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Queery (personal development/narrative nonfiction)
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I only did one non-fiction query, and that was over a decade ago, so don't recall the recommended details. I would suggest, though, that it's too long. While it may be that non-fiction agents/publishers get a smaller deluge of queries than fiction authors, I suspect they will still prefer brevity.The query's only purpose is to get a manuscript request. You only need to intrigue the agent (or publisher, if you're going direct; this is a perfect candidate for going direct to the publisher). Some portions of your query, such as the TOC, are usually supplied as either attachments or embedded in the email below the query (I recall them often asking for a sample chapter, as well). Thus it isn't a formal part of the query.
Unless your father and sister are widely recognized as experts in the field you're publishing, I'm not sure mentioning them in your query is helpful. You could simply say the work was reviewed by fellow clinical psychologists and fill in the rest later. You're not providing a CV, so simply saying you are have published medico-science papers is enough.
The supposed sweet spot for a query, at least in the fiction world, is around 350 words. You're at nearly 550.
"My goal is to become a successful physician/author" reads to me as you are not yet a successful physician, I recommend tweaking it.
I'm not sure you need 6 comparables, I believe 2-3 is fine.
Good luck with your project! A very close friend was diagnosed with MS and I watched how it completely transformed her life.
Thanks for your response Keith. I could try to trim it down somewhat. My father and sister are unfortunately not widely recognized, so I could leave their names out (perhaps it sounds amateurish to work with family members?).I don't think I would have much confidence working without an agent, so I'm not really considering sending this directly to a publisher. I would like to develop a platform by doing public speaking for the national multiple sclerosis society at some point, but I think it would make more sense to do this if I already had a published book.
A lot of agents ask for specific things such as attaching the first three chapters, so I would obviously tailor the query to their specifications
Be sure you're querying agents specifically looking for non-fiction. Generally, for non-fiction, you prepare a book proposal as generally, non-fiction books aren't written until after the deal has been sold (that was how I did mine). Since you've already finished, you're ahead of the game, but that may not change how you query.There are probably only a very few agents that would consider your book, so I strongly advocate you look into publishers directly. Smaller ones, that are likely to be interested in your specific work, such as University presses or medical presses (the Lancet has been talking with an author friend of mine for a non-fiction book she wrote). Agents make their money as a percentage of what you make, and, as a widely sold non-fiction book might only sell 10K copies, you're not likely to get much of an advance (maybe only a token, even, like $500), it's unlikely an agent will find that worth their time.
The specialty presses also assume you're not going to have an agent, so have ways to accept submissions direct from the author. It can be frustrating to wait, and sometimes it may be 6-9 months before you hear back, but I believe many of the smaller presses will accept simultaneous queries (if they ask for the MS, though, they generally want it exclusive for some period (that you can try to restrict, btw)). If you haven't, research non-fiction book proposals to see the sorts of things they like to have in there. Usually they want to see a marketing plan, which can be a real PITA to produce.
Having said that, my understanding is you can often get by with a one-page query to an editor and they'll let you know if they're interested enough to invest in the full proposal.
Another alternative a different author friend of mine had success with, was publishing her non-fiction on her web site (you'll need one eventually, might as well start now; indeed, my understanding is the first thing they'll do, if they like your query, is search on your name), and she got enough interest that a publisher contacted her about adding it to their list (hers was on a computer language).
This business is not for the faint of heart ;-)
Thanks for your input Kevin. I am able to find agents interested in non-fiction from writer's market, but it would be very difficult to find an agent specifically interested in this type of book. I don't think that it would be appropriate for university or medical presses as it isn't really academic or medical. I have read many books and journals published by Lancet, and I cannot imagine them publishing anything like this.I suppose any non-fiction book written for a niche market by someone without a big platform is a difficult sell, but I don't know how else to go about it. Do you have any idea how I would go about finding a smaller publishing house that might be interested?
My plan was basically to try to find an agent. If I am unsuccessful, I would just self-publish it and try to promote it by trying to get a few local speaking engagements with the national MS society.
