Love, Marmite and Publishing
There are certain things we can really only know from experience. I was saying to my dad just the other day that publishing a book is a whole lot like getting engaged. You understand the theory that marriage will be hard, but deep in your bones you believe that you and your special someone are just so freaking special and in lurrrrve that the hard work will be a joyous bundle of easy because lurrrrrve is the spoonful of sugar in a world of marmite.
And similarly, you can know it’s a lot of work to edit and promote, but I, for one, thought that the happy walking-on-air feeling of the initial acceptance into the Forbidden City of publishing would carry me through any bumps in the road. Ha! In a few weeks I will have written a number of books larger than the number of times I’ve been married. Those of you who know me well know this is no small feat. And let me tell you, the mists of happiness soon turn into the fog of war when it comes to writing books. (With marriage, I think the happy mists last longer.) Don’t get me wrong, I feel as fortunate to be published as I do to have finally found the man of my dreams. A Certain Highlander still makes me swoon after ten years, just as I still get giddy when little publishing things happen–like yesterday learning that my ISBNs had been assigned for Ordinary Angels.
But that doesn’t stop me from, every once in a while, saying, HOLY SHIT at the daunting organisational mess I’ve created with my first book release. I have five…. FIVE!!!… spreadsheets to keep track of promotion, interviews, book bloggers, reviewers… just this weekend I created a blog schedule that already extends three months into the future. A year ago I never know what I was going to blog about from day to day! However, after scheduling four guest bloggers on two days, then rescheduling two of those bloggers on the same day, something had to be done.
I used to never understand why some writers really excelled at promotion, while others just seemed to sit in the background and say, “But I just want to write books!” Well, now I know. Like marriage, this book business is bloody hard. And I haven’t really even gotten to the indie stuff yet. This is all work I’m having to do on a book that is with a traditional publisher!
So if I owe you an email, give it a couple days more than you think is reasonable and then prompt me. I probably haven’t forgotten. It’s probably on my list of important things to do… which extends through the end of the year. Yep. I have a to-do list that’s nine months long.
This is the job of my dreams. But just like marriage isn’t all blow-jobs and butterflies, publishing isn’t private jets and tiaras. It’s full of highs and lows, like most things.
Yet I’m not complaining. Rather, I’m paying tribute to all those who came before, who warned me how hard this was going to be, who I ignored like every blushing bride ignores her well-meaning and more-experienced friends. Thank you for having the grace not to say “I told you so.”
And speaking of blog schedules, I’m going to start blogging four days a week and taking weekends off. (This is for sanity’s sake.) Monday and Wednesday you’ll get a post from me, Thursday you’ll get a guest post from one of my author friends, and Friday will be a #fridayflash post of very short fiction. You get this post instead of a guest post today because I haven’t quite mastered the art of organisation, but I’m booked for the next six weeks, so there are good things to come.
Question: Other than publishing and marriage, what other things in your life have turned out to be harder than you expected?
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This shows yet another parallel between the music industry and publishing. When I was a teenager my focus was entirely on getting a record deal, but as an adult I soon found out the hard work starts after the deal, and I’ve only ever been with indies, if you sign with a major they own your soul and every second of your existence!
With music I eventually found out that if you relax and go with the flow the success comes easier – nobody likes a try-hard in the music world, I’m yet to find out if the same is true in the writing world…
[ Follow me on Twitter: Andrew_culture ]
Blow jobs and butterflies? What kind of marriage do you have?
Sounds very… interesting.
I love this post, India. Publishing is much harder than I ever anticipated. Each day is full of ups and downs and it doesn’t get easier! But you’re right – it’s the job of my dreams.
[ Follow me on Twitter: talliroland ]
What do you mean, no private jets?! *bottom lip quivering here* I’m glad you mentioned blogging schedules, that was beginning to be my main challenge, recently I switched to 2 days to allow me to focus on my edits. So for me the most challenging part of writing, is balancing it with the rest of real life. I can do it, like, if I don’t sleep at nights.
