Replay: Maurice Carlos Ruffin shares Five Things He's Learned Too Late about Publishing His First Book
Check out the first five minutes of his recent class.
“Every agent says that they really only want sign you if you’re any good — if they read your work and fall in love with that work. They always say it, and they really mean it.”
“Most writers will have their greatest time with their first book — because the industry cherishes debut writers above almost anybody else.”
“The way that I categorized my first book in my mind when I started writing it back in 2012, was: ‘Maurice, if you only get to write one book, what do you want to be?’”
“I have a spreadsheet from about 10 years ago. I used to say that I had submitted my stories a hundred times and that I only got published one time. But the spreadsheet actually says I submitted 320 times and only got accepted three times.”
“The biggest downfall with going with a major publisher is the lack of attention being paid to certain writers…. Most of us are somewhere down the list. And once you’re past say, number twenty, it gets a little bit sketchy.”
– Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Five Things I’ve Learned Too Late about Publishing My First Book
Maurice Carlos Ruffin recently joined us to share the Five Things He’s Learned about how to make the most of your one opportunity to announce yourself to the world – and how to set the tone for the writing life you wish to have.
Maurice is the author of the national bestseller The American Daughters and The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You, both New York Times Editor’s Choices. His debut novel, We Cast a Shadow, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and several other major prizes. He’s the recipient of numerous honors, including the Louisiana Writer Award and the South Arts State Fellowship, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Oxford American, and Four Hundred Souls. A New Orleans native, Maurice is a tenured professor at Louisiana State University, has taught at major literary conferences, and produces the craft-focused newsletter and podcast Sitting in Silence.
His class, Five Things I’ve Learned Too Late about Publishing My First Book offers an honest, behind-the-scenes guide to the five most important things he’s learned too late about debuting a book—insights that can help you avoid common pitfalls and set the foundation for a sustainable writing career. Drawing from personal experience as an award-winning author and professor, Maurice shares hard-earned lessons about vision, publishing, team dynamics, publicity, and launch strategy to help you make the most of your first book release.
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