How Claude Helped

Last Updated On: 13 June 2026

So, I said I’d write a book and am nowhere near off the block as in not going the self-publishing route, takes you into another world. The publishing world. What agents want and how they want it.

* a book proposal

* a query letter

* a good idea

In the group I’m in we practice the query letter, over and over, week after week, once a week, where sometimes we just practice the hello to the agent and what they want to see straight off the bat that lets them know you understand the industry.

Makes sense.

Every Writer. Every Genre

Every writer of every genre has to write one, so they’d better be good because I’m given to understand that the industry receives in the region of 25,000 of these every year, across the board.

It challenges you to write better, cut down on filler and fluff, that basically goes on with itself, where saying the same thing in ten different ways, does not a writer make, or speaker, or teacher imho.

Where as much as any teacher knows repetition is vital in learning. But we also need breaks to implement the learning, otherwise we are likely to go into trance and nod-off.

As an aside I had this insight recently, in why podcasts are so good to fall asleep to, wondering if it’s an association of being read to as a child.

Even though I know we’re in trance pretty much most of the time, which in turn could make my theory redundant right off the bat 🙂

The Writing Pitch

So, in writing those query letter ‘pitches’ we get to feedback and that’s another learning under the belt because it helps you see what yours needs too.

It’s become a weekly highlight, where I started out trying to make the nonfiction idea, I’m trying to pull together, into a musing for myself, but only one person out of three or four attempts seems to have got it.

So, then I got the memo and that’s the other thing, other people’s feedback is valuable especially when they don’t get it. It’s helping me improve my game.

As a new venture into this way round of publishing is a new and welcome learning, mostly because self-publishing didn’t attract me and this way does, so it feels that at least I’m on the right path for me.

Meanwhile I’m so looking forward to nailing the title and don’t get me started on subtitles.

What new creative outlet are you venturing into at the moment that is opening up new understandings and insights you didn’t know needed challenging?

Would love to hear.