On the Problem with “Most” Advice

+ November Meeting Invite + What is your driving question?

Hello all!

Here are the meeting details for November. Note that it is one day earlier than usual to give people time for Thanksgiving:

Authors of Nonfiction Nov Meeting

Sunday, November 24 · 5:00pm PST, 6:00pm MST, 7:00pm CST, and 8:00pm EST

Video call link

Cat tax: One of my foster kitties, Pocket/Professor Tinyman! You can support him through Small Town Community Cats.

Free Premium Subscriptions?

I got an email saying Substack is offering some readers a free month of premium to some of my readers. If that’s you (I believe you need a Substack account), please do it! Also, I believe paid subscribers get free gift subscriptions? If that’s you, please use them!

• According to the email, Substack pays for a month, and I get the money, but you don’t have to pay anything!

• All the important stuff in ANBIP is free, but I appreciate the support!

• You’ll have access to the rest of this post and my previous premium post, “How much money I got to fund my book and how I got it.” And one monthly premium post for as long as you’re still subscribed.

• Worried that you’ll forget to cancel? I’m not sure if it will even ask for a credit card. If it does, I got you. Use Privacy.com (referral link) to easily limit payments however you want.
  
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  New card with $5 monthly limit, with a total spend of $30 before closing.

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PSA: Don’t Worry, the grant people like you!

At least three members of this group have the Sloan grant, which is a huge chunk of all the money we will likely ever make from our books. IMO, if you qualify (you have a trad contract to write a general audience science book), applying is the most important financial decision you will make. Do it right now if you can. The amount I got from the Sloan grant was higher than the amount I got from my advance, as shown in my recent premium post.

After you send the LOI, the following is the email you’ll get if they like your application so far:

“It’s a long shot but go ahead and submit a full proposal.”

This is a GOOD email. This is the “you passed round 1” email.

Unfortunately, some authors have found the tone discouraging and did not continue the application, functionally forfeiting a good chance at $50k. :(

If you receive that email and are discouraged, imagine the following is what you got instead. Print it out and put it on your fridge, text it to your friends, or post it on social media:

Congratulations! They loved your letter of inquiry! You are on the same path as everyone who has recieved the grant! 🎉🎉🎉 I don’t know what percent of people who pass this level end up getting the money, but you’ve got the bag in your hands, don’t fumble it! Send in the full app ASAP! If you don’t end up with the grant, well, even passing round one means you did a great job! 🎊🎊🎊

Resources:

📕Book recommendation:
Think Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction and Get It Published

📕Book Recommendation:
Story Craft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction.
(Reading this book, taking it seriously, and practicing its advice is as good for skill-building as a degree, IMO. It focuses on writing engaging, long, journalistic pieces focusing on people and stories.)

Writing Exercise: The driving question

My book is very topic-based. When people ask what it’s about, I’m one of the very few authors who just say two words. (“Dead animals.”) However, a book needs a driving question or argument. That way, it’s a bit different from how I learned journalism.

Here are some questions adapted from a writing exercise my dev editor Jaime Green sent me. You can set a timer and take 10 minutes to answer each question. If you’re not satisfied with the answers, maybe go on a walk, chat with others about it, come back and try again after a trip, find a different exercise, re-evaluate your topic…whatever.

1. What are readers' preconceptions about your topic?
   What do they think of/about it? (Or: How does culture see them?) As in: what is the status quo understanding of the topic?
   

2. How do you want to change how they see the topic? What about the status quo is shallow/insufficient/wrong/confused? How are you to/changing/challenging/extending/deepening the status quo?
   

3. What do you love about the topic? Why is it interesting? What does it mean to you?

Advice for “Most” Authors might be harmful to you:

I recently saw a post titled “Why most aspiring authors should forgo querying agents.” I actually agree—but WAIT!

Have you ever noticed that “unisex” shirts are just men’s sizes? “Fun for the whole family” means something is for kids. “All skill levels” means it’s for beginners. I’ll never forget how annoyed I was signing up for a skating class where they taught to the lowest level—someone who had never worn skates in her life! Someone else in the class had already started doing jumps! The class should have been called “beginner,” so the higher-level people don’t waste their time and money.