How to prepare for the tough road ahead, once the decision is made

@DoinResearch

I’ll recommend some books!

FOR LOS ANGELES

Self-Management for Actors: Getting Down to (Show) Business, Bonnie Gillespie

The Hollywood Survival Guide - for Actors: Your Handbook for Becoming a Working Actor in LA, Kym Jackson

An Agent Tells All, Tony Martinez

The Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide, Jenna Fischer

Video lecture on iActingStudios.com: [“Mastering Your Career”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nomiGMjGPSs) by Richard Lawson

[“Things You Wish You were Told”](https://www.backstage.com/forums/working-actor/things-know-moving-la-789/) - Collected wisdom from the old Backstage forums as compiled by yours truly (also on the Reddit Acting and AskLosAngeles sidebars)

FOR NEW YORK

Acting as a Business: Strategies for Success, Brian O’Neil

Breaking and Entering: From Auditions to Agents to a Career Philip Carlson

An Actor Prepares … To Live in New York City Craig Wroe

While it should really be your kids reading all this, there is no harm in you educating yourself on what they will be up against. If they are like my old classmates, some kids will prefer blissful ignorance plus lots of things will probably change over the next few years anyway, but you can give them the new editions before fourth year when they start getting antsy. And if you just want to read something for the entertainment value, lots of people with no personal interest in acting or the business have found Jenna Fischer’s book to be hilarious.