PREORDER BONUSES UNTIL MAY 18

New book by Ela Thier!

PREORDER ON AMAZON
UPLOAD RECEIPT TO CLAIM BONUSES

✦ Hardcover

✦ Paperback

✦ Ebook

✦ Audio book

Preorders available on Amazon. Release date: May 19. Book will then become available at Barnes & Noble and book shops worldwide.

PREORDER BONUSES UNTIL MAY 18

Early review copies available for additional bonuses

✦ Hardcover

✦ Paperback

✦ Ebook

✦ Audio book

PREORDER ON AMAZON
UPLOAD RECEIPT TO CLAIM BONUS

Pre-orders available on Amazon only. Available in Barnes & Noble and book shops worldwide on May 19.

PREORDER BONUSES (expire May 18)

Friends help friends out of creative ruts! Pay it forward:

  • 1 BOOK Your personal copy

Invitation to receive an early review copy. Receive invite to attend a live session: How to write, self-publish, and market a book, with Ela Thier

  • 5+ BOOKS Share with friends!

Complimentary month with our All Access Pass. Includes access monthly challenge, community features, and access to all flagship courses in writing, producing, and directing.

  • 20+ BOOKS Share with an organization

Complimentary THREE MONTHS with our All Access Pass. Includes access to three monthly challengees, community features, and all flagship courses in writing, producing, and directing.

  • 50+ BOOKS For larger organizations

Complimentary ANNUAL ALL ACCESS PASS. Includes an entire year of our monthly challenges, community features, and all flagship courses in writing, producing, and directing.

PREORDER ON AMAZON
UPLOAD YOUR RECEIPT TO CLAIM BONUS

FREE TICKET TO EARLY REVIEWERS

How to write, self-publish and market your book

with Ela Thier

  • GET YOUR TICKET TO THIS EXCLUSIVE, ONE-TIME EVENT (ONLINE)

When you upload your receipt, we’ll email you an invitation to receive an early review copy (as a PDF) before the book is published. Leave an honest review the week that the book is released, and we’ll thank you with an exclusive invitation to this one-time event.

FREE TICKET TO EARLY REVIEWERS

How to write, self-publish and market your book

with Ela Thier

  • GET YOUR TICKET TO THIS EXCLUSIVE, ONE-TIME EVENT (ONLINE)

When you upload your receipt, we’ll email you an invitation to receive an early review copy (as a PDF) before the book is published. Leave an honest review the week that the book is released, and we’ll thank you with an exclusive invitation to this one-time event.

FREE TICKET TO EARLY REVIEWERS

How to write, self-publish and market your book

with Ela Thier

  • GET YOUR TICKET TO THIS EXCLUSIVE, ONE-TIME EVENT (ONLINE)

When you upload your receipt, we’ll email you an invitation to receive an early review copy (as a PDF) before the book is published. Leave an honest review the week that the book is released, and we’ll thank you with an exclusive invitation to this one-time event.

PREORDER BONUSES (expire May 18)

Friends help friends out of creative ruts! Pay it forward:

  • 1 BOOK Your personal copy

Complimentary enrollment in a six-day course of your choosing, in screenwriting, producing, or film directing.

  • 5+ BOOKS Share with friends!

Complimentary enrollment in the full set: six-day courses in screenwriting, producing, or film directing. Get all three.

  • 20+ BOOKS Share with an organization

The above + Complimentary All Access Pass for a full month at The Independent Film School. Pass is transferrable and makes for an unforgettable gift.

  • 50+ BOOKS For larger organizations

The above + Year-long Complimentary All Access Pass. All of my flagship courses, sold separately, add up to over $8K. Pass is transferrable.

PREORDER ON AMAZON
UPLOAD YOUR RECEIPT TO CLAIM BONUS
Cover design by Gwyn Flowers • Painting by Ela Thier

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPIES NOW:

PREORDER ON AMAZON
UPLOAD RECEIPT TO CLAIM BONUS

Preorders available on Amazon only. Available at Barnes & Noble and bookshops worldwide after May 19.

