Pre-order SLIP and join me for two free webinars
The webinars will focus on the path to publication and the middle place.
This week, I’m excited to announce a special promo for anyone who pre-orders my forthcoming book SLIP — a memoir that interweaves personal stories, science, and immersive reporting to offer up a new framework for understanding eating disorder recovery.
As a first-time author, I’m especially grateful for pre-orders, which contribute to a book’s early success. They create initial buzz, and some book retailers refer to them when determining how many copies to stock. Pre-orders also help to expand a book’s reach, and my hope is that SLIP reaches and helps as many people as possible.
With this in mind, I’m offering two free webinars to anyone who has already pre-ordered SLIP — or who does so between now and June 18. All you need to do is fill out this brief Google form.
Those of you who have been following this newsletter know that SLIP draws upon my lived experience with anorexia, which I developed at age 12 after my mother passed away from metastatic breast cancer. It follows my diagnosis, treatment, and recovery through the lens of what I call “the middle place” — the liminal space between acute sickness and full recovery.
Alongside my own story of illness and ongoing recovery, I offer up a social and medical history of eating disorders, drawing upon insights from hundreds of clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience whom I interviewed and surveyed. Just this week, The New York Times featured my book and survey in an important article about anorexia in mid-life.
Though focused on eating disorders, SLIP is also about motherhood, grief, loss, and learning to embrace healing in all its forms.
SLIP will be published by Simon & Schuster’s Simon Element imprint on August 5 and is available for pre-order wherever you buy books (Your independent bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, Books-A-Million, etc.)
Once you’ve pre-ordered, you’re welcome to sign up for one or both webinars. I encourage you to tune in live, but if you can’t, I’ll send you a link to the recording after the fact. Here are more details about the webinars, which will each be one hour long, including a brief Q&A:
The Middle Place Webinar: Monday, June 16, at 12 p.m. CST
This webinar will explore eating disorder recovery through “the middle place” framework, which I’ve developed based on my own lived experience and interviews with others. While writing SLIP, I surveyed over 700 people with lived experience and conducted 175 interviews with survey respondents as well as eating disorder clinicians and researchers.
Drawing upon this reporting, as well as my own journey through the middle place, we’ll look at why it’s important to acknowledge the gray spaces of recovery and remove the stigma around slips (hence why my book is titled SLIP).
The middle place is a space where slips happen but progress is always possible, and it welcomes healing in all its forms. This webinar will be especially relevant for those who have lived experience with an eating disorder, as well as clinicians, educators, and caretakers. Sign up here.
The Path to Publication Webinar: Wednesday, June 18, at 12 p.m. CST
This webinar will provide an overview of my path to publication, with related insights and tips for aspiring authors who want to land a book deal.
I’ll discuss various topics based on my own personal experiences, including finding an agent while getting my MFA; writing a book proposal; going out on submission, dealing with rejections; being willing to modify your book idea while still staying true to your vision; blending personal narrative and research; and getting a nonfiction book deal with a Big 5 publisher. This webinar will be relevant to anyone interested in publishing a book, especially memoirists and narrative nonfiction writers. Sign up here.
As a professor, I’m always gleaning lessons learned from my writing, and I enjoy sharing them with others. These webinars are an extension of that, and they’ll be a great way to learn, ask questions, and convene with other SLIP readers.
Again, all you have to do to access the webinars is pre-order SLIP by June 18 and sign up for one or both of the webinars here. Once you sign up, you’ll receive the webinar links via email. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to interacting with you!