The Real-Life Adventures of Debut Authors
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The"Once Upon a Time" fairy tale that many people assume an array of authors have begins with being one of the 1-2% of writers who are fortunate enough to have their first book traditionally published. In reality, it’s not a golden brick road for any of us who find ourselves scrambling to keep our subsequent publishing dreams alive while simultaneously promoting our debut title at literary festivals, writers’ conferences, and author readings. Singularly or combined, all of these can consume a substantial amount of time—eventually adding up to numerous hours of unpaid labor. Yet, they remain a vital component of a successful launch.
This juggling act is a daily reality for me at the moment since my first cookbook was released in April. My second kid lit book comes out in August, and the full manuscript of the latest book deal I signed this spring is due in July. Don’t get me wrong; I am immensely grateful to have all the time and energy I’ve invested in my writing career over the last nine years finally bearing such bountiful fruit. But I would be remiss to not acknowledge my privilege as a published author at the beginning of this blog. Because as writers it can feel like we’ve spent months, perhaps even decades, having a continuous landslide of rejection bury our work—along with dreams we’ve fiercely struggled to keep alive.
So first let me say: Keep holding on. Show up for yourself. Refuse to give up the craft. Because the words you labor over are sustenance for your soul. Not landing an agent. Or getting great press. Or winning awards. Yes, those are definitely accomplishments worth celebrating. But we have to continually nourish and replenish our love of writing because that is ultimately what provides the resiliency to have a solvent career in this industry. Many factors impacting the trajectory of how and when books get acquired are completely outside our control. However, only you can decide how, where, and when to channel your energy, focus, and hope. Mindset greatly influences what we are able to manifest.
Feeling discouraged is totally normal. But trying again, and again, and again is too. I have met more than one author over the years who disclosed having queried over a hundred agents before signing with one. I know even more authors who have cycled through more than one agent or decided to pursue submitting their work to smaller presses that will consider unsolicited manuscripts for publication. There are many paths to publishing—and a clear view of your own may not fully emerge until you have nearly arrived at your destination.
I can say without a doubt that given the number of tasks currently concurrently on my plate, I did not have the capacity to manage this number of professional commitments until a few years ago. If all of this success had arrived sooner, I likely would have crumbled under the weight of so much expectation. I know, because the time I spent working in the local media was a crash course in how being exposed to constant pressure one is ill-prepared to deal with can cause folks to emotionally unravel. Not achieving something you deeply desire at the wrong time can be a saving grace. Choose to embrace the present as a ‘training season’ to gain more confidence for future public speaking engagements; strengthen your editing/revising skills; cultivate a presence on social media; or pitch articles, stories, or poems to magazines, newspapers, or literary journals. You have to create to be a creator. Lean so far into your passion for writing that eventually you must be seen, heard—and read.