Thoughts On Publishing

In the past 364 days I’ve had three books published (Something Real, Exquisite Captive, I’ll Meet You There), each more different than the last. To say I haven’t felt overwhelmed would be a bald-faced lie. My dream of being a published author has come so epically true, it’s kind of hard to wrap my head around sometimes. I’d say be careful what you wish for, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. One of the biggest challenges of any debut author—and especially one with more than one publisher, as I have—is learning how to navigate the world of publishing. Before you sign your first contract, publishing is sort of this ephemeral land of book genies. No matter how much research you do, you don’t really know much about it. Like most authors, I thought that once I had a book deal all my problems would fade away. NOT! In some ways, my problems seemed to multiply (kinda like, as Biggie says, “Mo money, mo problems.”). First, some perspective: these are first world problems. Worrying about if anyone is going to buy your book is not the same as worrying that you won’t be able to eat today. I get that. Having perspective is key to surviving life as a published author—more on that later.

The first thing you will experience is an adjustment to the ownership of your book. You go from your baby being just yours to it suddenly belonging to loads of people. This can be a little disorienting.…