About the book
If you’ve walked away from your art, or feel like you’re about to, you’re in great company.

For decades, Ela Thier tried to “make it” as a filmmaker, only to discover that the real enemy wasn’t (only) industry gatekeepers and enough pass letters to wallpaper New York City. It’s also the foul-mouthed sock puppet named Mr. Stop who lives inside her head.

In this raw, hilarious, and compassionate memoir, Thier shares her lifelong relationship with failure, the painful pursuit of success, and the magic sauce that keeps bringing her back to the joy of doing the work.

Spanning each of the five decades of her life as an artist, each chapter reads like a confessional pep talk for anyone on the edge of giving up.

An anti-hustle manifesto, How to Fail as an Artist will help you quit seeking that “break”, and recover the joy of making stuff.

Perfect for fans of The Artist’s Way, Big Magic, and War of Art, this is the book you reach for when your creative spirit needs a laugh, a cry, and a flashlight.

Cover design by Gwyn Flowers • Painting by Ela Thier

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPIES NOW:

PREORDER ON AMAZON
UPLOAD RECEIPT TO CLAIM BONUS

Preorders available on Amazon only. Available at Barnes & Noble and bookshops worldwide after May 19.

About the book
If you’ve walked away from your art, or feel like you’re about to, you’re in great company.

For decades, Ela Thier tried to “make it” as a filmmaker, only to discover that the real enemy wasn’t (only) industry gatekeepers and enough pass letters to wallpaper New York City. It’s also the foul-mouthed sock puppet named Mr. Stop who lives inside her head.

In this raw, hilarious, and compassionate memoir, Thier shares her lifelong relationship with failure, the painful pursuit of success, and the magic sauce that keeps bringing her back to the joy of doing the work.

Spanning each of the five decades of her life as an artist, each chapter reads like a confessional pep talk for anyone on the edge of giving up.

An anti-hustle manifesto, How to Fail as an Artist will help you quit seeking that “break”, and recover the joy of making stuff.

Perfect for fans of The Artist’s Way, Big Magic, and War of Art, this is the book you reach for when your creative spirit needs a laugh, a cry, and a flashlight.

About the author

Ela Thier has been writing screenplays for nearly 40 years, and receiving pass letters for about that long.

In carving her own path, she wrote, directed, produced, and sometimes performed, in her award-winning feature films, Foreign Letters and Tomorrow Ever After. In 2026 she’ll be releasing her new feature film, 109 Billion Followers, a comedy-drama co-starring J.K. Simmons and Nina Arianda.

She’s currently in development on feature films with notable attachments, has created numerous award-winning short films, and is the Founding Director of The Independent Film School. When she’s not working, she spends time with her nephew and pretends to be interested in baseball.

Pictured here: Writer-Director Ela Thier working with actor J.K. Simmons on the set of 109 BILLION FOLLOWERS.
PREORDER ON AMAZON
UPLOAD RECEIPT

Share with friends:

About the author

Ela Thier has been writing screenplays for nearly 40 years, and receiving pass letters for about that long.

In carving her own path, she wrote, directed, produced, and sometimes performed, in her award-winning feature films, Foreign Letters and Tomorrow Ever After. In 2026 she’ll be releasing her new feature film, 109 Billion Followers, a comedy-drama co-starring J.K. Simmons and Nina Arianda.

She’s currently in development on feature films with notable attachments, has created numerous award-winning short films, and is the Founding Director of The Independent Film School. When she’s not working, she spends time with her nephew and pretends to be interested in baseball.

Pictured here: Writer-Director Ela Thier working with actor J.K. Simmons on the set of 109 BILLION FOLLOWERS.
PREORDER ON AMAZON
UPLOAD RECEIPT

Share with friends:

The Independent Film School is a project of Thier Productions Inc. | Contact | View privacy policy | © All Rights Reserved