I launched Daily Routines on a Sunday afternoon in July 2007, while procrastinating on a writing assignment due the following day. It was intended as a hobby, and for the first year and a half I had a readership of about a dozen friends, coworkers, and family members.
Then, in December 2008, Slate wrote a story about the quest for the perfect morning routine that quoted liberally from my blog. Suddenly I went from having a record of five visitors in one day to almost 18,000, and more than 80,000 visitors for the month.
Along with all of these visitors came a steady stream of comments and e-mails—including a few e-mails from editors and literary agents suggesting that I turn the blog into a book. Two weeks after the Slate article came out, I signed on with one of those agents; over Christmas vacation, I wrote a book proposal. By April 2009, after lots of back-and-forth with several editors, I signed a contract with my dream publisher, Knopf.
Now, four years later, the Daily Routines book—officially titled Daily Rituals: How Artists Work—is finally coming out. It presents the routines and working habits of 161 creative minds—among them, novelists, poets, playwrights, composers, painters, philosophers, and scientists. It is packed with anecdotes about getting up super early, staying up super late, drinking heroic amounts of coffee, taking precisely timed naps and long daily walks, and much more.
In other words, if you enjoyed the blog, I'm confident that you'll like the book even better. It comes out April 23, and can now be pre-ordered from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell's, or IndieBound.
Thanks for reading!
Mason Currey
How much from the book is new content versus what we've already seen on the blog?
Congrats!
Posted by: Nick M | March 28, 2013 at 12:33 AM
Thanks, Nick. And good question. Of the 161 people in the book, 33 of them also appear here on the blog -- but, in almost all of those cases, the description of their routine in the book has been better researched and more fleshed out than what you'll find on the blog.
Posted by: Daily Routines | March 28, 2013 at 06:29 AM
Any chance this book will be released for iBooks?
Posted by: Bob Pluss | March 30, 2013 at 01:47 AM
Hi, Bob -- Yes, the book will be released for iBooks. You can pre-order it from the iBookstore now.
Posted by: Daily Routines | March 30, 2013 at 07:52 AM
Congrats on turning the blog into a book! My prime writing time is in the early morning, about two hours a day, every day. People always ask how I find the time to write so much, and that's really all it is. Up early, writing lots. Every day. :)
Posted by: D. T. Neal | April 17, 2013 at 07:52 AM
Just discovered the blog/book thanks to NPR. Loving it so far--congrats on the book!
Posted by: Brittany T. | April 30, 2013 at 10:34 AM
Mason Currey, on top of having one of the coolest names I've come across in recent memory, you also have created my single favorite blog on creative rituals. You should know that I have bookmarked "Daily Routines" on four of my computers (two work, two home). I've been enjoying it for at least five years. I'm a novelist and I enjoy reading what others have to say about their processes.
I'm immediately buying this book (although the library where I work also owns it: http://catalog.jclc.org/record=b2745225~S1).
Cheers to you. (And seriously, I keep a list of names for characters to use in my future projects and BOTH Mason and Currey - I spelled it Currie- are already in it.)
I cannot wait to see what you've done with the book version of this blog.
All best!
Hunter
Posted by: Hunter Murphy | August 05, 2013 at 02:11 PM