How to Fail as an Author ToC

In my last post I told you about the book I was working on, a sort of instruction manual for writers called How to Fail as an Author. I shared the first chapter of the book in my blog. I have finished the first draft of that project!

It’s a relatively short book at about 30,000 words. It includes pictures, mostly of book covers, but you may see a few others things.

The book still needs to be self-edited, then turned over to others for comments and editing. I need to get a cover for it, format it, etc. I’m hoping for a mid-July release.

For now, I thought I would share the table of contents with you.

Foreword
-Not for the Weak
-Who am I?
-Why does this Book Exist?
-How will it Help You?
1: Building Blocks
-Skating by in School
-That Ain’t Good Grammar
-Teaching Myself the Basics
-What I Learned
2: The Poetic Beginnings
-Cutting Baby Teeth
-The Golden Poet
-No Wasted Effort
3: Group Work
-Social Introverts
-DBPS
-CORA and Others
-HWA
-To Join or Not
4: Tales of Tech
-Typewriters
-Computers
-Internet
-AI and Beyond
5: Short Stories
-The Toddler Stage
-Slicks and Pulps
-Online ‘Zines
-Half-Baked Horrors
6: Small Presses
-Anything for Publication
-The Bad
-The Less Bad
-Lessons from the Small Presses
7: Literary Agents
-Impersonating Competency
-The Dream Agent
-The Right Fit
8: Major Publishers
-After Obsession
-In the Woods
-Selling Control
9: Going Indie
-MoonHowler Press
-Wide vs Exclusive
-Audiobooks
-Careful Spending
-Look at Me!
10: A Case Study
-The Background
-The Novel
-The Backlash
-The Lesson
Conclusion
-Blood, Sweat, and Tears
-Manifesting Habits
-You Got This!

Every chapter but one tries to use humor to talk about things I did wrong and what I should have done. Sometimes I name names, sometimes I don’t. Depends on the likelihood of getting sued. Each chapter teaches a lesson and, I really hope, gives new authors the courage and dedication to continue on in their creations.

As always, if you’d like to support my author journey, donations are humbly accepted. Funds raised will be used to pay for things like editing, cover design, and advertising. Thank you!