Today, I’ll continue those ideas with tips that have to do with you: the writer.

With the personal-essay market experiencing a surge in print and web publications, why not take advantage of it through penning — and publishing — essays that recount stories from your life as a literary nerd?

That’s what I decided to do when I realized that I’d earned more money from an article about my publishing journey than from my first month of book sales.

And you don’t only have to write about your life as a writer.

Since you’re not living in a vacuum, your topics could run the gamut from relationships to your life journey to even your kids (or pets!).

As long as there’s a way to make a connection with your novel, you could find a publication that would be interested in hearing about your experiences.

Here are eight ways to brainstorm and write personal essays that will not only promote your novel but also help you earn additional income to spend on coffee while penning the sequel.

1. You as a writer

Do people always tell you how they have a book in them, and they’d be on the bestseller list if only they had time?

Do your acquaintances assume you’ve killed a few innocents or have been involved in mafia because you write crime fiction? Or does everyone you meet think you know all there is to know about sex — and practiced every page in the Kama Sutra — because you write erotica?

Chances are you’ve met a few people who have made a lot of assumptions about your writing, the process of being a writer, and the publishing industry.

Why not set them straight? We’ll all thank you.

2. Your family

Writers are a weird lot.

We want to be loved and appreciated by the public, by our friends, and most definitely by our families. Was your family supportive of your writing endeavor? Did you thank them by dedicating the book to them?

Or was it the opposite and none of them took you seriously? If your dedication reads “To the deer roaming my back yard,” you can sell a personal essay about it.

3. Your life

Has something happened in your life as a result of that novel you wrote? Or have you included something in your novel that mimics an event in your life?

Maybe you started out writing to come to terms with an experience and recounting it is as much your journey as that of your character. Or maybe working on your book inspired you to change your life.

It doesn’t have to be a self-help book to have helped you — and your experiences can help others.

4. Your writing location

Did you write your novel in a coffee shop sitting specifically at a table by the third window? Or perhaps you went to a writing retreat and penned most of it there. Or maybe you got an Amtrak writing residency.

Wherever you wrote your book, use it. Sell a personal essay — or an exploratory piece — about what makes your favorite writing location special.

Try pitching travel media for this one, including in-flight airline magazines.

5. Your publishing journey

Did you spend a year looking for an agent just to give up and sign with a small publisher? Or did your first query letter elicit a request for a full manuscript followed by an offer? Perhaps getting the agent was easy, but the agent spent a decade selling your book.

Whatever your journey to publication, your fellow writers could find it interesting and often inspiring. So why not write a memoir essay on it?

6. Language use

Does your novel take place in a foreign country or use a foreign language? Or have you written this novel in a language that’s not your native? There are writers out there wanting to do the same exact thing so why not put together a how-to article on it?

Writing craft pieces are always of interest to other writers.  

7. Your cover

What happened when you first saw the cover your publisher came up with? Did you jump up and down and rush to Facebook to share it with the world? Or did cold sweat break out all over your body as you thought of your ruined work?

Every writer has a nightmare (or not!) cover story so sharing yours in a writing magazine might be just what we all need.

8. Your reviews

Scathing reviews might have hurt at the time, but maybe you can find a way to laugh away the bruises and write a satirical response.

Maybe you committed the ultimate sin and replied to that negative review. What happened next? We’re dying to know!

Or perhaps reader feedback gave you something to think about and changed the way you write. Or maybe you actually met one of your reviewers, fell in love, and now can tell us about it?

There are probably a few more tips to add here — can you think of a few?

At least that’s what I did when a teacher — not the inspiring kind — decimated my love for both reading and writing in my last year of high school.

I grew up in USSR, the country best known in 1980s as both the “Evil Empire” and as the nation where Moscow’s subway often featured more readers than Lenin’s library.

I was no exception. By the age of 16 I read most of my parents’ 600-book strong library, I dabbled in poetry writing, and I had penned a few short stories. I didn’t think of writing as my profession, but I didn’t discount it either.

Until Svetlana Vassilievna, my Russian language and literature teacher, decided to embarrass me.

Who needs literature?

We called her Baba Yaga — after a Russian fairytale character who kidnapped children and threatened to eat them — for good reason. In class she tolerated no opposing arguments, discouraged creativity, and berated every mistake we made. During recess she preyed on us looking for transgressions of uniform, behavior, or both.

When one day she overheard me say that I wouldn’t need Russian literature in the university I was applying to, she decided to teach me a lesson. She began failing me.

After my mother, horrified at the prospect of an F on my school transcript, intervened, Svetlana Vassilievna offered a makeup opportunity. She had me stand up in front of the entire class, glared at me through her large, round glasses, and for fifteen minutes quizzed me about class struggle themes in Dostoevski, Tolstoi, and Mayakovski.

I wanted to die.

A change of perspective

When I came home that day I burned all my short stories, ripped up my poems, and decided there would be no more reading — or writing — for me.

Then I moved to the United States and had to include an elective in my pre-med curriculum. Creative writing was the only course I could fit into my schedule.

During the first few classes, I sat there perplexed: Not only did my fellow students engage in open discussions with the professor, speak their minds, and ask questions, but the teacher also gave actual instructions on the craft of writing. At the end of that semester I wrote a paper on Mrs. Dalloway and Taoism. I got a B+.

I was hooked.

Since then, writing — but only English writing — has accompanied me through my master’s degree and several careers in non-writing fields.

In my free time I translated Russian poetry into English and wrote short stories.

When I moved abroad and couldn’t find a job, I began writing full-time. The result? A debut novel, several personal essays in national outlets, a screenplay, and a finished pilot.

I never went back to writing in Russian and although I still make mistakes common to non-native English speakers — “a” and “the” continue to elude me — I now write in English full time.

The following have been, and continue to be, invaluable in my journey as a writer in a foreign language:

1. An active community of writers

Ever since I began writing I’ve made sure, wherever I’ve lived, to get together with people writing in English on a weekly basis.

Not only do these groups guarantee a constant creative atmosphere; they also offer a continuous stream of writing samples I can read, provide input on, and learn from.

There’s also the added bonus of making friendships, but you probably already knew that.

2. Writing workshops and retreats

If you can afford it, take one. Most likely it’ll be the best several days you’ll ever spend. You’ll learn from some great writers, have a chance to hear what they think of your work, and make new contacts in the writing world.

3. An aversion to cliches

If you hail from another country and have been speaking another language for most of your adult life, chances are you are not aware of cliches in English.

My first stories were littered with them. I couldn’t figure out how to recognize which phrase made a cliche and which one didn’t.

After struggling for a few years, I decided that the best way to avoid those pests would be to come up with a different turn of phrase for every potential cliche.

4. Active reading

I read my favorite essays and stories with a pen in hand. Whenever I see a word I don’t know or a sentence structure that mesmerizes me, I record it. Then, either while walking or waiting for a bus or exercising, I practice making sentences with it in my head. Next time I write something I often discover that word or that structure has somehow made it into my narrative.

5. A dictionary and a thesaurus

There are moments when I’d be writing and suddenly instead of an English word my brain would produce a Russian word.

If after a few minutes of concentration I still cannot remember the English word I want, I open a dictionary (or go to Google translate) and look up the translation of that Russian word.

Then I check the thesaurus for the synonym that feels right.

And finally? Don’t wait for something inspiring — or someone inspiring — in your life to give you a push. It may just be the opposite that does the trick.

Are you fluent in several languages? Which do you prefer for writing?