Personal Essays Should Be No Longer Than

[Kayleen]

AndI know there is so much ELSE going on. SO MUCH. It never stops. I hope you are carving out the barest minimum of time to do whatever it is that brings you some relief these days, because really, we need all hands on deck to get through the next 42 days, and whatever comes after that. Please register to vote. Please vote, and early if you can. Please give money to places like Ditch Mitch and the Florida Rights Restoration Commission and directly to the Biden/Harris Campaign if you can. Text bank or write postcards. Please.

As someone who has published two essay collections (the last one just longlisted for the Pen/Diamonstien-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay), I would argue that if you have a really great collection of essays, you do not need a platform (I certainly don't have one--I do have a readership because of past books but nothing I would call a platform). However, my books were published with a university press, so maybe if you are shooting for Penguin, then yes, you might need a platform (though I'lll admit, I hate that word).

A few weeks ago we talked about how to do an anthology. And I know some of you were probably turned off by that, and I\u2019m sorry not sorry. It\u2019s hard to do an anthology and if you aren\u2019t 100% ready to go full throttle with it, then it\u2019s best not to. There are plenty of other kinds of books to write.

One of those is the essay collection! It\u2019s like an anthology, but you write all the essays and you don\u2019t need a contributor contract. I\u2019m kidding. But it is kind of like that. I know many of you want to do an essay collection, and here\u2019s how to figure out if you can/should/shouldn\u2019t now.

This should come as no surprise, but your essay collection should be about something. Whether it\u2019s personal essays or essays around a theme or subject, your book needs a thesis or clearly defined point of view. Maybe you saw Jaya Saxena show the cover of her forthcoming essay collection CRYSTAL CLEAR: Reflections on Ordinary Talismans for Everyday Life on twitter today. (Preorder now!) She described it perfectly here: \u201CIt's about crystals but really about the way humans externalize our desires and feelings. When someone says \u2018rose quartz represents love,\u2019 I wanted to talk about why\u2014both where that story comes from, and why we needed a rock to represent love in the first place.\u201D I mean, she\u2019s already written the book, so it\u2019s much easier for her to talk about what the book actually is, but this is also how we pitched the book to editors. Your essay collectoin can\u2019t just be about you know, crystals and stuff. It needs a distinct point of view, a focus, and a point the reader can see applying to their own life. Like memoir, essay collections are sometimes a mirror to the reader, especially if they are remotely personal in nature. The reader wants to see themselves reflected in the books they read, whoever they are. And even if you\u2019re writing a book of criticism or reportage, it still needs to be about a distinct thing. It can\u2019t be here are the best essays on all the topics I\u2019ve ever written and I think they\u2019re pretty good. Unless you\u2019re Dave Barry (old person reference!) you can\u2019t sell a book of your greatest hits (yet).

I know. I know. It sucks. It sucks to talk about platform because that\u2019s the longest game. It\u2019s the hardest to build and you can\u2019t do it fast. If you want to write an essay collection in the future, you have to start NOW on your platform. I\u2019ve explained in detail what that means here, so go give it a read/re-read and come back. I\u2019ll wait.

The bottom line is that personality often sells collections AND ALSO you need that platform to market and promote your book once it\u2019s a real thing. Like most things in publishing, it\u2019s not a case of if you write it, they will come. I know. I\u2019m sorry. Keep reading even if you don\u2019t have the platform YET.

This relates to the above re: platform. Publishing an essay or two or more (but not all) of the things you think might end up in your book is a way to both sell your book and build your platform\u2014and sometimes get an agent! I have definitely read an essay or article online and reached out to an author and said have you ever thought about writing a book? It\u2019s great! Sometimes the essays you write turn INTO the book you sell and you didn\u2019t even plan it that way. Jaya wrote a column about crystals for Catapult and some of those essays are definitely in her book! The system works! So, bottom line, write and try to get things published. Yes, it\u2019s hard. If it was easy then you wouldn\u2019t need this newsletter.

