Juliet Grames Shares How to Survive Rejection and Lauren Aliza Green Demystifies Blurbs

Plus, two new written query letter critiques and our very own Carly Watters offers insider tips for what to do when you get your "Yes!"

Dearest friends of The Sh*t,

It’s a good week to a paid member of The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing—this week’s newsletter exclusively for you has some real gems in it! 💎🤩

First up is our Q&A with Juliet Grames, author of the bestselling The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna (which, for those who might have missed it, was called “rich in detail, tightly written and delightfully easy to get lost in” by no less a publication than the New York Times Book Review, and was likened to Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels by Harper's Bazaar). Juliet shares her thoughts on surviving rejection and other perils of the publishing world by focusing on what you can control, rather than what you can’t (and we should really listen to her—even as a long-time book editor with two decades’ worth of industry connections, Grames spent two years unsuccessfully querying and actually put her future bestseller in a drawer at one point, convinced it wasn’t going to happen).

We’ve also got an insight-packed essay from one of our hosts, Carly Watters, in which she tackles the question all aspiring writers hope to have to answer one day: So, you’ve got an offer of representation. Now what? It’s not always a simple decision—imagine you find yourself in what you might have assumed once upon a time was the enviable position of having multiple offers of representation, how do you know which one to pick? Read on to find out Carly’s thoughts on this question, as well as other insider advice to help you make the best decision for your writing career.

If you’ve ever allowed yourself to dream about the magical day when you will have gotten your “Yes!” and now need blurbs for your upcoming debut but picture the process of obtaining them as akin to walking up to the cool kids’ table in your high school cafeteria, tray in hand, and asking for a seat you are a) certainly not alone and b) definitely going to want to read today’s second essay. Lauren Aliza Green (who we’re still big fans of, despite the fact that “The time has come to go-ha” has been running through our head on an endless loop since reading her essay on revision in our last issue) is back and talking about blurbs, a topic she knows a thing or two about, having snagged them from the likes of Ann Napolitano, Mary Beth Keane, and Charmaine Wilkerson for her debut.

And, of course, we’ve got two brand-new written query letter critiques from Carly and CeCe while the recording of new 📕Books with Hooks🪝segments for the podcast is on pause, plus course offerings and the countdown to the deadline for the latest Great Beta Reader Match-Up.

Happy reading!

❤️ The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team