Preorders, Proofs, and Plot Twists: When Writers Need a Break
I recently went through an entirely unexpected medical emergency that required me taking time off.
Completely.
That is unusual for me because even when I am sick, or on vacation, I will check email and social media at the very least. When vacationing, I often write in the early mornings while my husband is still sleeping.
But for the last several weeks I have been unable to do any work at all. And this led me to thinking about how we as authors, especially those of us who write full-time, need to figure out ways to accommodate unexpected life events.
This is part of keeping work-life balance, but for the perpetually positive among us (raising my hand), it can be really difficult to insert extra days into the schedule because we live in the belief nothing bad is going to happen.
Only, it's not just challenging things that require time off. Sometimes, it's unexpected but wonderful life events.
Regardless, when you are a full-time writer, there is no such thing as PTO (not vacation time and not sick leave). Even if you have someone to help with promo and admin, you are the only person who can write your books, articles, etc. This means when you have to take unexpected time off, there is no one else there to finish the writing and keep your deadlines
Whether you are an indie or traditionally published author (and I've published many books as both) it is imperative to incorporate extra time in your schedule for all the creative aspects of the writing process.
Prepping your book. Writing your book. Revising your book. Polishing your book. They all require time and you to do them.
If you don't give yourself at least a little extra time, chances are you are going to end up with late books, losing your pre-order slot, angry editors, frustrated publishers, and so much more.
It took me a long time to realize this. That no matter what my writing pace was, stuff would come up that would prevent me from writing. Sometimes it's a day, or two. Others, like recently, last several weeks.
Life happens. You get the flu. Your kitchen floods. Your best friend gets married. Family or friends need to talk and you're the one they need to talk to. The power goes out. Your partner surprises you by taking the day off to spend with you or taking you away for a long weekend.
Life.
I'm a lot more wary nowadays when I create my writing schedule and set deadlines for different aspects of the writing process because I've suffered severe burnout. And I never want to go back there. A big part of that burn out was trying to keep every deadline despite having one publisher want more revisions on a book than expected, or another one asking me to write a novella for an anthology "between projects."
And well…life.
I have never been more grateful for that caution as I was over the last few weeks when I was unable to do a single thing for my writing career. Thankfully, I already had some social media posts pre-scheduled and my inbox was caught up. Doing these things is my way of protecting my future self and I've been very happy I did many, many times over the past few years.
I did have to cancel a couple of things and unfortunately was unable to follow through on a couple more. I've worked out fulfilling those obligations now because it's important to me to keep my commitments. But with the best will in the world, you cannot write and post a newsletter when you're under anesthesia for surgery.
However, because I had scheduled myself more time to do my revisions than I knew I needed, and because I actually had scheduled myself a week of vacation this summer (which will not happen now), the impact to my commitments and schedule was minimal.
This was not me relaxing on the sofa to recover when I got home, checking my email and social media. These were literally weeks I could not do anything. And if I had scheduled myself as tightly as I used to, I would have had to cancel my August 28 book release and lost my pre-orders on Amazon.
But I'd given myself an extra two weeks between getting my book back from the editor and when I needed to send the revised manuscript to copy and proof editors. Added to my week of hoped for vacation, that covered three of the four weeks I was out.
The end result is that it's possible my paperback will release a few days after the ebook and there was no time for copy edits, only proof edits. Which meant I had to pay extra attention during the revision process to fix any errors I could find.
There's also no time to send the book out to ARC readers for review.
This may, or may not, impact book sales. That's where the no PTO comes in. There's nothing to make up for the lost income for a fulltime writer when there isn't time to do all the things that help our books sell well. Or when we have to write one less book in the year because…yes, life happens.
My readers are pretty wonderful, and I'm confident many of them will post their reviews quickly, but there are several promo and advertising efforts I could not schedule or prepare for because of my unexpected time off. I'm doing my best to catch up now, but as with most fulltime writers, I have another project to work on, now the last book is finished.
If I don't want to exist in a never-ending cycle of being behind, I must simply let some things go and focus on what is supposed to come next.
That might be the hardest lesson of all.
For all my fellow authors out there, I wish you all the best and hope that me sharing my experiences will help you avoid some of the traps I've fallen into.
Until next time, happy writing…and taking the time you need to live!
Hugs,
Lucy
USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lucy Monroe has over 90 published novels and more than 12.5 million copies sold worldwide. Her stories—rich with emotion, heat, and high stakes—span contemporary, historical, and paranormal romance.
Now publishing independently, Lucy writes the bold, deeply romantic stories she’s most passionate about. Her latest series, Syndicate Rules, explores the dark and decadent world of mafia romance with morally gray heroes, fierce heroines, and all the spice fans crave.
A voracious reader and longtime romance fangirl, Lucy loves connecting with fellow book lovers online.
For info on all of Lucy’s books, visit her website.
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