Blog Tour: Write Naked by Jennifer Probst (Review + Excerpt)

WRITE NAKED: A Bestseller’s Guide to Writing Romance and Navigating the Path To Success by Jennifer Probst is now LIVE!

This is a new nonfiction book aimed at writers of romance and women’s fiction, intermingling writing exercises, strategies and tips with personal essays on the writing experience from one of the star romance writers today.

Learn how to transform your passion for writing into a career. New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Probst reveals her pathway to success, from struggling as a new writer to signing a seven-figure deal. Write Naked intermingles personal essays on craft with down-to-earth advice on writing romance in the digital age. Probst will teach you how to:

• Commit to your current work-in-progress, get focused, and complete it on schedule
• Reveal raw emotions and thoughts on the page to hook your readers
• Assemble a street team to promote and celebrate your books
• Overcome writer’s block with ease
• Develop themes that tie together your books and series
• Write the most difficult elements of romance–including sex scenes–with skill and style

Regardless of the genre, every novelist faces a difficult task. Creating authentic characters and an engaging plot are challenging enough. But attempting to break into the hotter-than-ever romance genre, which is constantly flooded with new titles and fresh faces? It can feel impossible. This is where Probst’s Write Naked comes in. To survive–and thrive–you need the help and wisdom of an expert.

Written in Probst’s unmistakable and honest voice, Write Naked is filled with the lessons and craft advice every writer needs in order to carve out a rewarding career.

Purchase Now

From WRITE NAKED:

Success means different things to different people. It also changes like a moving target, depending on your current situation. For me, success once meant quitting my day job to write full-time. Then it became hitting a best-seller list. As time passed, success began to morph into a combination of stellar sales, name recognition, steady releases, and big money. It was exhausting. And I was the source of my own exhaustion. The funny thing about being successful is how the ground beneath you doesn’t feel as solid anymore. This makes absolutely no sense, since technically I achieved financial security and discoverability—two huge elements of every hardworking author’s dream. Yet, I still couldn’t control any of my books’ successes. I couldn’t make them hit a best-seller list and I couldn’t stop any of them from making the top of the chart one day and sliding into total obscurity the next. That’s just something you have to learn to be okay with. The good and bad, up and down, success and failures. If you want to be a career author, you will still feel vulnerable, afraid, and sick to your stomach even with success.

I learned one valuable lesson that helps me get through it all. I focus on the work. I focus on my writing, day in and day out, and when I struggle, I dig deep and write even more. That’s how I put the voices to rest. I know I’m not a one-hit wonder or a fraud. I know I’d still be writing if I hadn’t made money, because it’s a calling and a gift. I also learned to be professional. I changed from the kind person who said yes to everyone, signed contracts without fighting for better clauses, and agreed to write too many books in too short of a time into the type of person who thinks like a businesswoman and makes hard decisions.

This means saying no. This means hurting feelings. I always remain kind, but now I ask questions. I decline offers. I’m careful and much more protective of my time, because as many wonderful people as there are, there are still people out there who, like vampires, will drain your creative well dry.

Just know there are both positives and negatives that come with everything in this life. You will need to be willing to look at the world—and your career—in a different way. Think of the tortoise and the hare. Man, it’s fun to win the medal and have everyone celebrate you. But when the cheers disappear, and it’s you alone with your book, you need to have the foundation and stamina of the tortoise.

Then you’ll earn more than a million dollars.

You’ll earn some damn peace and happiness.

Write Naked

As an aspiring author, I often buy and read books on writing. Everything from books on characterization, conflict, structure to books on scenes, emotion, inspiration, and the writer’s life. Write Naked is a book that I got excited about from the moment I heard about it. I knew who Jennifer Probst was, having read The Marriage Bargain and followed it’s success, so I couldn’t wait to read this book and I was so excited for it to show up on release day. And when I got home from day job, I sat myself down and I devoured this book. I loved the message Jennifer Probst shared because it made me feel less alone in my own writing journey, even though, more often than not, that’s exactly what I am when I write.

If you’ve ever doubted yourself as an author, aspiring or multi-published, this book will speak to you on so many levels. There are sections you will return to, again and again, because they are so good and because Jennifer Probst gets it. She’s been there and she’s sharing what she’s learned. And it’s pretty powerful to read it. Even more powerful to take a moment and digest it.

If you are a writer, this is a book you need digest. It’s articulate. It’s inspiring. And it deserves to be on your bookshelf, with creases in the spine and notes in the margin. Take the time to read it, to digest the words and think about the exercises. I didn’t do the exercises on my first read through because I was so impatient to read the whole book, but you can be sure I am going to reread this book and focus on those the second time around. Because they made me think, and they made me want to write my thoughts about them and the questions the author posed down. So I will.

And when I need to remember there are others who feel the way I feel when I struggle to put words to a page, I will open this book again and remind myself I am not alone. There is a tribe…and they’ve all been where I am. That’s the beauty of being a writer. Especially a romance writer. We’re alone with our writing, but our doubts and fears are shared by many.

Even a New York Times bestselling author.

Final Thoughts: Read it. Digest it. Come back and share your thoughts. They’re important, and I’d love to hear them.