35 Crossword Clues for Independent Writers and Publishing

1. Unreliable partner who disappears during deadlines but visits during showers
6. November challenge turning ordinary people into caffeine-fueled word machines
8. Process during which errors become invisible until after printing
11. Mythical date that somehow always arrives sooner than expected
13. Version of manuscript, typically preceded by "first," "second," or "dear-god-final"
17. Reader who tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear
21. Lightning bolt that strikes most frequently during inconvenient moments
22. Author category neither celebrated enough for tours nor new enough for promotion
23. Mythical being rumored to respond to queries if approached with precise ritual offerings
25. Torture device requiring a 300-page story to be condensed to one page
27. Number that makes your collection of words officially a "real book"
28. What writers excel at when facing blank page syndrome
29. Form letter collection that grows faster than one's published works
30. Feedback that initially stings but ultimately strengthens
31. What you'll do to your "final" draft at least seventeen more times
34. Collection of previous works that may eventually pay more than the new shiny one

1. Necessary evil requiring introverted writers to become carnival barkers
2. Retail giant where your masterpiece competes with millions of others
3. Letter that makes writers obsess over every comma and greeting
4. Visual first impression that shouldn't be judged but absolutely will be
5. Person who gleefully massacres your precious darlings with red ink
7. Modest sums that somehow never cover the coffee consumed while writing
9. Stack of paper that represents both hopes and trees sacrificed
10. Map that your characters will promptly ignore once writing begins
12. Button that, once pressed, transforms private angst into public vulnerability
14. Number that's either painfully short or embarrassingly long, never just right
15. List every writer dreams of reaching but few actually do
16. Payment against future earnings that disappears faster than inspiration
18. Activity simultaneously described as both torture and therapy
19. Publishing path requiring writer to become entrepreneur, marketer, and designer overnight
20. Process where your 120,000-word masterpiece becomes a 90,000-word better book
24. Alter ego created because your real name is either too boring or too hard to spell
26. Route to readers that eliminates gatekeepers but adds accounting
32. What publishers expect you to build before they'll help you build it
33. Endorsement from fellow author secured through bribery or blackmail