Real Artists Have Day Jobs (William Morrow/HarperCollins) includes 52 witty, provocative essays on how to live like a real adult—especially for those who have chosen a slightly more offbeat path to get there. Chock full of information and advice, Sara’s warm, smart, empathetic, and quirky voice is relatable to everyone from twenty-somethings and recent college grads to anyone a bit older who’s still trying to figure things out. While Sara doesn’t have all of life’s answers, this indispensable book has more than its share!

1. If you do your art, you're a real artist! Doesn't matter if you make a dime off it. I'm not telling you you're the best artist or even a great one, but you're an artist. HR rep during the day but you go salsa dancing at night? Cool. You're a dancer. Car mechanic but on the side you do woodworking? Cool. You're a woodworker.

2. When you don't know what to do, ask a successful woman. Successful guys are great, but they're a dime a dozen. A successful woman living her dreams? She's been through some hurdles and gained some wisdom - and if you're respectful, kind, and lucky, she might just share some of it with you. Also known as the "What Would Amy Poehler Do?" rule of professional life.

3. Your normal is not everybody else's normal. You're probably different from your cousin or your sister or your dad or your uncle. That's okay. That's a good thing, even if they're great people who make lots of money and get to be Grandma's favorite forever and ever. What looks like normal to you may look crazy to somebody else, and vice versa. As long as you're happy and doing what is best for you and being kind to the folks around you who deserve that kindness, you're good. It's okay to feel out of place in the office, too.

4. Your college major does not determine your life trajectory. Plenty of successful, happy adults are engaged in careers that seem on the surface to have absolutely nothing to do with their major. If you were pre-med and you hated it, and what you really want to do is teach kindergarten, that's a beautiful thing. Because you'd probably make a terrible doctor living a joyless existence, but an incredible kindergarten teacher changing people's lives. People evolve. Dreams evolve. There is no honor in staying the course just because you want to look good to other people.

5. Make peace with the numbers. Your worth is not determined by your annual income; by the amount remaining on student loans; by your number of degrees or lack thereof; by your weight; by the quantity of your output. Your worth is inherent and lives within you always. Be good to yourself and to others. Don't ever mistake a frenzy of activity for success.

Essays include:

How to Read a Book

It Gets Better, Mostly

The Power of Being a Dork

Put Your Clutter in Purgatory

Ask for Exactly What You Want

Take Care of Your Teeth

Elect Your Own Executive Board

Let an Animal Adopt You

Equal parts entertaining and educational, Real Artists Have Day Jobs is a life-changing book for strivers and misunderstood creatives everywhere.

For readers of Lena Dunham, Mindy Kaling, and #Girlboss, a hilarious—yet heartfelt—guide to growing up and taking your place in the world by the popular comedian and author of the highly praised Agorafabulous!

About the Author: Sara Benincasa is a comedian and author of DC Trip, (Adaptive Books 2015) Great (2014) and Agorafabulous!: Dispatches From My Bedroom (William Morrow 2012), a book based on her critically acclaimed solo show about panic attacks and agoraphobia. She is currently adapting DC Trip for film with producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa (Little Miss Sunshine, Nebraska, Election), Van Toffler, and Adaptive Studios. Sara is also adapting Agorafabulous as a TV pilot with executive producers Diablo Cody (Juno, The United States of Tara), ABC Studios, and Ben Stiller’s Red Hour. She was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Warren Wilson College and Columbia University Teachers College. She currently lives in Los Angeles, CA.