Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer’s Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book by Courtney Maum, 3/5

Despite Maum’s humorous approach, I found this insider perspective on the book publishing process to be quite off-putting. Seeing the business side of books is truly like visiting the proverbial sausage factory and I am not a happier reader for coming to the realization that “author” hovers near the very bottom of any list of viable career choices, below even those perennial classics–“actor” and “musician.” This state of things is not Maum’s fault, but it is not Donald Trump’s fault either, which is a fact she seems to struggle with at several points in this exceedingly woke book.

Why I read it: it was on a list of recommended resources for writers on my Instagram feed.