is an act of generosity. It’s filled with insight, truth, and good advice; what’s more, it had me laughing often and loudly. A trove of riches.” —R. O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries
"Before and After the Book Deal is full of writing and publishing wisdom you either should—make that must—know as you plot your authorial future (good luck to you!) or wish you'd known before you got into this mess in the first place (well, better late than never), and Courtney Maum is an ideal guide for the whole loopy adventure: sympathetic, just cynical enough, and uproariously funny." —Benjamin Dreyer, author of Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style
Kirkus Reviews
2019-09-15
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 writers—myself 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.