Self publishing is certainly a path forward. It gives you total control, and is ideal for when you want to give talks and sell your books. The days when self publishing was considered the same as a vanity printing are long behind us (though only a few dozen of the 100's of thousands of self published books ever make back their editing costs). Having said that, you _must_ have at least one professional editor/proofreader go over it, and that person must have some knowledge of MS and medical lingo. It's not unreasonable to expect to pay $500-$1,000 for a good editor and it's often a good idea to have more than one, since no one is perfect. This is what your publisher does, and that costs them the same (or more). Self publishing is a deep rabbit hole, as you can choose to start your own publishing company, so you can control your own ISBNs and have the opportunity to sell your books through bricks-and-mortar book stores. Of course, you can also publish through Amazon (don't skimp on the editing though!) and avoid all that. If you're planning on publishing more, it's not unreasonable to spend time doing an analysis on the various paths forward.BTW, the book my friend who is working with Lancet is a humorous look at living with inflammatory bowel disease, so their focus is not 100% on deep medical issues.
Since your focus is on MS, try a simple Google with MS and publisher and see what happens (e.g., https://www.google.com/search?q=%22mu... which showed a few links that appeared promising on the first page). Just because a publisher appears focused on primary literature doesn't mean they won't consider other things. While it's possible to call editors, I've generally heard that's considered a very risky thing to do (meaning, you can piss them off, and it is a very small world), but sending them a one-page query letter is perfectly fine.
I took a stab at a brief query letter for you, use as much or as little as you like:
Dear Editor,
Because of your interests in (this is personalization and would be different for every editor), I feel you may be interested in “Resilience in the Face of Multiple Sclerosis,” completed at 76K, is a narrative non-fiction book about incredible people who suffer from MS. I tell the stories of five of my exceptional patients who are able to live productive and fulfilling lives despite significant adversity. They include a neurologist, a psychiatrist, a political activist, a young blind man, and a woman with advanced multiple sclerosis.
I write the stories from both a personal and clinical perspective, including direct quotes and medical images. I explore the science and psychology of resilience, along with ways to improve resilience through therapy, mindfulness, and Ho’oponopono. The stories are intimate, emotional, heart-wrenching, and heart-warming. The book is written for the layperson and has minimal technical language. It’s meant to be practical and inspiring, with much of the message coming from the powerful personal anecdotes. The manuscript has some pictures and diagrams. I have obtained signed consents from all of the participants, and the images are either my own or open source. It has been reviewed by two clinical psychologists.
I’m a board certified neurologist and have published primary literature. I enjoy teaching and public speaking, and I have a research interest in multiple sclerosis clinical trials and epidemiology. My goal is to add successful author to my skills, and I have another idea for a book which I intend to start soon. I plan to develop a platform by doing public speaking for the national multiple sclerosis society. (if/when you get your own web site, you would put it here and mention your efforts to plug into social media.)
If you are interested, please contact me for a book proposal.
Thank you and have a nice day.
Sincerely,
Contact information
Wow Kevin. You are awesome! Thank you so much for your help!
Ok; I made some edits to my queery letter and actually sent it out to five agents to see if I will get any response. It is not any shorter, but hopefully, it is better.Let me know what you all think
-----
There are 400,000 Americans living with multiple sclerosis, but their personal stories are rarely told. Resilience in the Face of Multiple Sclerosis is a narrative non-fiction book about incredible people who suffer from MS. The book describes the stories of five of my exceptional patients who are able to live productive and fulfilling lives despite significant adversity. They include a neurologist, a psychiatrist, a political activist, a young blind man, and a woman with advanced multiple sclerosis. For example, chapter six describes the amazing story of xxx. She is a health care administrator whose life is turned upside-down by a rapid onset of neurological symptoms. She ascends from the depths of depression, family conflict, and an identity crisis to reinvent herself as a prominent political activist. Undeterred by physical disability, she uses personal hardiness, social resources, and religious faith to extricate herself from the demonic forces of disease. She goes on to live a joyful life, and she is well-known for speaking out against the infamous misconduct of the city of Bell scandal, along with many other political achievements.
The stories are written from both a personal and clinical perspective, including direct quotes and medical images. The text explores the science and psychology of resilience along with ways to improve resilience through therapy and mindfulness. The biographies are intimate, emotional, heart-wrenching, and heart-warming. They reflect the triumph, not of modern medicine, but of unique individuals. The stories and their lessons are practical and inspiring, with much of the message coming through the powerful personal anecdotes. Each chapter provides useful takeaways, and the conclusion summarizes helpful guidelines on how to lead a productive and resilient life, regardless of circumstances.
