Hi, friend.

In case you missed it, last month I quit social media and wrote a little about my decision and experience in a post that published earlier this week.

Since sharing those thoughts, I have received more than a few messages from friends and strangers over the past several weeks, some defending their usage of the social web while others shared similar feelings of discontent and disillusionment. Of course, what you do with your online time and media usage is up to you, but it has been interesting to hear so much agreement. I think we are all coming to grips with the reality that these tools use us just as much as we use them.

Honestly, I was struggling with the decision for quite some time, and it took seeing a number of peers I respected go first before I felt free to do the same. Sometimes, it takes seeing someone else do something brave before we can give ourselves permission to do what we know we must—and that applies to a lot more than Internet things.

Shortly after making the move off all social networks, I posted a similar announcement on my old blog, announcing that I was also done with blogging—sort of. That is, I quit what I had been doing on goinswriter.com for over a decade in favor something more dynamic, connective, and interesting.

In many ways, I think, what blogging was is now dead and gone; and in its wake has emerged this new wave of creator culture with newsletters and publications that, frankly, look a lot like old-school blogging (more on that in a future issue). All that to say, there’s been a lot of quitting around here lately; and with each thing I let go, I am amazed at what a little white space makes possible.

These days, I’m enjoying spending more time on a single platform—i.e. Substack—connecting more deeply with readers in both the comments section of the newsletter, as well as via my email inbox. Keep the replies coming. I’ve enjoyed the conversation circa 1997 and am liking where this is going.

Speaking of where things are going, I mentioned the other week that I’d be raising the cost of the monthly subscription rate soon; but I’ve yet to do that. I have, admittedly, been bogged down by some work projects, finishing up a few books for clients at Fresh Complaint while making the transition from one calendar year to the next. It’s been busy, but those changes are still coming.

Again, thank you to all who have signed up for a paid subscription. In the next month, I’m planning on launching (for subscribers only) a group chat with some regular writing challenges and prompts, regular Q&As with readers, and a monthly live Zoom call where we can go deep on a particular topic.

We may do other things, as well, but I want to keep it fairly experimental for now. My goal for paid subscribers is to share the nitty gritty details behind what life as a professional writer looks like and be as helpful and honest as possible.

To sign up for the free weekly dispatches and/or tweak your subscription status, hit the button below.

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Along those lines, I wanted to let you know of a few goings-on coming up in the next couple weeks. As already mentioned, I run a book production agency where we work with thought leaders to help bring their ideas to life through book planning, manuscript development, and editing services.

My friend and colleague Ariel Curry and I are doing a couple of live presentations next week and the week after regarding the state of publishing, as we see it, how to get a book deal in 2023, and what it takes to finish and publish your book this year.

This is all gearing up for our next coaching group, which starts in February and is broken up into two 90-day “semesters”—the first of which will help you plan your book and turn it into a proposal that you can sell to a major publisher, should you choose to do so, whereas the second will guide you in the process of writing and finishing a first draft in twelve weeks. You can sign up for one of these of both (more on that in a bit).

Before we do that, though, we wanted to share with you a little bit about what we’re seeing in the world of publishing, what’s changing, and the different opportunities available for authors in this new year. Here’s a link to each of the live presentations we’ll be doing. Click each to read more about them and sign up for whichever sounds interesting to you (or both):

Getting a Book Deal in 2023: The Good, The Bad, & the Surprising. In this live presentation, you’ll learn: what you need to pitch your book to agents & editors, typical publishing process and timelines, how editors evaluate proposals, industry, trends we’re seeing, and more!
Finish Your Book in 2023. In this one, you’ll learn: writing habits and routines of successful authors, how to set word count goals and hit them every time, whether or not you should self-publish, and more!

In each of these, you’ll get to ask questions live; and we’ll send the recording to anyone who registers ahead of time (as well as share the video here, as well). If you can’t make it and want to ask a question ahead of time, you can email those to me at least 24 hours before the presentation. If you can make one of the live webinars, however, you’ll get a chance to hear from us live and ask your question in person.

We’ll also be opening registration for our coaching group, which only has ten spots available. It’ll be first come, first served for that and will be a chance to get help from our expert team (including myself and Ariel) to help you write a winning book proposal and get it in front of agents and publishers alike for a fraction of what our agency typically charges for this sort of thing. It’s not for everyone but could be right for you.

I hope you can make one of these, as it’ll be a lot of fun and hopefully super-helpful. Oh yeah, and these are both completely free. I forgot to mention that. Not a bad way to begin the year, right?

Anyway, see you soon. The best is yet to come. I’ve quit a lot these past few years, and the more I let go, the more good things come. It’s been far from easy but nonetheless rewarding.

See you on the other side (wherever and whenever that happens to be).

Best,

Jeff

The Ghost

The Advantage of Quitting Almost Everything …