OMG someone wrote the same book as me!!!
Trade reviews start to come in
When the private becomes public
How to share good book news on the Internet
A few words on envy
Getting your voice out there (also known as essay time!)
Planning your book launch
The prepublication e-blast
What if I die before my book comes out?
II. PUBLICATION! (-!@#$%^&*¡:o)
Managing expectations on (and around) pub day
When your debut isn’t your debut
Typical print runs
How many books does my publisher want me to sell?
Reading your reviews
Understanding (and then never looking at) your Amazon sales ranking
My book’s sales are sluggish. Should I crawl under a rock and die?
Will your book be a bestseller?
How to get your book to book clubs
Handling people who just don’t get it
Why aren’t my friends saying anything about my book?
When Trump happens to you
Debuting after forty
Dealing with disappointment
My publisher turned down my second manuscript. What now?
Dealing with success
Film and TV options
Adapting your own book
If your book becomes a film
Revisiting awards
Welcome to list time!
III. When the show goes on the road
Avoiding overcommitment (or: learning to say no)
The DIY book tour, three possible tracks
The full-court press, national tour
Book tour FAQs
Some book tour tales of woe
Things you should pack for book tour that you might otherwise not think to pack
Prepping for live events and interviews
Authors from marginalized communities revisit their experiences on the road
IV. Postpublication (or: life after your debut)
The Great Big First-Book Comedown
The stress of the sophomore project
The world is going to want a novel, but you don’t have to give it one
Tips on entering the academic market
Should I take this weird-ass ghostwriting opportunity?
OMG my inbox: handling your email
Hiring a speaking agent
Do I need to go to parties?
Do I have to blurb? (And how, exactly, do I do it?)
What do I do with all these galleys?
Publishing your paperback
Reevaluating your professional relationships after your debut
Should I move somewhere remote?
The new face of rejections
Will my second book be successful?
Writers, it can happen to you
V. Readying the gangplank: publishing professionals and authors share their best advice for debut authors
The first time I realized publishing a book would be a different experience from writing one was when my publisher asked me to send an email blast to my personal contacts with a preorder link for my debut. Although I’d received such emails in the past from other writers and was familiar with the enterprise, it felt anything but comfortable to write one for myself.
“I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and now I’ve finally done it!” I typed before hitting delete. “Twenty-six dollars might seem like a lot of money for a book, but when you divide this sum by the years that I spent writing it . . .” Delete. “Preorders are actually a really important way to . . .” Delete.
As I tried and tried again to find the right tone for this email, I felt a clench of nausea where before there’d been only pride. Up until that moment, I had been my book’s author. Now I was its publicist. It wasn’t a job that I’d applied for, and yet, the job was mine.
The professionalization of creativity is a by-product of the digital age, and nowhere is this trend more apparent than in publishing, where contemporary authors are expected to be the brand ambassadors for everything they write, taking to their social media feeds, favor banks, and Gmail to shape their book’s reception. It can give you a sense of purpose and control to be your own book’s champion. But spending too much time promoting our work can change our writing process, and that’s a scary thing. Doubts seep in. We consider the marketability of what we are creating. We start comparing ourselves with others—an act that’s far too easy now that most authors are online.
I had a really good run with my first novel. Great cover, supportive editor, ride-or-die agent, the whole deal. There was actual cash money put behind the marketing of my debut, and I still came out of that experience a shaking, anxious mess. There were just so many things that no one told me. About jealousy. About competition. About the seasonal best-of book lists that come in to ruin your life. About how hard it would be to write something new when your inner multitasker wants you to be on social media all the time. There are a lot of craft books that tell you how to write a book, but I couldn’t find any that covered what it feels and looks like when you actually publish one.
And so I sat down to write the crowdsourced turducken of a self-help craft book that I couldn’t find. In addition to giving writers the information they need to feel in control of their publication journey, Before and After the Book Deal is a safe house for the publishing questions many authors are too afraid to ask.
Do you need to go to book parties? Should you hire an outside publicist? What kind of advance is everyone else getting? Should you send trinkets of affection along with blurb requests? Our contributors’ advice on these and other matters reflects the time that their interviews took place: writers here might be fretting about debuts that went on to be successes, editors might be referencing new titles that were commercial flops, first-time authors who never thought they’d write again will have managed to turn in their second book projects.
Things change in publishing. Sales go up and down. The muse comes, and then the muse plays