Author J. J. Hanna

What your favorite drink tells me about you, as a former barista.

When you’re close to something, enthusiastic even, you won’t be able to see its weak points.

Your art will be better if you give it time to breathe.

You may come back and think “oh man, I thought this was good? This is TRASH!” And I want you to ignore that instinct. It’s not trash. You’re just now obsessed with your new project. That’s alright. Remember the things that made you love this one, and then go through it like a reader.

If you’re still struggling, rewrite the whole thing onto a blank page FROM MEMORY. You’ll recreate the scenes that were important and you’ll cut out a lot of what wasn’t working without feeling like you have to Frankenstein something together.

Bonus: when you’re done with revisions you already have another project going. And you can edit that one or you can start another and create a leap frogging effect of constantly finishing projects because your brain is fresh for the story you need it for.

Extra bonus: if you’re submitting to a publisher or an agent and they say, “what else do you have?” You’ll HAVE STUFF TO SHOW THEM.

I’ve been keeping a secret and I can finally share it!!!

Take whatever path you have available to you to get your book out there.

The only “right” way to do this is the route that helps you learn, helps you grow, helps you get your work to readers.

That is when the real learning can happen.

So if you’re stuck because submissions are hard and scary and agents aren’t paying attention, it may mean that you should walk down another path.

Your “right” path will wind and twist and turn. And you WILL get published if you stick with it. But sometimes the only way to start is to actually hit the green light, even if it means publishing that book yourself.

You’ll learn more from the actual process of putting your work out there than you will from reading every book on publishing.