void era, baby
you know, now that I'm done killing my characters in The Sims
Like many fields, publishing is a never-ending Olympic race of new hurdles and moving goalposts. First, you have to write the book. Then you have to revise the book. Query the book. Cry. Get an agent. Sell your book. And so on and so on.
I haven’t talked a lot about my publishing journey because for a long time, I was dealing with the imposter syndrome that came with it. It happened fast, especially the agent to sub to sold period. Then, the imposter syndrome was me feeling like I hadn’t worked for what I’d gotten, like I had a hooky book that didn’t deliver and sold only because it was hooky. I talked a little bit about the mean things I said to myself for months near the end of last year in this newsletter update.
Now, in the void era between accomplishing some really thrilling stuff and actually putting it into the world, the goalposts have moved and the imposter syndrome looks different…
Part of the reason I bring all of this up is because I got to do my very first author interview recently! Oh my god I am so good at marketing, look at that transition baby I am going to be a guest on the new podcast Writers R The Best Weirdos, hosted by book coach Julia Roberts (not that one). The first season focuses on author marketing and Julia and I spoke about what to do while you wait for your pub date. We talk about how to come up with ideas for content and how to build a brand for yourself, among other things.
The podcast is hosting a Pre-Release Binge Day on Tues. 2/28 where for one day only, all episodes will be available for listening before they are released episodically throughout the rest of the year. Several of the guests will also be giving out freebies from books to resources. You can also hop on Zoom with Julia and ask her any questions you have and take those first steps in getting something started!
Click this link to register and sign up for the Binge Day now!
What I didn’t talk about as much on the podcast is the mental toll this window of time takes. It feels odd to talk about because I have been so fortunate to get where I am and to have the community I have, but there are certain emotions that no one can really help with. You sort of have to work through them on your own.
Right around the start of the year, I was so stoked to say “My book comes out next year!” and hit the ground running promoting and spreading the word. I was looking at people debuting in 2023, and feeling like I should have been doing what they were doing. And if I wasn’t getting the same results, I was failing.
It sent me into a little spiral of panic and a little bit of jealousy sometimes. I’d see people’s announcements and the excitement they got for it and worry that if they got double or triple the traction as I did, my book was going to flop. If people didn’t care now, they never were. If I failed to maintain hype from the moment this book got announced to release, it’d be my fault and I’d have failed before I even got the chance to try. I joined debut groups and saw people talking about their covers and copy edits and book tours and preorder campaigns, and I was still chugging along on my first round of revisions. There was no talk of covers, of all the big exciting things that everyone else seemed to be getting, of the same kind of progress I’ve seen my fellow 2024 debuts having.
If you haven’t gathered, I have the calm demeanor of a nervous squirrel in a washing machine.
A lot of those feelings have subsided through conversations I’ve had with friends (who I am forever indebted to for putting up with all of this) and I’ve come to a lot of realizations about the things I can and can’t control at this point in time.
However, here are a few things I’ve gathered and tell myself when those feelings bubble back up:
My book is still about a year and a half away. That is a long time and there are a lot of important steps that need to happen before then. There are a lot of people behind the scenes working on things to make this happen. It does not mean they are not happening just because they aren’t front and center.
It’s really damn hard to market a book without a cover. Or without a way to pre-order. Or marketing materials. People are most drawn to visual things and a brand they can identify with. It makes total sense. So I need to not be hard on myself for not being able to do what I could do if I were only a few months away from release.
What you see on social media is not inherently a fact. We all do it, but people can posture, people can inflate themselves and their circumstances. People can punch down. Just because someone has a lot of buzz right now or seems to boast their importance, it doesn’t mean they’re going to be a bestseller and you’re not. It doesn’t mean their book will succeed and yours will not. There is zero way to really know this far out.
It is hard to sit back and wait while you feel like everyone’s racing ahead, and there’s nothing you can do about it. There should be some comfort in that too. While I can’t post a graphic of my book cover every day of the week, I can read good books written by my friends. I can befriend people within the community and form positive relationships with other writers. I can write things that make me happy in the meantime, and be hunkered down ready to work on the publishing process when there are things for me to do.
It’s an odd time and a scary time for writers, when they feel like things are out of their hands and control for potentially the first time in a while. Then, things will fall into place (probably) and then the goalposts will move again. And repeat.
So, there are the words of wisdom from this nervous squirrel!
And here’s your cryptid meme for your troubles:
