Hello, friend!
Tomorrow morning I leave for Taos, NM, where I’ll spend the next week immersed in the creative process. I’m attending a writing retreat led by author Jade Chang and the journalist and author Ann Friedman, whose weekly newsletters I’ve been avidly reading for years (she was at the vanguard of the subscriber-supported newsletter model well before Substack was a thing!) Together they are the Midwives of Invention, and under their tutelage and the New Mexico sun I will be exploring and developing my ideas: ideas for The Underwire, for essays I want to submit to literary mags, and for a memoir that I’m (not really, but want to be) working on. What I love about the concept of this retreat is that it’s not so much about generating ideas, of which I already have too many, but about making my ideas better and deciding which ones are worth putting time and effort into making something out of.
I’m so excited, I don’t want to do anything today. I don’t want to open the mail sitting on my desk. I don’t want to make that call or send those emails, or even see that friend. I just want to get on the plane to Albuquerque and drive from there to Taos. (Side note: Is Albuquerque the cutest name of any city in the US? It sounds like an anachronistic road trip stop; a place you roll into at sunset intending to spend one night and then never leave after serendipitously meeting the person of your dreams in a diner. (Side-side note: I’m not looking for that to happen to me, but if it does I won’t be mad about it.))
Back to the point of this newsletter: I’ve been reading the recent dire warnings about ChatGPT and messing around with it a bit to see what it can do, which is a lot. It is astonishingly good at serving up previously reported information in a variety of ways. It is pretty terrible at inventing something new, or even applying idiosyncratic styles to the content it generates. (I asked it to write a love poem in the style of Nick Cave and it spat out a string of anodyne rhyming couplets gilded with romantic cliches, not a red right hand in sight.)
I’m now convinced of two things: 1) information-based writing is about to become commoditized and dramatically devalued (bad news for anyone hoping to find success with a mediocre how-to book), and 2) true human creativity is irreplaceable and, because it is essential to our intellectual and spiritual growth, must be valued, protected, and nurtured.
Hence, I’m nurturing the portion of human creativity that resides in me.
But why is creativity valuable? And to whom?
As I ask this, I find myself teetering on the edge of a gigantic, alluring rabbit hole that I would love to dive down, but with my packed suitcase sitting by the door, let’s save that for another time.
For now, I’ll give my briefest possible answer: Creativity is valuable because it connects my unique, ineffable soul with yours. Like all art, good creative writing is healing and edifying for both the writer and the reader.
Also: true creativity is inexhaustible, which is kind of miraculous when you think about it. Just as nature has not run out of unique faces for the billions of humans that have walked this earth, I believe our emotional and intellectual expression contains an infinite number of unique possibilities. But we are not going to trip over our inventions accidentally, and we are not going to order them up from ChatGPT; we must create them intentionally out of our own substance. And, often, we need guides to help us do that.
This is one of the most beautiful things about invention, by which I mean creativity, which includes the birthing of a new human life and the writing of an original story: it’s possible to do this alone, but what’s better is that we can be midwives for each other.
Even guides need guides. Coaches get coached. Therapists go to therapy. And retreat leaders (like me) also go on retreats.
I could be your guide, too
This seems like a fitting moment to share a new offering that my team and I have been working on: a two-day online workshop to support you in building a well-crafted nonfiction book proposal and getting it professionally published.
It’s called the Influencer to Author workshop, and tickets went on sale yesterday. You can find all the details here, but in a nutshell, we designed this program in response to the many requests for advice that I receive on a regular basis. Friends, friends of friends, business acquaintances, neighbors, and strangers on a plane all seem to want to write a book. When I tell them I’m a publisher, their eyes get wide, they draw in a breath, and shyly or boldly, they pour forth their questions.
Is this a good book idea? Like, good enough to interest a publisher? How do I know whether anyone will buy it and read it?
How can I tell if I’m a good enough writer? And how good do I have to be, anyway?
How do I get an agent? Do I even need an agent? And can they actually help me get picked up by a publisher?
What does it take to hit the New York Times bestseller list, and do you think I might have a chance?
Does anybody make money writing books?
And, the shyest question of all: Do I need to have a million followers on social media? What if I have no platform?
Behind each of these questions is: Can you help me? (Can anyone?!)
I always help these hopeful authors-to-be as best I can because I know these are questions they’re never going to be able to answer on their own, and ruminating on them will only keep them stuck. This stuff is mysterious to the uninitiated, but it’s just another day at the office for me. I do have answers, and I’m happy to share them.
I know that just a few hours of targeted advice and some supportive feedback could save these folks months, or even years, of spinning their wheels. So, that is what my team and I are getting ready to deliver on June 15th and 16th. We’ll cover:
What publishers look for in a book proposal
How to take an OK idea and make it bestseller-worthy
How to accurately gauge your own unique value and craft a book proposal that leans into your strengths and mitigates your weaknesses
Everything about book PR and platform-driven book launches
A fireside chat with a top literary agent
AND a candid conversation with author and influencer Laura Belgray, whose book Tough Titties launches June 13.
We’ve geared this two-day workshop toward those who have a significant platform (let’s call them “influencers” for shorthand; please don’t cringe), and also for those who are planning to build a platform as part of their publishing strategy. The reason for this is simple; if you’re really serious about becoming an author, that means getting serious about cultivating an audience (or maximizing an existing audience of any size). The two go hand in hand. And if you’re not serious about your audience, you’re not serious about your book/s.
Who is this workshop for?
It’s for ambitious experts and storytellers who want to write a nonfiction book with the widest possible reach.
For folks who want to succeed in the mainstream publishing industry, not only dabble on its fringes.
For those who are taking their writing (and their career in general) seriously, and are prepared to put time, money, and effort into it for the long haul.
For those who already have a significant audience, and also those who are working on developing one.
For those who want a traditional publisher or hybrid publisher (or, if planning to self-publish, are determined to do that to a professional standard).
Who is this workshop not for?
It’s not for those who are writing fiction or poetry, which follow different processes.
It’s not for those who just want to throw a self-published book up on Amazon as quickly as possible.
It’s not for those looking for a get-rich-quick scheme.
And it’s not for those who have no public presence and are completely uninterested in putting time and effort into developing one.
Ok, that’s enough about that for now. You can find more details and buy your ticket at this link, which contains a special discount of $200 off the regular price, just for being an “insider” on my list. Oh, and the first 50 registrants will get a signed copy of Laura Belgray’s book Tough Titties as a thank you! (It’s hilarious, you should read it.)
If this event is calling to you, I would be truly honored to play the midwife in your book-birthing journey.
In the meantime, Taos is calling. I’ll drop you a line next Sunday with some pictures and an update on how it’s going.
Maggie
xo