The Experience of Getting Published – What I Didn’t Know

I would like to start this blog by saying that I know how lucky I am to have secured a publishing deal for my book.

I am utterly thrilled and like most other published authors, I have dreamt of this moment for literally almost all my life. Nothing will match up to those moments when I first acquired my agent and when I heard from editors who loved my book. 

Before this point, and I’m sure this is true for most writers, my focus had for so long been on getting that agent and securing the elusive publishing deal. I had not spared any thought for what might happen after that incredible moment. It did not occur to me to consider what my life would be like once I had crossed The Big Divide. Suffice to say, I was completely unprepared and lost many a night’s sleep as a result. 

The first thing that happened once all the excitement had worn off, once the deal had been announced and the congratulations had rolled in was… Nothing. The Big Silence. Publishing was eons away (fifteen months to be precise). I’m not sure what I expected - daily conversations with my editors, emails about what would happen from my agent. What DID happen was they got on with their jobs, and I floundered. I waited for the editing notes to come through, and in the meantime, instead of getting on with writing book 2 (I have a two-book deal), I was paralysed. Paralysed with fear that they would read my book more closely, realise they had made a huge mistake and that of course they couldn’t publish such rubbish, and fear that I was a one-book-wonder (and not so much a wonder) and never be able to produce another. 

So I twiddled my writing thumbs (in fact, we moved house and location, so I was actually pretty busy, just not with writing) and then when the structural edits landed in my in-box around four weeks later, I busied myself with editing. Another two rounds of structural edits, and five months later, the manuscript was finally signed off, and it was onto copy-edits. During that five months, and nice as everyone was, the overwhelming feeling was of slowly coming down off a massive high after the initial flurry of activity around the London Book Fair, the initial deals and the handful of foreign rights sales which followed. I had a million questions, I had no idea of the process, and above all I kept wondering, is this normal? Is this number of edits normal? Is the silence normal? Is the fact that I’ve not yet seen a cover, normal? Is it normal, that once I received my copy edits, I no longer had any faith whatsoever in my ability to put a comma or a semi-colon in the right place again?  

Happily, I was pulled from my cocktail of excitement, terror and deer-in-the-headlights confusion, by, not only my wonderful agent and my editors, but the author community. I was introduced to a truly wonderful Facebook group of authors who literally rescued me with their incredible generosity of shared knowledge and friendship. The author community is, in all my years of working, without doubt, the most supportive group of ‘colleagues’ I’ve come across. Through on-line communities such as Twitter and Facebook, I have met, both on-line and in person, the best group of people. Writing is a lonely job (with just my dog, Bonnie, to keep me company) and this mutual support is so crucial. Through them I have learnt so much, and I know I still have so much to learn.  

I have come to terms with the change in my status from aspiring author to, soon-to-be- published author. I know another adjustment will need to be made to actual published author. As wonderful as it is, being an author with a book out there in the world, you are no longer anonymous and must develop a thick skin and resilience perhaps not needed in the past. 

Another challenge is writing to a deadline and an expectation. Writing your first book is luxurious in the sense that you are writing just for you. You can take as much time as you like and hone and polish to your heart’s content. Writing a second book to contract is a whole different experience. I am, thankfully, two-thirds of the way through my first draft, and still have time for re-writing, editing and polishing, BUT, I’ve had to be much more focused and brutal at carving out time than ever before. Juggling family, household and writing responsibilities is a challenge, and will be the subject of another blog, when I can find the time to write it!