The book is intended for a general audience and has minimal technical language. It is already written and edited, totaling about 76,000 words with some pictures and diagrams. I have obtained signed consents from all of the participants, and the images are either my own or open source. I received help from my sister (Dr. xxx) and my father (Dr. xxx), both of whom are clinical psychologists. Chapter Seven features an interview with xxx, a well-known expert in the Hawaiian philosophy of Ho’oponopono.
About me:
I am a board-certified neurologist ...xxx. I enjoy teaching and public speaking, and I have a research interest in multiple sclerosis clinical trials and epidemiology. This manuscript seeks to share the wisdom implicit in the lives of some of my flourishing patients. I am looking to form a long-term partnership with an agent, and I have recently begun work on a second book related to my field. If you are interested, please let me know, and I will send you whatever you would like including sample chapters, chapter summaries, competitive titles, or the entire manuscript.
My publications on PUBMED: xxx
My profile with xxx: xxx
Thank you for your time
—xxxx
Well, posting here after you've already queried is not really asking for advice ;-)You need to use white space between your paragraphs, as there are plenty of email viewers that won't do that when they display. For instance, the Goodreads interface runs your paragraphs together, so it looks like one long block of text. You should do your final composition in plain text and copy and paste it into your email as plain text, to eliminate any formatting.
Other than being 'too long' and not appearing to have any personalization, it reads OK to me, subject to my original caveats.
Good luck with it!
:)Thanks Keith. I will definitely fix the formatting when sending it, and I will add and an introduction personal to every agent. I just sent out 5 queeries to see what kind of response I get. I figure that this will be a long and painful process, but I just wanted to get something out there.
I have some other questions:
1) What should I have prepared in case I get a response soliciting more information? I have a make-shift proposal with comparable titles, chapter summaries, and some ideas for marketing.
2) Do you think it is absolutely necessary to make the queery shorter?
3) Should I include a polished proposal with the queery that I send?
4) How many queeries should I send out at one time?
5) At what point should I give up and self-publish? (which seems to be the most likely result here)
-B
1) You need to have a book proposal ready. See https://www.janefriedman.com/start-he... for details.2) I do consider your query too long. The point is to tease the agent/publisher into asking for more information, so you should supply the minimum to trigger that request. Short and sweet is the goal, as a longer query already predisposes the agent against you before they've started to read. Having said that, a query that works is all that matters.
3) ALWAYS research what the agent/publisher wants from a query. Some want only the query, others want a whole package (in this case, a book proposal). ONLY send them what they ask for. There are plenty of agents/publishers that will discard a query that isn't formatted properly.
4) As many as you like. It's up to the agent if they will accept requeries, but generally they won't. Thus, if you have a poor query, you've sort of blown it for that agent/publisher. The general suggestion is to find all the agents/publishers you'd like to query (for my novel, I only found about 30 that felt like fits through AgentQuery.com; for my non-fiction, I only queried two publishers), then divide that list into several chunks. Send out a chunk, wait 4-6 weeks for feedback, then, based on that feedback, send out another chunk. Keep in mind, in most cases, absence of an answer means 'no,' so don't contact them asking for status. Some will guarantee that they will respond and suggest requerying if you haven't got a response in a few weeks, but that depends on the agent/publisher. I've had several agents (that responded) take almost 50 days, and had a publisher take over 200 days.
5) That depends entirely on your patience. However, if you've approached every agent/publisher that you think would be interested and have waited a year, I think it's safe to conclude you're on your own.
Personally, I think looking for an agent with your product is a waste of your time. I think you should approach publishers directly, as the sorts of publishers that are likely to be interested in your product are likely to accept direct submissions. However, the slush pile (as unsolicited submissions are often referred as) is the lowest priority, so it could take a year before they get to you. A short query is like to get a much faster response, though.
If you are expecting most, if not all, of your sales to be when you give a talk, then there is little to suggest that a publisher will add value (agents only exist to get you consideration from a publisher (well, they also help mold your career, evaluate contracts, etc.)). You need to decide if the 12-18 months to wait to find out if there may be publisher interest, only to wait another 12-24 months for your book to be published, is worth it when you could have it through professional editing in 3-4 months and published days later. What's your personal time frame for giving talks where offering your book would be expected?
