Story - Book - Product
Keeping the author separate from the publisher, especially when they’re the same person
Hello Beautiful Writer!
I have a quick announcement:
This summer’s group coaching for novel- and memoirists starts on May 29th. Develop your craft alongside your book. Group coaching gives you the mentorship of an expert writer, editor, and writing coach, camaraderie of fellow writers, accountability, and an ongoing feedback loop as you write your book at an accelerated pace.
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I met a women the other day who is feeling overwhelmed by everything she has to do to become a self-published author. She’s doing her darnedest to follow all of those “shoulds” piling up on her doorstep. She should have an email list. She should post a blog every week. She should figure out her comps. She should be networking. She should learn book formatting and hire designers and editors and….
Here’s a should for you: she should write her book.
For about seven years, I’ve opened my podcast with: “This is the Story Works Round Table, where we have conversations about craft, because becoming a successful author begins with writing a great story.” I listened to this writer, whose book is not finished, describe her frustration at trying to clear the many hurdles of publishing, and it hit me how that statement is not only true, but can quickly be forgotten when writers dig into the business side of things. Of course, to put a book in the world requires production, publication, and marketing work, but if one puts the proverbial cart before the horse, what happens to the actual writing of the book?
We’ve all heard of authors with a smash hit first novel whose second is crap. What happened? The story generally goes that the first book, a passion project written in the wee hours of the morning and dictated into a phone while the kids are in swim lessons and otherwise created in precious snatches of time, took the writer years to complete. A decade or two is not unusual. Success brings pressure. The second book fares differently, because it is written differently. The rush to production sacrifices the craft of storytelling, and the book, the thing itself, gets lost in the hustle to put a product into consumers’ hands.
This is a cautionary tale: do not sacrifice your beautiful story, the one inside you that compels you to pick up a pencil or tap the keyboard when the rest of the world is going out to party or getting sleep or earning money. If you are writing because you have a story that needs telling, because you are a less content, less kind person if you don’t have time to write, because you can’t not write, then write your story. Write your story. Write your story.
The writer I was chatting with mentioned the many objectives laid before her, each one attached to a should, like learning about email marketing, platforms, copyright, distributors, etc., etc., etc. She keeps waiting to feel like she has accomplished something, but can’t with that growing mound of goals. This state of overwhelm is as dangerous as it is common, because overwhelm leads to frustration, killing motivation. I reminded her that the first target, which is also the biggest accomplishment of them all, is to finish a book she feels good about.
There will be time for all the rest of it. I promise. When the story is finished—only then, after the writer is proud to say it is written, it is mine—there will be time to find the help and learn the many skills necessary to publish, launch, and market the book, which can then be thought of as a product. And the writer, if she has time while also wearing those business hats, can be writing the next book.
Maybe later, with one or two book products under her belt, she can organize her life to both craft the stories she needs to tell and produce, publish, and market her books. But until and unless all that gets figured out, step back, put the horse before the cart. Write. Write. Write.
And breathe! That overwhelm? It’s not worth hanging onto. Go back to this: Why did I start writing? Why do I need to tell this story? Reconnect with that peculiar drive that gets you out of bed and straight to your writing project. It is the thing that matters. It is strong enough to keep you going. The rest, the business, will be waiting for you on the other side of those monumental little words, “the end.”
Where are you at in your writing and publishing journey? Are you encountering overwhelm and what do you do to get past it? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments!