Hi, hello everyone. It’s August, and we’re about to dive into the latter half of the year. It’s usually around this time that we all feel the pressure to ramp up our work so we stick the landing on our 2024 goals. After all, if we want to take advantage of the holidays, we gotta start creating all the posts and filling up our calendars, right?
Well, I’m forcing myself to do the opposite of whatever that is.
After reading Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey, I can’t look at my author platform the same way again. After years of studying up on entrepreneurship, marketing, and publishing, I felt like I already know what there is to know and yet there’s always more to do. I feel a bit jaded, like I gave all this time and energy and it still doesn’t feel like “enough” for the publishing industry.
I’m not quitting but I’m not pushing myself to do more, get ahead of the curve, or add more to my plate. Instead, I’m reevaluating my values and priorities as an author. I’m ready to lean more on my creativity and less on the algorithm. Is it too far-fetched that I just want to be a more joyful author?
I’m sharing the following information publicly for a few reasons. First, I’m proud of all this inner work. Being a self-aware author is not nothing. Second, I want to keep my community informed on what I’m up to and how they can support me if they wish to. And third, perhaps this wording will help my fellow authors as they try to write their books but not get caught up in the comparison game.
Shall we dive in?
Overall Goal: Seeking Joy & Creativity in a Competitive Industry
I’m already enough and I’m already doing enough. It’s clear that I already hire professionals to polish my work, stay up-to-date on ethical publishing practices, and build my community. My author platform’s foundation is sound. Instead of moving forward with anxiety and emotional baggage, I’m dreaming of a happy future—and taking steps to make that dream a reality.
This work looks like imagining the best-case scenario, prioritizing breaks and rest, savoring the writing process, believing more in myself, and placing huge amounts of trust on my community that this shift will be worth it.
I want to write however many books are in my heart and publish them. Therefore, I don’t want to rely on external validation to determine the quality of my books or the quality of my platform. I know that my work is good through the quality of writing, editing, sensitivity feedback-based revisions, and slowly creating a space for myself.
I am releasing the shame that tells me that “I’ll never be enough” and “there’s always something more I could do.” I’m releasing the shame of not being chosen by someone else to become a traditionally published author.
In order to maintain joy and creativity, I am accepting the limited time and finances I have to get my books out there. After all, I’m accomplishing so much as I am, and all I hope that capitalism and burnout don’t hold me back from telling more important stories.
Writing
I don’t write based on current trends. I celebrate the authors that can cater to the trends that readers crave as I simultaneously seek to write for a much more niche audience. I want to write fantasy stories that speak to my real experiences with mental health. I want to continue to make room in my worlds for all kinds of people who deserve to be in the spotlight.
I seek to lean into my natural creativity; I’m aware of the structure of writing a story but do what feels right to bend the rules. I am dancing in this tango of wanting to write quality books but not giving into perfectionism. In the end, I want to write enjoyable books that my readers love—I won’t put power in the publishing industry to decide whether I’m good at what I do.
Additionally, the goal is to not expect myself to write every day but find myself writing often because it feels good and joyful. I’m fighting against the pressure to keep pumping out books at a rate that makes my current mental health state worse. Right now, I’m very comfortable and happy with publishing books every other year.
Editing Services
I am an expert with 10+ years of experience. I don’t know why I still doubt myself when I have helped hundreds of authors publish their books and reach their goals through my editing and coaching skills. I’m deeply honored that authors include me in their publishing team/community. This is a passion that I don’t think will ever go away; I just want to help people to write books and make some dreams come true. Publishing can be dark, disappointing, and divisive but only if we live this notion that it’s all about competition or stepping on each other to ascend the ladder.
There’s a way where we all win—not just the publishers that see books as products.
My updated rates reflect my expertise. My flexibility in payments reflects my desire to work with authors and their budgets. I will continue to transparently share my editing services and rates online. When authors are ready, they’ll reach out and work with me. Just like I could bang my head against the wall about how to be the best author, I could make myself dizzy trying to figure out what it means to be the best editor. I’m simply here and if an author wants to work with me, what an honor and a boon.