Thanks for the response Keith. I have been crafting a more polished book proposal. I will be attending a professional conference in March, and I know that some publishers will be there, so I will try approaching them directly and will have a book proposal in hand.I'm not doing this for the money, so I would prefer to have an agent/professional publisher even it meant selling the same pathetic number of copies and seeing a smaller percentage. Given that I'm an amateur when it comes to writing/publishing, any sort of professional help would be appreciated.
A year sounds like a very long time to wait. If I am not at least getting requests for a proposal, I can see myself giving up after 6 months and self-publishing. I am honestly not in any rush to publish/promote my book. It would actually be more convenient for me to stall until 2019 for family reasons. Perhaps this justifies submitting to publishers directly as you suggest.
This is not the type of book I typically read so feel free to take my comments with more than a grain of salt. I'm assuming that as readers, we are meant to find these stories inspirational but I find some of your wording to be overly dramatic. The phrases at the top of this list are "depths of depression" and "demonic forces of disease".
I think a more balanced approach to describing these case studies is needed. You say that these are exceptional patients and yet go on to outline one woman's journey who appears to have a public presence. My first thought is, is she exceptional because of the things she has done? Or exceptional in that she's linked to some notoriety and might sell more copies of the books?
I also don't quite understand what your book is about and who is your target audience. Is it about how people are learning to live with MS? Or is it about resilience in general but you've chosen MS patients as the lens through which to view this trait? Or is it about the wisdom you later mention? And how does any or all of this apply to the target reader?
Finally, the word query has only one 'e'.
Good luck!
Brandon wrote: "I'm not doing this for the money, so I would prefer to have an agent/professional publisher even it meant selling the same pathetic number of copies and seeing a smaller percentage. "It's important to keep in mind that agents and publishers are in the business to make money. If there are not prospects of selling at least 10K copies, you probably won't get any agent to consider you. They get 15% of what you make, so if there isn't enough money in it for you, how could there be for them? Publishers don't make a lot on a per-book basis either, though for the right subject matter, having sales as low as 1K may still be worth their interest as a way to attract additional sales. You can get a good idea of the cost to publishers by looking at how much it would cost for you to self-publish. Sure, they're going to get books printed for a lower price, but probably at most a 20% discount (particularly if it's a small run of only 1K), but they aren't making a whole lot off the sales either. If you've decided there aren't going to be enough sales to make you any money, then there certainly aren't going to be enough sales to make a publisher any money.
I emphasize this because it's critical that you (and other readers of this thread) understand that publishing is a _business_ that has to make a profit. If you are motivated by other than a financial motive (as is clearly the case), then you are probably much better off going the self publishing route.
BTW, good editors are not cheap. Expect to spend no less than $500, but more realistically $1,000-$2,000, to get an editor for your book (you _must_ find someone familiar with the subject matter (not MS specifically, though that helps, but medico lingo); you _can't_ rely on someone who edits novels for a living). Then you need, at a minimum, a proofer (you should also have a line editor before the proofer), which is likely to be the same cost. Note that publishers pay the exact same prices for the exact same work, and they pay that after they've paid you your advance, so a publisher can easily have $5K into a book before the print run even starts. It's not unreasonable to think that a publisher will have put $7K into a 1K book print run (if you self-publish and want the cheaper per-book price you can get by having a print run (as opposed to print on demand), you'll have the exact same investment made). For them to take on your book, they have to think they're going to sell those books for a combined total of $12-15K (or $12-15 per book), so they can make enough money back to cover their overhead, operating costs, profit, etc. If you don't have confidence that is possible, nay, expected, then I suggest you focus on self publishing.
em-jay: thanks for your responses. I will work on rewording the description of the story of the political activist. She is locally prominent but not widely prominent to the point where she would help me sell more copies.I was hoping that the book would be able to teach board audiences about resilience despite the focus on MS.
Keith: I understand what you mean. Why would a published bother spending $5-7K if they are unlikely to make a strong return? I just figure that it is worth a shot, If I cannot find an agent or a small publishing house, I will pay for professional editing and self publish.
I am bumping this thread with hopes to get some advice from Keith or anyone else. It looks as though Keith was right in that my e-mails have been much more well received when sent directly to small or academic publishers. My book was reviewed by Johns Hopkin's University Press, but they asked me to "revise and resubmit." One of their requests involved me finding a collaborator in the field of psychological resilience which would be very difficult for me to achieve (and somewhat silly when you consider that I have already written the entire manuscript). Almost all of my queries to agents were ignored, met with form rejections, or in rare cases asking for more content but then never following up.
