Sick of people offering easy answers about writing and publishing? You Don’t Want To Be Published goes straight for the hard answers and keeps digging.

There are plenty of books that tell you how to get published, but very few that focus on how to build a career. You Don’t Want to Be Published features sixteen essays focused on the mindset and psychology that lie at the heart of being a long-term writer: learning to treat your business like business, building a network that will help you succeed, setting smarter goals, and dealing with the realities of making your living through your words.

Most importantly, it asks you to accept one counter-intuitive fact: you don’t really want to be published. What you really want happens after your book comes out--and learning to focus on those desires will help you build a longer, more satisfying career as a writer.

As the former manager of the Australian Writers Marketplace and Australia’s GenreCon writers conference, Peter M. Ball draws on his own experience as a speculative fiction writer in addition the lessons learned by talking to hundreds of other writers at every level of success and experience. His advice is blunt, honest, and personal—aimed directly at some of the biggest mistakes he’s seen writers make while building their career.

If you’re sick of people offering up easy answers, then settle in for some straight talk about the hard, complicated stuff that lies at the heart of the writing business.

Essays featured in this book include:

• The Nine Business Mantras of a Cranky Writer


• You Don't Want To Be Published


• Focus on the Mountain, Not the Map


• Writing, Budgeting, and Shame


• Let's Be Clear: I Know Fuck-All About Writing and Publishing (and That Helps)


• How To Process Writing Advice: Use What Works


• How To Process Writing Advice: Diversify Your Sources


• There Is Nothing Surprising About A Writer Getting Rejected (Even JK Rowling)


• 5 Reasons Rejection Letters Are Actually Awesome


• Yes, You Are Wasting Your Time As A Writer


• The First Rule of Write Club


• The Incredible Sucker-Punch Of Success


• Networking Tips For Reclusive, Introverted Writer-Types


• How To Get The Most Out Of An SF Convention As An (Introverted) Emerging Writer


• Al Snow's Advice For Writers


• Patreon, Tools, Tactics, & Strategy