You did it. You overcame the myriad obstacles to articulating the untamed and formless ideas in your mind into the long, artful form of a book— a harrowing feat to say the least. But do not rush to the publishing house just yet. There remains yet another step in the journey. I’m talking about editing, of course—all kinds of editing.

Our guest writer Latonya Pennington speaks to the music that inspires them to get prolific, artist Angel Haze.

Want to know how do I get from a first draft to published post? Here are six strategies I use to proof my writing before it gets to you.

Writing is a passion and while I write, I like to get fired up by listening to passionate music. I recently realized that I love slow R&B or something that has a nice rhythm. If I can get away from my highly disruptive little ones, I turn on Spotify and I jam out. Here are my top 5 albums to listen to while I'm writing.

After a few hours of talking about our various literary experiences, I was able to compile four tips for new writers get published or get their already published books reviewed and sold. This is not a comprehensive list, but might help you decide where to put your energy (we can discuss how to get an agent or hunt down a publisher in a later post). These steps are to give a general overview of what new authors tend to forget or ignore, missing opportunities right in front of them.

If your work defines who you are and you're living in the performance zone, you may be having the same troubles I am: not living up to your expected potential. Is there anything you can do about that? Can those of us who are already professionals in our field balance our time to grow as creators AND provide quality content?

I believe we can.