Does anyone have suggestions for small or academic presses for this type of manuscript.
I have tried a few presses listed on this website:
http://www.aupresses.org/aaup-members...
I have also tried this website which lists small independent presses:
https://www.newpages.com/books/publis...
This website lists small presses for nonfiction books accepting nonagented submissions: https://curiosityneverkilledthewriter...
Does anyone have other recommendations? It seems that a lot of these presses list titles which are very different from my manuscript. I have not had great success looking at the publishers of similar titles either.
Thank you for your time in advance.
Having reread this thread, my two cents is you've given it your best shot and should now focus on self-publishing.BTW, the point in getting a "collaborator in the field of psychological resilience" is to increase the potential pool of people who would be interested in the book from an academic standpoint. Sort of like larding on prominent co-authors in a research paper.
My guess is those that have read your MS have decided they cannot effectively reach your target audience with enough book sales to justify their involvement. This presupposes you've got a readable book that's engaging to those in your target demographic. How many beta readers have you had? How many that are in your target demographic? If the answer is zero, then I suggest you _could_ try and find some of those people, along with a developmental editor that specializes in non-fiction medico-type books, to go over it and give you their feedback. Once you incorporate that, you could consider going back to querying, but I still think you're better off doing self-publishing. Be prepared to put in $5-7K to have it ready to print, then make the decision to go with POD or paying for your own print run and storing them in your garage (or wherever; just make sure it's clean and dry).
Alternatively, you can narrow your focus substantially and do in-depth research on various MS related organization and try approaching them, but I suspect that would have better results with a completed, published MS. If you elect to self-publish, that's exactly what you'd do anyway. It's possible you could sell more than 1K books and thus have a chance at making a nominal profit, but I doubt you'll ever get paid back for your time. Since that appears to be OK to you, based on this thread, I suggest that very attitude is why you're better off self-publishing. Go ahead and do it yourself and bring boxes whenever you give talks and sell them there.
Do you have a web site yet? If not, you need to produce one. You need to start promoting that website so when people search on MS there's a chance yours will be at the top of the results. BTW, the website is pretty much a requirement no matter if you go agent, publisher direct or self-, so don't put it off, do it now. Blog there regularly (which is a minimum of several times a month, generally at least once a week) and invest energy promoting it. Good search results happen because other websites link back to yours (be sure to exchange the favor), so you need to get yours out there. If you do self-publish, have a way to purchase the book from your website, either via a link to Amazon, or via Paypal and your own fulfillment.
The upside to self publishing is your success is in your own hands. Which is also the downside. You've made the concerted effort to find an agent and publisher, now it's time to seriously consider doing it yourself.
thanks for the response Keith. I think that you are right.I will send a few e-mails to a few more small presses just so that I feel I have truly left no stone unturned. Aftwards, I will go ahead and pay for cover design and editing and then pursuing print-on-demand self publishing via amazon. I may try to do some social media marketing just because this is a very niche manuscript amenable to targeted marketing.
I was ready to self publish several months ago, but getting reviewed by JHUP gave me a glimmer of hope, so I didn't want to give up immediately. I suppose this is a very common story.
I think you should feel encouraged that you got an MS request, including the "revise and resubmit." Based on my reading, they won't say that unless they actually mean it. Did they have specific issues they asked you to address?But I still think you are going to be better off doing it yourself.
Get the website and social media going now, because you need that one way or another.
They had a few minor issues, but the big thing is that they requested that I collaborate with someone with a background in psychology since that is really the primary topic of my book. I am essentially a neurologist writing about the psychology of resilience which is not truly my background or expertise. The rest of the issues were minor and fixable.I have a social media account, but I only have a minor following at this point.
I am going to wait for perhaps 10-20 responses and then think about how much money I want to "invest " (read: "lose") on this project.
I indie published my novel. I went that way by choice; I didn't query.What Keith said about getting your website and social media going ... Don't wait on that; do it while you make your last attempts at querying. If you do get someone to pick up your manuscript, most presses still expect you to do a lot of the legwork to sell your book and you'll need to be active on social media. With social media, learn to use hashtags. Comment on other people's posts. Post relevant content related to your book. The goal is to have a group of potential buyers when you release your book.
