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I'm back in the office after a month-long trip that involved six planes, countless trains, and about 600 miles of bicycling—and the weirdest thing I learned was how much I missed my job.
Tell that to the Jessie of 15 years ago, who was crawling out of her skin working a desk job, desperate to be anywhere but work. You know what she'd say?
Good.
That means we DID IT.
Back then, all I wanted was to be my own boss and work on things that mattered to me. And so, slowly but surely, chapter by chapter, blog post by blog post, I committed to writing my way free.
And now, freedom often means finding time to work on those planes and trains, and let my mind wander through work problems on those bicycles.
(Though, like I mentioned in a previous email, I'm never as productive as I hope I'll be.)
I'm not working on the road because I feel like I can't unplug, but because I honestly enjoy my job.
I like writing books.
I like helping other people write books.
I legit get antsy when I don't get stretches of deep work time—even when I'm supposed to be on vacation.
Coming back from vacation as a business owner is such a different feeling than it was when I worked a desk job for somebody else.
Mostly, dread —> excitement. And tons of gratitude.
Because all those years I spent finding scraps of time to learn story structure and write books? All those lunch hours spent revising? Those evenings spent outlining and reading about publishing?
This is what I was working for.
So if you're there, trying to write a book and tell your story in the margins of your day—let me tell you it's possible to build the life and business you want.
You've got this!
And I'm here for you. Hit reply and let's talk.
As I sink back into the grind, here's a collection of bits and bobs about storytelling, writing, and the publishing industry that caught my attention this week.
🤯 How's your attention span these days? If your answer is "not great," you're not alone. Phone notifications fracture our attention, and the social media infinite scroll skips our brains along the surface of the world—but according to JT Torres (literacy expert) and Jeff Saerys-Foy (cognitive scientist), we can reclaim our attention.
I appreciated the tips they gave in this article for The Conversation, on how to build (or rebuild) the skill of deep reading to improve your cognitive function and critical thinking.
📚 Speaking of reading, Publisher's Weekly just highlighted a new study from the Pew Research Center about American reading habits. They write:
According to a survey of 8,046 U.S. adults conducted last year from October 6–16, 64% of respondents said they had read at least part of a print book in the last 12 months, down from 72% in 2011. During the same time span, the percentage of respondents who read an e-book rose to 31% from 17%, while audiobook usage jumped to 26% from 11%. I'm actually surprised that e-book readership isn't higher, but that might be my personal bias. I'm curious—do you still read paper books? Or are you an e-reader convert like me?
💌 If you're writing a book and planning to go the traditional route, you probably know it's tough out there to find an agent. A couple of posts floated across my feed recently that give an interesting take on the state of the industry.
First, author and literary agent Vicky Weber's essay "What Nobody’s Telling Querying Writers About What’s Happening to Publishing Right Now." Closing imprints, tighter margins, less consumer spending—it's all impacting authors looking for a publishing deal.
She makes the point that platform is going to matter more and more, as publishers want to sign authors who bring an audience with them. So if you're not already finding ways to connect with your readers, it's time to start.
Second, check out How Writers Get Agents in 2026 (What Actually Works). It features publishing experts Jane Friedman, Karin Gillespie & Erin C. Niumata in conversation about the current best practices and advice around querying agents. Note that most of their advice is for fiction authors, but much of it crosses over for nonfiction.
🕰️ I loved this advice from Sean Delone about dialing in on your book's structure with one simple question. In his article, "One Question that Helps Solve any Book Structure," he's specifically speaking to memoir writers—but I would argue his question is a critical tool for any nonfiction author to answer.
🤖 I'm not anti-AI. In fact, I use AI tools almost daily in my business and my writing. That said, I don't love how our increasing reliance on AI for writing is blandifying the world around us. Especially our prose.
Embrace your own voice! Show me your weird writing quirks! Tell me your unique stories!
And for the love of all that's holy, if you're using AI as a drafting partner please pay attention to these four tells and edit them out.
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👀 Hot off the presses! Tara Reid (who organized the Introvertpreneur Summit) just published a free collaborative guide called The Capacity Chronicles, featuring entrepreneurs who have built their businesses while dealing with chronic illness, neurodivergence, and unpredictable energy.
It popped into my email right before I was about to hit send on this one, so I downloaded the guide and gave it a quick scan—it's chock full of useful ideas. Go grab it now—it'll only be available during the month of May.
🎈 Now that I'm back in the saddle, I'm developing a training to hold later this month. There's a few paths it could take, so I'd love to get your feedback!
This training will be open to all writers, though primarily aimed at nonfiction writers who are working on business books, self help, and other commercial nonfiction. Is that you? If so, what would be most useful for you right now?
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Talk soon,
Jessie
P.S. I realized I didn't tell you all where I've been.
This year is my sister and her husband's 20th anniversary, and they wanted to celebrate with the whole family by heading back to the Old Country: The Netherlands.
All 9 of us (including my parents and my sister's 3 teen and pre-teen kids) visited our family's ancestral village, hung out with cousins from the branch of the family that's still over there, and ate a ton of cheese.
A ton of cheese.
After the rest of the family went home, my husband and I embarked on a bike tour that included the Lake District in England, Yorkshire, and parts of Belgium.
It was... a lot. 😄 But so fun! And I'm glad to be back at my old tricks.
(My old tricks = hydrating, sleeping in my comfy bed, making regular time to write)
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