Winter Book Proposal Generator, Another Helping of Glorious Trash, and My Full Apartment Therapy Tour

Kick off the new year with a finished book proposal, join us for a jolly Empty Trash this week, and tour my playful, colorful oasis!

Hello, and Season’s Greetings!

I think I speak for everyone when I say: What was that? (2024, just in general.) For me, it’s been the busiest, hardest, and happiest year of my life, and all I want for Christmas is to lie facedown in a forest and be consumed by moss.

Tired as I am, I’m still stoked to share the following with you all:

After almost a year of living in Los Angeles, I finally finished getting my place together, so I asked Apartment Therapy to come back and help me with its close-up!

You may remember my first tour, back when I lived in Brooklyn, and the same question remains: How do you fit all those books? It’s a question I get asked even more now, since I live in a studio and my space is significantly more limited. Like anyone living with constrained space, I had to get creative, and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to share how again.

For the full tour, including product details, click here!

My eternal gratitude goes to hotshot photographer and my new pal, Leela Cyd, for coming by and capturing my Hollywood home in all its glossy glory. Not only did both of us understand the assignment, but afterward, we went on the roof and did some extra credit:

Thanks for making this homo’s Hollywood dreams come true, Leela!

So, you have an idea for a book. Maybe you even already wrote it! Either way, you are ready for the next step. Does the thought of writing a book proposal for your non-fiction project make you want to light no fewer than fourteen lavender-scented candles and lie in the dark for three days straight? You’re not alone! But after having written three book proposals, I promise you it’s not as daunting as it seems.

In order to demystify this seemingly overwhelming task, I’m thrilled to offer the Book Proposal Generator again! Beginning with an overview of the anatomy of the book proposal by looking at several different examples, this generator will be broken up into eight weekly sessions. Each week, we will be discussing and going over one element of the book proposal in detail. At the end of each session, students will be assigned to complete a draft of the section discussed, which is to be handed in the following Friday, no later than 8 p.m. Students will receive peer and instructor feedback in class the following day, after which the next section of the book proposal will be discussed and assigned to complete for the following week. By the final session, each student will have a complete book proposal, and will be ready to take the next step on the path to publication.

Click here to learn more and sign up.

As a reminder, I also offer one-on-one consultations and private mentorships through The Shipman Agency, all year round! Click here to learn more and sign up.

If you’re in Los Angeles, join us for the next Empty Trash, a reading where authors reach deep into the bowels of their “recently deleted” folders and share pieces that have been cut, unpublished, or otherwise killed.

Come watch these next-level literary luminaries give their dead darlings this Thursday, December 19th at 7 p.m.:

⭐️Priyanka Mattoo⭐️

⭐️Sam Cohen⭐️

⭐️Gabrielle Korn⭐️

⭐️Craig Willse⭐️

⭐️Rasheed Newson⭐️

⭐️Kerry Howley⭐️

Books will be sold by our friends over at Chevalier’s. If you plan on coming, please arrive at The Ruby Fruit early as we are expecting a large turn-out!

***

I hope to see some of your gorgeous faces in the upcoming weeks, either in-person or online. If not, you can stay up-to-date by visiting my website, following me on Instagram, and/or subscribing to this newsletter!

If you feel so inclined, and are able to do so, you can pledge your support by becoming a paid subscriber here. If not, there are other ways to support us, like sharing this newsletter with a friend or a family member or a colleague who is mentally ill. Either way, I thank you for your continued love and support, truly.

Wishing you all a happy and safe holiday break, filled with rest and reckless abandon of calories. Every reader is a gift to me, and I hope each of you has an abundant and prosperous New Year, filled with the shameless pursuit of joy despite the—let’s call it—anxiety and uncertainty brewing in a certain house that’s famously white. Fuck those hoes, live más, my good bitch!

Until soon,

GM

---

You can follow my other unhinged missives by following me on Instagram or Bluesky. Peruse my website for more work and to get in touch!