Ever since humans stopped living in caves and started taking up jobs in settlements, parents have had to find something to do with their kids when it was time to get things done. Traditionally, childrearing duties have fallen disproportionately on mothers…
Today, I’m going to take you on a journey through time. The year was 1998. I was a sophomore in high school when the news of what happened at Thurston High School broke that spring. My friends and I were looking forward to summer, making plans with friends. In an instant, the sunshine and idle gossip were shattered. At the fragile segue between childhood and adulthood, we were forced to question whether our school was a safe place. I remember wondering what would happen if it sparked a trend or
While our families sleep safely in warm beds, millions of families in Ukraine are going without food, water, and shelter. Please join me in supporting organizations like UNICEF, International Rescue Committee, or World Central Kitchen. These organizations are on the ground, providing life-saving assistance for children and families threatened by humanitarian crises and war crimes. […]
I know what you’re thinking: I’ve spent over a year nitpicking this 90,000-word manuscript, and what I want more than anything is for nary a soul to read it. Sounds familiar, right? I’m sure thousands of editors have heard this before, and it makes total sense. If you’ve spent all that time, money, and effort on something, why would you ever want it to see the light of day?
So, you’ve written a novel, gone through the editing process, purchased cover art, and now you’re ready to publish. Congratulations! Now, comes the hard part: promoting your work…
Those of you who’ve followed my journey through this last stretch of grad school may know I’m taking a social media marketing course this term, following another marketing course. I’ve loved taking these courses because their required reading gives me so many ideas to apply to the writing life. For example, there’s a case study in our book that had me thinking about ways authors, artists, and other creatives could increase their audiences without a large overhead cost like paid placement…
Nearly a decade ago, I wasn’t on the road to becoming an author. I was a member of a special kind of group therapy. One woman in my group joined after her husband got out of jail and threatened to kill her. Another woman had been living with her husband’s abuse for decades, unable to leave because of the financial constraints he had placed her under…
Everyone has slightly different reasons for pursuing a creative life. Some are hobbyists who enjoy their creativity after work. Others can’t imagine spending their days in a cubicle. Many creators dream of escaping the daily grind in favor of starting a creative business of their own. When we make that leap and try our hands […]
A few days ago, I was scrolling through Twitter when I found one of those tweets that looked like it was going to be a happy story, but it turned out sad instead. A major publisher had written someone an email saying they loved her book, but they couldn’t accept it because she didn’t have […]
Hello and welcome to Running with My Pants Down — a blog category for anyone who needs a laugh at life’s absurdities and isn’t afraid of a few expletives (okay, more than a few). Who Am I? I’m J.L. Amos, an author/entrepreneur who’s spent the past decade ghostwriting the internet, working in marketing firms, surviving […]