Your author website can be pretty simple. About you, about your book, a press kit, maybe some links. It's a place you can post your samples and offer review copies. It's also a place where you can set up a mailing list. You can set something up simply through Wordpress, but I would definitely buy your domain name. (Try to get your name, or if not your name, something like my-name-author.)
I wouldn't do a self-run print; I'd just go POD through Ingram, Kindle Direct, etc. You can always order copies at an author's rate from the POD company to sell at events. (I think KDP will let you order up to 100 copies at a time.)
In terms of how much to spend on a self-published book, that's up to you. Chances are, your book isn't going to ever turn a profit. But for many authors, having something polished is a point of pride. I would at least budget to pay for 1) line/copy editing; 2) proofreading; 3) a professionally designed cover. There are editors, proofreaders, and cover designers who specifically work with indie authors and price accordingly, so if you want to keep this affordable, you can. If possible, try to make friends among other authors who can give you personal recommendations on who does good work.
One other thing I'll throw in -- there's a lot of vanity publishers out there. The unanimous feeling among indie authors is to avoid these companies; they prey on desperate authors.
(How to identify vanity companies: https://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/...)
Good luck!
thanks for the response J.R.I will definitely heed your advice
Good luck, Brandon. If you do decide to go indie and ever want to chat about self publishing, I’d be happy to share what little I’ve learned. My email is thegreenheron1980@gmail.com. Jen.
Ok. I sent you an e-mail.I would be happy to learn from your experiences
-B
-------------------------
Resilience in the face of multiple sclerosis is a narrative non-fiction book about incredible people who suffer from MS. I tell the stories of five of my exceptional patients who are able to live productive and fulfilling lives despite significant adversity. They include a neurologist, a psychiatrist, a political activist, a young blind man, and a woman with advanced multiple sclerosis. For example, chapter six describes the amazing story of *****. She is a health care administrator whose life is turned upside down by a rapid onset of neurological symptoms. She rises from the depths of depression, family conflict, and a crisis of identity to reinvent herself as a prominent political activist. Despite significant physical disability, she uses personal hardiness, social resources, and religious faith to pull herself from hades. She goes on to live a joyous life, and she is well known for speaking out against the famous city of Bell scandal along with many other political achievements.
I write the stories from both a personal and clinical perspective, including direct quotes and medical images. I explore the science and psychology of resilience along with ways to improve resilience through therapy, mindfulness, and Ho’oponopono. The stories are intimate, emotional, heart-wrenching, and heart-warming. The book is written for laypersons and has minimal technical language. It is meant to be practical and inspiring with much of the message coming from the powerful personal anecdotes. It is already written and edited. The manuscript is about 76,000 words with some pictures and diagrams. I have obtained signed consents from all of the participants, and the images are either my own or open source. I received help from my sister (Dr. *****) and my father (Dr. *****) who are clinical psychologists. My sister is also the author of the foreward.
About me:
I am a board certified neurologist working....****. I enjoy teaching and public speaking, and I have a research interest in multiple sclerosis clinical trials and epidemiology. My goal is to become a successful physician/author, and I have another idea for a book which I intend to start soon.
My publications on PUBMED: ****
My profile with ****: *****
Table of Contents:
Foreward by Dr. *****
Chapter 1: Introduction and general information about multiple sclerosis
Chapter 2: Dr. Emily Spitz, a neurologist
Chapter 3: The science of resilience
Chapter 4: Dr. James Bhat, a psychiatrist
Chapter 5: The psychology of resilience
Chapter 6: *******, a political activist
Chapter 7: Ho’oponopono
Chapter 8: Miguel Hernandez, a young blind man
Chapter 9: Mindfulness
Chapter 10: Martha Collins, a woman with advanced multiple sclerosis
Chapter 11: Conclusion
Appendices
References
Index
Comparable Titles:
1) The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness; Jerome Groopman; 2003 (A narrative nonfiction about hope in cancer patients)
2) The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales; Oliver Sacks
3) Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy; Sheryl Sandberg ; 2017; #1 New York Times Best Seller
4) Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness; 2012; Susannah Cahalan
5) The Resilience Factor: 7 Keys to Finding Your Inner Strength and Overcoming Life's Hurdles; Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte (Heavily cited in my book)
6) Resilience; The science of mastering Life's Greatest Challenges; Steven Southwick and Dennis S. Charney