Discover more from The Manuscript Works Newsletter
The Struggle Continues
Hi Manuscript Workers,
A little bit of personal sharing today:
We’re seeing a significant abatement in the Covid numbers here in Los Angeles, which is a relief of course. My children no longer have to wear masks in their classrooms, which might seem like a good thing, except my youngest immediately caught a cold and gave it to the rest of the household. We’ve all repeatedly tested negative for Covid, but it’s still been a nasty cold.
I’ve been struggling to stay on top of my to-do list. There were some things I really couldn’t move, but everything else I’ve had to shuffle around and just give myself grace about. (And if my clients and program participants are reading this, thank you for your patience and flexibility.)
One thing on my task list that I wasn’t able to get to was this week’s newsletter. Instead of just not sending it out at all, I figured I’d send out this brief message so that you know that if you’re struggling too, you’re not alone. The hits keep coming this year, and sometimes it feels like all we can do is prioritize our health and hope people will be understanding.
Thankfully, I seem to be on the mend now. And my employer is a reasonable person. (It’s me, I’m my employer.)
If you haven’t been prioritizing your health lately, I hope this message serves as a little nudge that says it’s ok—necessary, actually—to take care of yourself and the people you love. I hope your employer and colleagues will be understanding, but even if they aren’t, you are justified in standing your ground on this.
If you do have some time today, I’ll be doing an interview on “Solving the Mystery of Crafting a Winning Book Proposal” as part of Academic Language Experts’ Publication Success Interview Series. You can register for that here (it’s free and I believe all registrants will receive access to a recording).
The live interview will take place today at 10:30am Pacific / 1:30pm Eastern / 5:30pm GMT.
I’ll be on campus at UCLA next week and the week after doing a series of hybrid in-person/zoom workshops on academic book publishing. I’ll also have some availability for one-on-one or group meetings. If you’re affiliated with UCLA and would like the info about how to sign-up for a workshop or meeting, reply to this email and I’ll forward it to you. Hope to see lots of newsletter readers there!