This is a newsletter comes out of a nearly 20-year career supporting experienced writers working on books and other projects.
I care a lot about the personal and artistic transformation that helps when you dig deep and get vulnerable to tell your most urgent stories.
So here I’ll be focusing a lot on mindset issues: procrastination, perfectionism, perfectionism, shame, and other writing blocks that get in the way of finishing the work you most want to write.
Along the way, I will also share my own journey through many of these and other issues in the form of monthly personal essays.
Finally, I am also sharing regular updates about memoir and nonfiction craft, as well as interviews with leading writers from The Book I Had to Write podcast.
I’m so glad you’re here!
Why Subscribe?
I love nothing better than to help you succeed—whether it’s getting your memoir project off the ground, finishing your book proposal or agent query, or overcoming a mindset issue like procrastination or writing past shame.
All subscribers get access to weekly posts that cover these topics plus monthly personal essays, reading roundups, and more.
Paid subscribers get the full works including:
Exclusive posts and interviews
Free access to replays of workshops & trainings (coming soon!)
A 15% discount on “Instant Clarity Sessions”
Free subscribers get:
Public/occasional weekly posts
The Book I Had to Write podcast interview replays and transcripts
Founding members get:
You get everything that a paid subscriber gets PLUS
You’ll be promoted as a “sponsor” on an upcoming episode of The Book I Had to Write podcast (we can tailor the message together)
My undying gratitude for making the work of my podcast and this Substack newsletter possible.
Praise for this Newsletter
“Thank you, Paul, for this piece. I truly relate to so much of it.”
“What a lovely piece! My take: you have a voice and a drive.”
“Paul, thank you. That was lovely to read again. You were so wise to understand what I didn't know how to put in words myself. Thank you a thousand times.”
About Me
Since 2005 I’ve been writers to dig deep and tell their most authentic life stories through the application of craft and insight. These days I work 1:1 to help authors finish market-ready drafts, proposals, query letters, and more.
My own writing has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Brevity, Essay Daily and many other places. I also edited the prize-winning anthology Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction from the Edge (Perennial).
I have an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and also host The Book I Had to Write show, available wherever you listen to podcasts.