[ Follow me on Twitter: coco_dubai ]
It’s like being pregnant, actually. Everyone tells you your life is going to change and you nod your head and smile…I know. My whole life is going to change, you agree. Yep, my whole life is going to change. It’s not until you actually hold that baby when you realize, HOLY SHIT, MY LIFE IS TOTALLY CHANGED. And then you start to get an inkling.
You’re a lot more organized than I am. I can only aspire to be that organized. I’d have to get organized to get organized. Now my brain is hurty.
[ Follow me on Twitter: netta50 ]
Yeah, what Talli said! I’ve been married so long, the only time I get butterflies is when the airplane hits an air pocket, and the pilot over-corrects. But, hey, I’m a good sport: congratulations on your B’s & B’s, as well as your private jet and tiara.
[Just as you described, as a teen--I was perfect and knew-every-damn-thang. Didn’t get over that until, oh, about 40.] For me, being the mother of adults is harder than I thought. Kids marry people we didn’t choose or, perhaps, wouldn’t have chosen; they do or do not have babies. Dog-gone ingrates move around the globe without even considering how challenging distances can be. Become Middle-Aged, ferPete’ssake. They have their own successes without parents cheering from the sidelines.
Before I go too far, don’t anyone yell “get a life”. I have a FT marriage with a guy who makes me go weak in the knees [Boy Fren']–his eyes are every bit as blue as on our first date. I’m an Adjunct Professor at a local higher-ed institution. I write and, occasionally, even publish. I’m tall and blond and have legs that go all the way from my ass to the ground.
What I’m saying, I suppose, is this: when your kids are such good company, it is hard as landing a Tarpon to give them up to their own lives. Just saying’ Remember, boys and girls, you heard it here first.
[ Follow me on Twitter: girlfrenkate ]
…and yes, I’m not an HTML expert.
[ Follow me on Twitter: girlfrenkate ]
Blow jobs and butterflies? Only you…
The spreadsheet? OMG, I should have been doing that all along.
The other thing that is much harder and weirder than anybody can communicate to you is being a parent.
The blow jobs & butterflies line is classic, India. LOL
I think with the first (or even second) book, we kind of go nuts. We feel like we have to do it all, put ourselves out there as much as possible, and say yes to every single thing. I’ve never been with a publisher, but I can imagine the pressure is considerable.
And all that certainly isn’t going to hurt, but there comes a point of diminishing returns when we realize that sometimes saying “no” is okay too, because the most important thing we can do to market our books is to write more books. And if we’re promoting to the point of not writing (whether it’s a time issue or more a mental capacity issue), it’s not doing us any favors in the long run.
But I know with the first book most authors feel like they have to do something, anything, everything to push the book out there into the spotlight. So I won’t tell you to slow down. But I will tell you that it’s okay not to do everything and be everywhere. If your book is good (and I rather suspect it is), it will sell, even if it takes awhile to take off. Ebooks don’t expire.
Good luck with all those spreadsheets – people say I’m busy, but you’ve got me beat by a mile there. LOL
[ Follow me on Twitter: JamieDeBree ]
India,
Your post was hilarious, as were the comments! You and I must be crazy to do spreadsheets. I hate them and I love them. I spreadsheet everything, but I cannot, for the life of me, write inside those boxes they have for questionnaires. OK, now I digress, got off track, saw a twitter message just pop up on my other browser, back and forth…this comment will take me 20 minutes to write. See? Spreadsheets are good, otherwise I’d never be able to multi-task successfully!
Eden
[ Follow me on Twitter: edenbaylee ]
Spreadsheets? Are you trying to scare me, India? Won’t I be able to use my little black book when I am published? Gosh, now I have to learn spreadsheets…wasn’t learning to write a novel enough? *sigh* ;0
Keep up the good work!
I’m that blushing bride who believes in all the fairy-tales of getting published and will not be told otherwise. *Sticks fingers into ears and eye sockets*
[ Follow me on Twitter: rebeccajbradley ]
Congratulations on the journey anyway, India!
Hmm, blow jobs and butterflies… but I don’t want tiaras and private jets! I want those ISBNs