Betsy Lerner's Blog, page 4

When You’re Alone and Life is Making You Lonely

This is not a paid advertisement, but it an advertisement! My client Tricia Romano worked on her book, THE FREAKS CAME OUT TO WRITE, for seven years through a tragic personal loss and Covid. She Finished the Fucker big time and it’s a great joy to see book showered with praise. It’s a sprawling oral history of The Village Voice that covers six decades and includes over two hundred interviews. Here are just a few of the raves that have been coming in from the New York Times, NPR, and The New Yorker. If you love downtown, the art scene, politics, performance art, activism, feminism, gay rights, theater, punk music, hip hop and jazz. If you ever lived in New York (or wanted to), were born too early or too late, this book brings it all to life. It’s a great ride.

Tell me about your New York state of mind.

If You Don’t Know Me By Now

I had an epiphany the other day about my next writing project. I was driving. I was thinking about my errands, the dry cleaner, the special light bulbs, the pharmacy. I was thinking about a difficult call I had to make. I was thinking about my sister. In other words, I wasn’t thinking about what to work on next when it came to me: wait. I remembered that every one of my books started organically. I was seized with an idea and started writing. Some stuck, some didn’t. But I never made myself do anything. Why was I making myself crazy? I think the reason is I always feel lonely when I’m not working on a project. I think I started writing as a kid because I was lonely.

What makes your write?

You Are the Wind Beneath my Wings

Dearest darling readers of this blog: take a look in the right hand column and get a sneak peak at the jacket for my DEBUT novel, Shred Sisters. This book poured out of me in seven months and then took almost three years to revise with the help of many smart writer friends who generously gave me feedback. Each reader brought something different and helped me immeasurably. I still don’t quite know how the original gush happened, except that I kept waking up earlier and earlier because I couldn’t wait to get back to my keyboard before I had to go back to my day job. I was writing until my hands cramped. Reader, I was on my meds. It was not mania, but I felt wind beneath my wings. I felt my wings! I don’t know when/if that will ever happen again. I made up for it all on the other side, the eleven or twelve revisions, even writing one whole revise in longhand. I think what I’m trying to say is that there are no shortcuts. But I’m also curious if anyone has ever felt a book rip out themselves. There was also the rush of being able to make it all up after years of writing non-fiction. Poof!

What do you think of the jacket? Market research!!

I Can See All Obstacles In My Way

Over the years, many writers have asked me for advice about what their next project should be. They’ll have a few ideas and want me to weigh in what I think is the most selling or commercial, which might get them a big advance. Even though I’ve been working in publishing for over 30 years, I never quite know what to say. I’ve always believed that the execution was far more important than any given idea. And I basically give the same answer: do what you feel most passionate about. It sounds sort of twee, but I really mean it. For the first time in my own writing life, I don’t know what to do next. It’s an awful feeling. I have too many ideas. If I had a shrink, I imagine she’d say that I need to sit with the feeling. Or at least that’s what she used to say about everything before I quit. It’s probably good advice, but I hated it then and I hate it now.

How do you figure out what to do next?

The Rest is Still Unwritten

I feel so awful about not blogging more often, but as you know I’ve run off with a new lover called BookTok, and I find the whole whacky world of content creation (lol) and influencers and scrolling to be deeply intriguing. It’s like learning a new language or going to a foreign country. Not knowing the rules, trying to get comfortable, wanting to join but afraid of messing up. I’ve been making little videos where I read from the diaries I kept in my twenties. It’s been something of an excavation and what I see is that this little monster has been at it for a long time. Writing almost every day in those notebooks, blogging every day for years, and now my first novel. I like to say that it poured out of me, or dropped into my lap, but the reality is that every diary entry and post was part of my story, part of developing my voice, part of enjoying connecting with people and being less afraid. I like to joke that I’ve written a coming of age story at 63, but it’s no joke. It just took a while.

Where do you find your voice?

And the Haters Gonna Hate, Hate, Hate, Hate Hate

Dear Readers of this Blog, In the spirit of the year winding down, I thought I’d post my annual hate list: Everything pink and Barbie and my outsize jealousy of Greta Gerwig even though she has done nothing to me personally and made the highest grossing film of the year opening doors for women filmmakers which is awesome. Romantacy as a new genre. People hating on my new home away from home, TikTok, and blaming CoHo (Colleen Hoover) for the demise of fiction. People “not getting” Taylor Swift. Calling Twitter X. Succession and people praising it for the “writing.” The loss of constitutional rights. The battle for the soul of our country. The world in flames.

Sending love and light and bright new pages. Stay healthy, keep writing whatever you do, and hope to see you in the new year.

Love, Betsy

p.s. please add to the list!!

photo: Wiki

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And the Moon Rose Over an Open Field

A friend just forwarded this Substack post to me (you guys aware of Substack? It’s platform for writers to make money from subscriptions – cutting out the middle man — and there’s great stuff on it). Hennyway: this was right up my alley. Love the negative writing vibe. Reminded me of us. Almost did a spit take.

What do you wear when you write, and where?

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

Dearest Readers of this Blog: I have been cheating on you. I’m not going to lie. I’ve been seduced by TikTok, BookTok specifically. A year ago, people in publishing were saying that it’s the only social media to move the needle (the sales needle). So while most people turned their noses up at it, and Colleen Hoover, I decided to check it out. I’m astonished at what I’ve found, dancing cowboys and kitten videos aside, there is a vibrant community of book lovers who read in every genre, including classics. It’s a way to discover what is popular and why. A lot of people are reading out there, and sharing their thoughts, and creating communities. I’m definitely a newbie, but when I make a video that people respond to, I have to admit it’s thrilling. If you’re interesed, check me out @betsylerner

In other news, my debut (!) novel has gone into production and will come out next year in November. My editor has kicked my ass seven ways from Sunday and I’m beyond humbled and grateful. Not only have I improved by book as a result of her painstaking work, I feel as I’ve become a better editor myself.

To anyone who is still hanging around the Lerner Home for Wayward Children, I hope you’re okay. I hope you’re bringing a writing project to fruition or starting a new one, or just writing in your diary, or a long letter to a friend. If you’re out there, catch us up. xo, Betsy

The First Cut is the Deepest

Even though I’m an agent, I still do a great deal of editing for my clients. Lately, I’ve been working with a writer I’ve known for over 25 years. By now, it’s like we’re an old married couple. I know her strengths and weakness. She knows my pet peeves and prejudices. We bicker about the same things, agree about the same things. Sometimes we don’t have to say anything at all. When I suggest a more apt word, move a paragraph, change the tense, she’s delighted. Calls me a genius. A small halo lights up over head. No change is too small. And I am thrilled when she takes a chance, makes a leap, says “look ma, no hands” with a string of sentences that blows my mind. In the end, it’s the dance. The call and response. The trust that if I know you’ll catch me, I am free to fall.

Who do you trust with your writing?

photo: Antique Boutique

We’ll Marry Our Fortunes Together

I took an actual vacation — a long delayed (Covid) 30th anniversary trip. My husband and I both have demanding publishing jobs, and spend a lot of vacation time apart to write. It was nice to know that we still get along, hiking and talking about our writing projects, our life choices to work inside the industry and not pursue writing full time, the need for structure and a regular paycheck, the creature comforts, wondering about the road less travelled, lamenting our cowardice, grateful for our jobs and the rich life working with writers and books.

What road did you take?