#Authorlife

Writing novels wasn't supposed to be a blood sport. After selling his first thriller novel for six figures, Mackenzie "Mack" Lane quit his job as a journalist to become a full-time author. But now, a few years later, his career is spiraling downward. With each book doing worse than the last, he fears his status as a Boring White Dude is partly to blame. With his bank accounts dwindling, Mack has to find a way to make more money: his ex-wife wants to send their son to a private high school, and his current wife wants to have a baby. Mack begs his agent and editor to sing the praises of his new novel and do everything in their power to encourage his publisher's marketing team to make the book a bestseller. But as Pub Day for his fourth novel approaches--without the interviews and publicity he'd so hoped for--Mack knows his book is in trouble. And with it, his career and personal life. Growing more desperate, Mack concocts a risky and more-or-less unethical idea for a publicity stunt. His agent, Wallis Wallace, reluctantly goes along with it--after all, if it works, she stands to gain 15% of his windfall. And if it doesn't work, Mack is the one who will suffer the consequences of being ridiculed and cancelled. #AuthorLife is a satire about an author who gets the wrong sort of inspiration from his dying career--because publishing is a bloody hard business.

Author: Joe Zagets
Publisher: Bad Hand Books
Published: 09/22/2026
Pages: 274
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.98h x 6.07w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781967846313


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 08/01/2026

About the Author
Joe Zagets is the pseudonym of a bestselling author. He fell in love with the power of storytelling over teen summers spent at the American Ibsen Theater. He went on to write plays, poetry, and essays--while working an eclectic series of jobs at a video store, shoe store, a regional television station, and a public library. When not writing he can be found contemplating how we got here.