Heather Wood Rudulph on $0 Royalty Checks and Why the Dream Isn’t the Golden Ticket

Heather Wood Rudulph has done many things in the publishing world, including co-writing Sexy Feminism: A Girl's Guide to Love, Success and Style with Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (a title that very much captured a specific moment in feminist evolution but makes Rudulph give a tiny cringe now).

We met back in the New York media heyday when things like "readings and rub downs" (yes, book readings with massages) seemed totally normal.

Heather's spent over a decade writing about culture and entertainment for everyone from Cosmo to Rolling Stone and now wears many hats in the words world (including as an occasional editor for my company!) This conversation digs into the realities of traditional publishing: the battles you pick, the dreams that get dashed and why understanding business matters as much as loving words.

Topics Discussed:

• Fighting for your title: How Heather and her co-author battled their publisher five times to keep Sexy Feminism as their title and why picking your battles matters when you have so little control
• The subtitle that aged: Why A Girl's Guide to Love, Success and Style captures a specific moment in feminist history that "wasn't quite there yet"
• Traditional publishing reality check: Self-funded book tours, throwing yourself parties in cities where you have friends and learning that you're essentially your own PR machine
• The $0 royalty statement: Getting trolled by emails showing zero earnings, letters about books being destroyed in landfills and the occasional thrill of foreign translations
• "You're lucky to be publishing a book": Why authors have to make compromises to get to the finish line but also when to stand firm
• The proposals that break your heart: Six months developing a Madonna book pitch, not getting the deal, watching someone else write basically the same book
• Writers don't get paid for proposals: The reality that you don't earn anything for pitching articles, writing proposals or preparing to teach—only for the finished product
• When the golden curtain opens: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong's revelation that publishers only hold real marketing meetings after you've proven you're successful (her Seinfeld book hitting the NYT list)
• The advance is not vacation money: Why even six-figure book deals aren't what people think and how writers should already be thinking about the next book before the first one comes out
• From entertainment reporter to marketing: How Heather pivoted from writing fluffy celebrity profiles and traveling to spas worldwide to understanding that storytelling lives in business too
• The entrepreneurship of writing: Why understanding business isn't selling out—it's survival and how freelancers have to become their own marketing departments
• Amazon is the list that matters: Not the New York Times bestseller list but Amazon rankings and reviews from regular people that live forever
• "Anybody can write a book": But it's like running a marathon—you have to train, know what you're getting into, keep going when it hurts and want it for the right reasons

Mentioned:

• Sexy Feminism: A Girl's Guide to Love, Success and Style
• Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (co-author and TV show book specialist)
• SexyFeminist.com (their website that became the book)
• The era of Feministing and Jezebel
• "Readings and Rub Downs" events at Birch Coffee
• Work at Cosmo, DAYSPA magazine, LA Daily News and various digital media companies
• The sustainability startup that paid $2/word (briefly)
• Launch Pad Publishing (Anna's company where Heather now occasionally freelances)