Author Hard: 30 Days of Moving My Writing Career Forward

After nearly a year of back-and-forth with a publisher over my gothic fiction, I received a rejection. Instead of immediately moving on from the experience, I decided to use it as the starting point for a 30-day project called Author Hard.

I'm Reagan Westerly, a gothic fiction writer and social media professional. Author Hard is a social media series documenting 30 consecutive days of taking concrete steps to move my writing career forward.

The project follows the work that happens between writing a manuscript and knowing what will ultimately happen to it: researching publishing opportunities, preparing submission materials, querying literary agents, working on new fiction, developing my author platform, creating long-form and short-form content, and continuing to build a body of work.

What Is Author Hard?

Author Hard is a 30-day writing career challenge created by Reagan Westerly.

The series began after a publisher declined my completed gothic short story collection, Project R, following an extended period of consideration and correspondence.

Rather than treating the rejection as the end of the project's publishing journey, I decided to document what came next.

Each day of Author Hard focuses on an action connected to my writing or creative career.

That has included revisiting submission materials, researching literary agents and publishers, querying Project R, developing new fiction, working on my current gothic novel, building my YouTube channel, and creating ways for readers to discover my work.

The purpose isn't to guarantee a particular publishing outcome within 30 days. Publishing doesn't work on a 30-day schedule.

The goal is to create movement.

Project R

One of the central projects featured during Author Hard is Project R, my completed approximately 40,000-word gothic short story collection.

The collection contains four first-person gothic stories connected by themes of obsession, transgression, haunting, revelation, and choice.

During Author Hard, I've been preparing Project R for its next stage of submissions and querying literary agents who may be a fit for the collection.

The series documents parts of that process as they happen rather than presenting the publishing journey only after an outcome is known.

Project H

Author Hard also follows the development of Project H, my current gothic novel set in 1920s New York City.

The novel follows a society journalist who helps transform a lonely heir into a sought-after host, while the lavish parties surrounding them begin feeding something much darker.

The outline for Project H is complete, and drafting the novel is part of my current writing work.

Building a Writing Career in Real Time

Author Hard also explores the work surrounding the fiction itself.

I'm interested in what it actually looks like to build a creative career while the outcome is still uncertain.

That includes writing, querying, publishing research, social media, YouTube, audience development, newsletters, professional opportunities, and the practical decisions involved in trying to build a sustainable creative career.

I also work professionally in social media within motorsports, giving me an unusual overlap between writing fiction, digital media, content strategy, and motorsports.

Author Hard brings those parts of my professional and creative life together while documenting the process of trying to move my writing career forward.

The complete series is being shared across my social media platforms throughout the 30-day project.