One of the hardest parts of being an author is putting together a story that you are certain is amazing, offering it to the world and…nothing. Books that you expect to be flops may be successes, which isn’t a bad thing at all. But the reverse, those books you think will be stars that end up being meh in the sales department, that hurts and makes this business much more difficult than it needs to be. The truth is, as an author, you can do everything right and still have things not turn out as planned.
And that doesn’t even begin to touch on the changes that happen in our business. Computer glitches. Policy changes. There’s a lot that’s happening right now
If you don’t deal with the unknown, the uncertainty that what you do may not yield results, then your creativity and your desire to write can be stopped in its tracks. Somehow, you need to balance the fact that there are some things you can’t control and make sure you’re making the most of what you can control.
Working with an understanding your creative nervous system allows you to deal with the publishing unknown. It may seem like pop psychology to advise someone to know what they can control and to let go of the rest. But it’s also really good advice, and in this era of amplified unknowns, I encourage authors to be the students of their own creativity and writing processes.
What can we, as authors, control?
On one hand, I’d like to be glib and say not a lot. But, we control the writing of the stories, and though there may be market considerations, for the most part we control the content, the length, and the way in which we write it (for example at a desk in an office, on a phone or through dictation, etc.). If we self-publish, then we also control where the book is distributed, the price point, who we use for cover art and to some extent how they create the cover, the blurb and marketing materials. If we work with a publisher, we might have some say into the cover art and we will still have to market. The blurb may not quite be under our control, and of course we have to work with editors, but there’s still quite a bit about the actual book production we control.
What do we do with this control?
We make the best choices we can and we try to be strategic about how we second-guess those choices. (For example re-evaluating KU enrollment every 90 days.) We can be gentle with ourselves, and we can appreciate when things happen outside of our control.
Finally, we should be scanning the horizon, occasionally doing SWOT (Strength/Weakness/Opportunity/Threat) assessments of the publishing landscape. Not to jump at every shadow or to keep from burying our heads in the sand, but to be aware so when things happen, we can adjust accordingly and hopefully if possible guide our readers accordingly.
It’s difficult to write with publishing’s unknowns. The uncertainty and the worry can zap our creativity. But as writers, it’s also something that we should learn to do, because if there’s one thing that’s a certain in publishing, it’s that there will always be unknowns.
Curious about what your creative nervous system type is? Take our free quiz. Learning what your creative nervous system type is will help you determine the best way to find balance and stay inspired.