Is summer your time to commit to finishing or revising a big project?

Book Coaching discount for July-September plus some links (the ineffectiveness of social media for authors, a light look at typos, and more)

Hi Friends,

Today I come to your inbox with my Book Coach hat on because it’s summer—which makes me so happy!—and I know that for some of you, summer is a time to re-commit to your writing. (If you’re not looking for coaching, scroll to the bottom of the email for a few links about other topics.)

I have coaching openings over the next several months and extra time for freelance work because my next book, WHAT BOYS LEARN, doesn’t come out until January. I don’t even have to think about reviews yet, because they probably won’t come my way until October. I can enjoy this lull, hopeful and not yet jittery. At some point, I’ll get very busy again (revisions of book eight will happen in late 2025) but not yet—and that feels great, because having more time for other kinds of work provides my life with creative and social balance. Much as I love working on my own novels, I also like getting a break and helping others work on their projects. Collaboration, coaching, and teaching re-energize me.

So, what is book coaching, exactly? My main service is developmental editing of fully written drafts of novels and memoirs. My secondary service is monthly coaching in five-hour “packets.” The latter can be helpful for someone who is in the middle of a project or seeking specialized professional advice. My services are selective.

Want to know more? Contact me at aromanolax@gmail.com.

A few recent testimonials:

• I’ve worked with Andromeda several times, on several different projects, ranging from historical fiction to YA to a contemporary thriller. In each case, she offered compassionate, rigorous suggestions that gave me clear roadmaps for revision. … I’ve already recommended her editorial services to others and can’t wait to work with her again.

  —Deborah Lindsay Williams, teacher and author of The Necessity of Young Adult Fiction

• When I sent Andromeda the first 50 pages of my next novel, she responded with the wisest advice I've ever received from a critical reader. Her ideas were both global and specific, and have been a guiding light for me ever since.

  —Kim Heacox, author of Jimmy Bluefeather

• Could somebody please clone Andromeda and make her pocket size? Her feedback is always spot on: smart, challenging, and motivating. I'd like her in my ear always.

  —Miranda Weiss, author of Tide, Feather, Snow: A Life in Alaska

That last testimonial cracks me up.

DISCOUNT: 20% off full developmental coaching or minimum three months of book coaching. A deposit is required to reserve a spot; services are paid in advance.

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Links!

The creativity and culture story I wish everyone would listen to

Maybe you’ve read about the MIT study about ChatGPT’s impact on writers’ brains? (Spoiler: it leads to declines in creativity and an alarming degree of intellectual homogenization, beyond what users may notice; the machines steer us more than we steer the machines, yet we humans cling to the illusion of easy short-cuts, whether in pill or program form.) Granted, the MIT study was small and preliminary, but that’s the point. Studies like these are needed to spur researchers to tackle larger studies. I have been very disappointed in how some news outlets have covered this story, missing the key points. My recommendation: listen to the New Yorker article that ran June 25th. The text version is behind a paywall but the 10-minute audio version is free.

More briefly:

Looking for another reason to limit your time on social media? In her excellent Substack, Novelist Vera Kurian did a major deep dive, analyzing authors’ sales and those same authors’ follower numbers on Instagram. Spoiler: sales and followers were not correlated. I’ve forgotten my college statistics classes so I can’t vouch for her formulas, but I love that she used her doctorate in psychology background to confront a pernicious myth!

I read and completely forgot an entire novel recently—but I didn’t waste the experience. Check out my Present Tense article about what I learned reading a so-so novel a second time. Of interest to those of us who want to understand what makes a novel more “commercial.”

Let’s end with humor! Do you fret about typos as much as I do—and find more and more of them in your work lately? Julie Vick’s humor piece for McSweeney’s hit the spot.

Enjoy your July and stay in touch!