Jill's Reality Check on Being a Multi-Published Author

Once you have a few books published, you may reach the place where you can sell a book off a synopsis and a few sample chapters. That’s what happened with my upcoming book Captives.

I turned in Captives yesterday. (Yay!) And now I get to wait and bite my nails until my editor gets a chance to read it and tell me what she thinks. An editor that I share with at least twenty people. And I’m not first in line.

This has been one of the most stressful experiences I’ve been through as a writer.

Why?

The job is so much busier now. Here are some of the ways:

-I’m asked to write faster and under a deadline. I've always been of the opinion that a great book needs time. But with a deadline, it's harder to find time to let the story grow.

-I’m asked to do marketing that cut into my writing time. Ex: Conference calls to plan marketing and publicity, radio and blog interviews, cover questions, title debates, making book trailers, social media, and lots of emails.

-I'm blessed to have two publishers, so I’m dealing with the above from two places.

-And while there are contracts involved, the check is in the mail. No compensation has arrived for the past four months of ten-hours-a-day work.

But that’s the industry. That’s what being a multi-published author is like. It’s a non-stop merry-go-round of ideas, proposals, offers, writing, marketing, editing, rejections, book signings, rewriting, sales (or lack of sales!), submitting new ideas, getting royalty statements, getting more rejections and offers, and writing more books.

All that balanced with your home life, friends, family, church. Whew!

Writing books is amazing. I’m so blessed to be able to do this job. But it’s a job that sometimes has a lot of pressure. This has been a reality check for me.

So are you ready? Is this what you thought it would be like?

A new contest starts on Wednesday, so be looking for it!