This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on August 4th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.
Earlier this week, I was feeling a little bit...blah.
Not because of what I'm currently writing—I am absolutely crushing my drafting deadline, and will finish chapter 20 (out of 20) today! More on that next week...
No, the reason for this week's brief case of the blahs was that, once again, I am nearing the end of my contracted book work. "This happens to you a lot," my husband joked, and he's not wrong! Part of being a traditionally published author is never being sure (unless you are wildly, wildly successful) that you will get to publish another book.
This is why all the authors I know were so obsessed with Leigh Bardugo's recent twelve-book deal: that kind of thing simply does not happen. These days, a lot of publishers are loathe to offer even three-book deals! Of course, Leigh Bardugo is a safe bet for her publisher, especially since the Netflix "Shadow & Bone" series launched. Most, if not all, of those dozen books will hit the bestseller list. Macmillan will earn their money back, and then some.
To me, the dream isn't just to make millions of dollars. (Though that would certainly be nice!) To me, the dream is...security. A multi-book deal means you know what's on the horizon. It means you have a horizon. Each time a contract comes to an end—unless you have multiple contracts with different publishers at the same time—what's next is up in the air. You're back in the trenches, submitting projects as proposals or full drafts and praying something will land on the right person's desk at the right moment.
I have a few "possibles" out there now. MarcyKate and I have submitted a proposal for a second and third book in the Science & Strange series, which launches in January with The Thirteenth Circle. I'm hoping to get hired to do more books in the write-for-hire series I've been working on this year. And I do have a few more things of my own up my sleeve. (A proposal for more Class Critters books! A standalone magical middle-grade novel I've been working on for years! Another standalone magical MG idea I have to start from scratch!)
As of writing this, I'm not feeling quite so blah. Yes, I would love to receive some immediate good news in my inbox! But when I take a step back and look at that list of "possibles," I actually feel quite encouraged. When I started writing fiction seriously, I was a "one book at a time" writer. Maybe I could start brainstorming something new while revising my current project. In general, though, I worked very linearly.
Now, at any given point, I've got a lot of irons in the fire. Writing books of different lengths has helped. So has coauthoring. And I'm able to alternate projects I've been working on for years with books I must write from start to finish in a span of months. Some things are quickly pushed off my plate; others continue to simmer on the stove.
All of that means that while what's next might not turn out to be exactly what I'd envisioned...there's more where that came from. More ideas, more works-in-progress, more things I'm willing to try while I wait.
How do you battle the blahs in your personal or professional life?
~Kathryn
What I'm:
Reading: I read a thriller this week: Andrea Bartz's We Were Never Here, about two friends who travel together...and end up covering up murders (in self-defense, ostensibly) together. It's been a while since I read an adult thriller, and I've added a few more to my library holds list. Now, I'm listening to Ali Hazelwood's Love, Theoretically, the latest in Hazelwood's series of STEM-focused romance novels.
Watching: Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3 finally came to Disney+, and I really enjoyed it! But be warned: it does have a lot of flashback scenes of animal abuse (the main plot relates to how Rocket Raccoon ended up the way he is). It's fun and zany, but also about grief and trauma, and I teared up as much as I laughed. Did you like this latest Marvel installment?
Loving: My summer reading challenge!