intro:
2025’s “Write Stuff” Storybundle has kicked off – ten books to help you on your writing career path. (Including my book Enrichment Activities: 30 Days of Stay-at-Home Learning, Business, and Self-Care Activities for Writers.) I’m writing profiles for each of the books in the bundle. They’re all very practical books, either with concrete steps to follow, or with a very grounded insight into the writing life. Enjoy!
Book Description:
Most writers try to do everything themselves. [Cough cough]
And we constantly risk burnout and missed opportunities because of it.
In Authors and Interns, Robert Jeschonek shares what happens when writers open their doors, invite in help, and build real creative teams. Whether you’re looking to delegate a few tasks or something more, this guide covers the essentials of managing author interns with humor, practicality, and vision.
This isn’t just about outsourcing. It’s about collaboration (and mentorship, really).
What opportunities were you looking for as a new writer? How can you help provide those same opportunities to others?
Find out more here.
Curator's Note from the Storybundle:
At some point in this modern publishing world, every writer needs a second pair of hands. Sometimes we can’t afford those hands. So Robert Jeschonek, one of the most creative writers of our time, shows you how to hire interns who can help with the most challenging of tasks. This book will show you what to avoid and the shortcuts that make this kind of work worthwhile. – Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Who Should Read This:
- Indie authors feeling overwhelmed by PAPERWORK
- Writers with a backlog of tasks and no time
- Creators who want to mentor new talent
- Authors ready to scale without burning out
From where to find interns to how to train and manage them effectively, this book covers both the practicalities and the mindset shift required to lead a creative team.
Excerpt:
Writing and publishing can be a lonely game—but you don’t have to play it alone.
Sometimes, you can find interns to give you a hand. They can help you with your work, inspire you in unexpected ways, and enable you to pay forward some of the kindness you’ve received from your own mentors.
Perhaps as important as any of that, they can keep you company.
Don’t underestimate how much of a difference that can make in your life. As an indie author/publisher, you may often feel like an army of one. You spend your working hours alone in a room, staring at a computer screen…and it can bring you down. It can make you doubt your dream or talent; it can make you turn inward and lash out at yourself.
But a family of interns can put a spark in your dark times. Young people, full of energy and ideas—or older, non-traditional students, for that matter—can make your world feel like a brighter place.
In so many ways, they represent the best in humanity. They give of their own time and effort with no expectation of monetary reward. They put their trust in you, though they barely know you. They dare to hope that the knowledge and experience you offer will help them succeed in their careers.
And, so often, they come to care about you. They get to know you, at least as much as you’ll let them, and they show you respect. They work hard to help you succeed. They give you a chance to make a difference.
Sometimes, they’ll let you down. They’ll make mistakes or drop the ball or phone it in.
But more often than not, what they do comes from the heart.
Working with interns is such a good deal for you. Don’t pass it up—and don’t let them down.
Remember, they will be with you for only a short time. You’ll only have them for a semester, and then they’ll move on with their lives. You might never see or hear from them again.
But they won’t forget you. They won’t forget the internship and what it meant to them.
So make the time count. Do the best you can to repay their support with all the learning and experience you have to offer.
Pack your meetings with good information and guidance. Tell them stories about your own journey and those you’ve met along the way, the ones who’ve helped make you who you are. Help them see things from your point of view.
Even as they help you see things from theirs. Listen to what they have to say, because it might just change your life.
Let them leave a mark on you, just as you leave a mark on them. Let them know, in your own way, how much it means to you.
Bio:
USA Today bestselling author Robert Jeschonek has worked with dozens of interns at his indie publishing company, Pie Press. Their efforts through the years have helped his envelope-pushing fiction and nonfiction make waves around the world. Robert’s stories have appeared in Clarkesworld, Pulphouse, Fiction River, and many other magazines, anthologies, and podcasts. He has written official Star Trek and Doctor Who fiction and scripted comic book tales for AHOY and DC Comics. His nonfiction department store history, Long Live Glosser’s, was featured in Vanity Fair and other national publications.
You can find him at robertjeschonek.com.
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