I will mold my expertise around the wishes of my author. Whatever goals they have, I will provide the insight—even if they want to approach publishing differently than me. Just because I want to approach publishing one way that it’s objectively the best or only approach. For example, if my authors want to succeed in the traditional route, I will do what I can to get them there. I’ve done it in the past and I’ll continue to help authors find ways to make publishing work for them.
Marketing
I want to significantly de-prioritize marketing. Based on years of research, I know my audience and I know what to say to them—but now, I will resist caring about stats and algorithms. I want to care more about the DMs and in-person thoughts about my books instead of how many people viewed a video. Marketing is a huge weight that I don’t think any author should bear but especially indie authors. Above all, I won’t “win” by playing by the ever-changing rules, so I might as well do what makes sense to me and my health.
I don’t want to let the stats of my posts affect my emotions. Too many authors have equated the stats with their skill with words. We’ve seen bestselling garbage and underrated gems, so it’s clear that if a publisher wants a book to succeed, they’ll ensure it succeeds. So when I’m feeling discouraged, I can at least stand by my work even if current social media platforms are quite literally holding me back.
I will post what feels interesting and fun for me. Sure, I technically know what I “should” be doing but I’m catering my feed to what I actually like to share or what I think my audience actually cares about. Besides, it’s usually the posts that are the least self-serving that get the most human interaction.
I understand that I’m doing a lot of things for free. I’m not paying for ads, so I know that the “stagnation” is partly due to that choice. Still, I’m not going to keep making posts and feel upset when they don’t work.
I will always hold my head up high because I said I wanted to be an author and I took all the ethical steps to do so.
I do believe in my books but I don’t believe in the current system. There’s got to be a better way to produce all these stories without the detriment to the authors’ wellbeing or mental state.
Distribution
Starting now, I am providing free ebooks to anyone who asks for them. I will ask for an honest review in return but not expect it or feel “betrayed” if they never read or review my book. Overall, I just want my books to be available to everyone regardless of their book budgets.
I will work with my community to get my books into libraries. To make this happen, I will educate my community on how they can help. Based on previous experience, I know there’s a slow but sure way to ensure more libraries are aware of my books and provide them to interested patrons.
I will trust my audience/community more and provide significantly more ARCs for future books. I will trust that the ARCs will help my community leave reviews sooner and talk to their friends to spread the word. A free copy will hopefully translate into a larger audience and larger sales. We live in a world of book piracy and I’ll just trust that my readers have good intentions.
I will work with local/indie bookstores to reach local readers. And when I have these opportunities, I will use them as opportunities to connect rather than push copies. These stores do have to rely more on capitalism (i.e. sales to keep the doors open) so I will help them in that endeavor however I can. My hope is that when I look to connect, I’ll find future fans. I want to provide a vibe that I love my books and I’m not upset when people pass them over.
Community Over Competition
While I champion community, I still struggle to lean on community. I will take baby steps to trust my community as I strive to carve out a space for us where we can write, distribute, and read books without capitalism standing in our way. One way I’d like to do that is by setting up free author group chats where we can help each other more directly. This will be an opportunity for bookstagrammers and authors (regardless of experience level) to vent, educate, grow, rest, and connect.
I will look to community funding options to support my work. This means setting up more preorders to cover the publishing costs. It takes a TON of work but it was worth it to have some financial and emotional backing. Of course, this means finding opportunities to support other authors in their future publications and events.
For the most part, I am happy for my fellow authors but acknowledge that sometimes I’m jealous and envious. I don’t want to be upset when authors spend more time and money marketing their books or creating content. Despite all that, their books don’t diminish mine, and vice versa. When I am jealous, I will turn to my writing and get creative.
That was so worth writing down and getting off my chest. What do you think? Do you have other good ideas to consider? How has your author/creative platform changed in recent years?
