✨Bryan VanDyke Believes in Persistence, and Jenn Bane Believes in YOU!✨

Plus, videos from Chelsea Bieker and debut author Tessa Bickers, and another great essay by Carly Watter!

Dearest friends of The Sh*t,

We don’t know about you, but here at The Sh*t HQ we still have that “September is the real start of the new year” feeling, and we woke up this morning thinking anything was possible, ready to tackle our writing projects with renewed enthusiasm. Who knows? Maybe with a bit of work (cue the teen romcom movie makeover montage) by the end of the school year our ugly duckling manuscripts will reveal themselves as the swans they really are and get asked to the prom! This is our year, friends, we KNOW IT. 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

But for that to happen, we have to believe it’s possible, and sometimes that can actually be the hardest part of writing. So to help you believe and continuing on the theme Chelsea Bieker started with her essay last Friday, today we’ve got not one but TWO essays that focus on helping you see yourself as a writer. Jenn Bane, co-author of Everyone Needs an Editor, shares practical advice to help you write a new story about your writerly self, and Carly Watters wants you to know that With the Act of Writing You Are a Writer. ✍🏼

What if you believe in yourself and even get good feedback, but still can’t seem to find publishing success? Maybe it’s not you, it’s the market. In today’s Q&A, Bryan VanDyke, author of In Our Likeness, talks about the reality of the difference between writing a great book and writing one that can sell (and after spending thirteen years working with two different agents in an unsuccessful attempt to sell four different manuscripts, we believe he knows what he’s talking about). Find out what he did to break the cycle, then sit back and admire his persistence as much as we do.

And speaking of Chelsea Bieker, we can’t get enough of her so she’s back this week with a video about an upcoming opportunity for our readers to get their burning writing questions answered—and our paid subscribers get first access! (Editor’s note: I don't know about you, but I'm still recovering from Chelsea’s essay in our Friday issue. It really hit home for me and I've been putting a lot of effort into rewriting the story I tell about myself, shifting the focus so that the protagonist is actually worthy of prioritizing their writing and possibly getting the ultimate happy ending: a dream date to the prom, AKA a book deal. You really should try it, too).

We’ve also got a powerfully positive video from debut author, Tessa Bickers. Tessa talks about her publishing journey, wisely pointing out that writers don’t always get a lot of encouragement when their heads are down, banging away on the keyboard, and shares where she figured out to go for encouragement when she needed it. With her debut, The Book Swap, out now, we think Tessa is someone you should listen to.

Finally, we’re giving you a heads-up about an exciting change we’re making to the podcast—more to come about that in Friday’s newsletter, so stay tuned!

Until then…Happy reading (and rewriting your story about yourself)!

❤️ The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team