Ready Chapter 1

Super stoked to welcome Chad Luibl as a guest agent at Ready Chapter 1!

In this writing challenge, 3 finalists as judged by the community get a personalized critique of their first chapter from Chad. And everyone gets community feedback on their writing, so it's kind of a win / win.

Traditional Book Deal Opportunity!

Ready Chapter 1 is partnering with Ulysses Press, a traditional New York publisher to help them find their next author–and they're looking for Survivor Stories.

🤔What is Ready Chapter 1?

It's a FREE feedback forum for writers. When you swap feedback on the forum, our system measures the community reaction to your story–one chapter at a time.

🤔How are we helping Ulysses Press?

When publishers open to submissions, they get more than they could ever read. By upvoting their favorite stories, our community selects finalists that go straight to the publisher for consideration. Free to enter. No CC required.

🤔How can I learn more?

Visit our site for all the deets.

Survivor Stories Publisher Challenge - Ready Chapter 1 Ulysses Press Seeks New Authors Through RC1FREE to participate | Launches March 15, 2025 (Pssst. Feel free to share this graphic. ☝☝☝) Sign Up for an Account to Participate Ulysses Press–a traditional book publisher out of New York–is looking for their next great survivor stor(ies) and the...

Self portrait at Mitchell's Coffee House, where the house blend is always hot and the muses descend promptly at 6:57 a.m.

A lot of my posts lately have been about launching a new business. Today, I'm celebrating the fact that I get to be an artist. 🎨

My first ever audiobook released this week from Recorded Books, narrated by the brilliant Simon Vance, through Astra Publishing House. Available wherever audiobooks are sold, I'd love it if you check out the sample. Simon brought his A game to this recording and I adored every minute of it.

This release is important to me because I've fought so hard my whole life to get to exist as a working artist. You struggle for decades to elevate your craft. It takes a metric ton of grit and luck to break in. There's rejection at every turn and a million reasons to give up.

I wrote and illustrated Garbage Island at a lot of 5 a.m.'s before going to work at my day job. You would often find me in a stuffy shirt and tie, sitting in a McDonalds (the only restaurant open at that hour), sipping underrated coffee and munching deep fried hashbrowns while I would write and draw.

I've always needed to work to take care of a family. I've always needed art to feel alive.

How lucky am I to have a chance at both?

Cheers. 🎉

Ten years ago today (according to FB), I finished the art for Rebecca Kai Dotlich's brilliant ONE DAY, THE END. Today, I turned in the Spanish version, which turned out to be quite a puzzle with how the illustrations interact with the text.

Also, I think I will use 'PAF' instead of 'STOMP' from this day forward.

Now off to lunch. PAF! PAF! PAF!