MAKE SURE when you are signing a contract with a publication that you only give them NON-EXCLUSIVE rights, OR that their rights to publish the work expire/go non-exclusive in a reasonable amount of time (a year or two) OR that it specifically says that you\u2019re allowed to publish your essay in a book. If you sign over your copyright to a publication then that essay is no longer yours and you do not own it anymore and you CANNOT publish it in your own book. READ YOUR CONTRACTS.

When you have all that done, and/or while it\u2019s all coming together, start writing your book proposal. I\u2019ve talked about that here, too! You\u2019ll want a few essays in there as sample chapters, and it\u2019s ok if one or so of them have been previously published. But make sure there are some unpublished essays in there, too, so the editor doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s just all going to be things people have read before. This can be the book\u2019s introduction, which you wouldn\u2019t have published online yet, likely. Otherwise, it\u2019s a pretty straightforward book proposal.

Pretty straightforward book proposal, including ideas on how you will promote the book. Essay collections can be hard to sell to the book-buying public (not to mention editors). You want to come in with some reasonable, actionable ways to promote your book. This can include suggesting essay topics you can pitch to other publications that don\u2019t appear in your book. Topics and panelist suggestions for \u201Cin conversation\u201D type events, with people you know or that you can reasonably contact and ask. A list of people you feel comfortable approaching for blurbs. It\u2019s all well and good to say I\u2019ll get on the Today Show! but if you don\u2019t have a close, personal friendship with the booker, then that idea isn\u2019t feasible. Your publicist is going to pitch you for the Today Show if she thinks it\u2019s a good fit, but the pie in the sky ideas can\u2019t be the cornerstone of your promotional plan. Show the editors the things YOU can do and they will add that to the things THEY can do, and that\u2019s how you build a solid publicity campaign. But yeah, a lot of it has to come from you. It\u2019s just the way it is. (When we all have more energy, we can argue about how dumb that is, but right now, let\u2019s fight bigger battles.)

If you get these ducks in a row, you\u2019ll be that much closer to your dreams of writing a book of essays. Don\u2019t be demoralized about the steps between where you are and what you want. You can do it. I know you can.

I was going to write today about holding on. We just have to hold on, not because things are guaranteed to get better (especially not if we don\u2019t do anything) but because giving up is not an option. It just isn\u2019t. Too much is at stake. And I was going to segue into talking about how that\u2019s just like in writing because through all the hard writing days and impossible query letters and silent agents and ghosting editors, you just have to hold on and keep writing and keep working and learning and reading and trying. Because the alternative of not doing those things means you are guaranteed to fail. Writing a book maybe and the future of our country do not have the same stakes obvs, but they are both things that rest on doing the small things all the time over and over. Write. Text bank. Donate. Read. Advocate. Vote. (Ok that only happens once. Don\u2019t commit voter fraud please.) Hold on, friends. We\u2019ll get through this.

The Personal Statement is your opportunity to introduce yourself to admission committees. It can explain your motivation and why you have made the decision to apply. It can bring out your personal attributes and competencies and weave together all of your experiences. A sincere, thoughtful, and introspective personal statement may make the difference to committee members as they decide whether to interview or admit an academically qualified applicant.

Your 5300-character essay (the character limit for AMCAS) requires focus. Your essay should be an invitation to know you, tell the story of who you are, and present an argument of why you will make an excellent physician.

There are a wide variety of sample essays online (google: sample essay questions medical school). These might provide ideas, but remember that this is your personal statement and it needs to be written from the heart and be about you.

When it comes to deciding who they will admit into their programs, colleges consider many criteria, including high school grades, extracurricular activities, and ACT and SAT scores.

But in recent years, more colleges are no longer considering test scores.

A college essay is your unique opportunity to introduce yourself to admissions committees who must comb through thousands of applications each year. It is your chance to stand out as someone worthy of a seat in that classroom.

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