Reflections and Advice from Debut Year

Dear reader,

This blog post has been a year in the making. It’s a personal culmination of musings on my debut year drawn in broad strokes. If you’re an author about to publish a book, I hope some of these observations help you navigate your debut experience. If you’re a reader, hopefully this post will provide some interesting insights into the behind-the-scenes of debut lead up.

If you’re interested in reading about the early stages of my journey, including my editing & query journey, you can check out my How I Got My Agent post. This post will start with a recap of my journey leading up to my book deal and end with a list of takeaways.

To begin with…

The “Draft to Book” Journey of THE STARDUST THIEF (a summary):

The Stardust Thief was not my first completed manuscript. It was, however, the first manuscript I edited in earnest. For years, I’d written entirely for myself. I put no pressure on myself to publish—I simply had fun, exploring worlds and characters because I was excited about them. And then I finished TST and something shifted. Rather than jumping straight to the next project as I always had before, I decided I’d finally built up enough confidence as a writer to tear my work apart and make it better. So I turned to my behemoth 297k-word first draft and buckled down for edits.

I edited TST for 3+ years and celebrated every milestone. Finishing a draft, editing a chapter, fixing a plothole—all reasons to celebrate. I measured my success in small, achievable steps. To avoid disappointment, I kept my dreams small, lest I crash trying to reach them.

And then I got an agent, and I was overjoyed that someone believed in my work enough to try and sell it. We edited the book, went out on submission…and I could hardly wrap my head around the interest The Stardust Thief received from editors. The book went to auction, which was surreal. I was in Kuwait with family during that time, and I remember getting calls from my agent first thing in the morning. Because of the time zone difference, I was jittery and could barely sleep, my mind constantly whirring with all the what-if’s.

When I signed with Orbit for a trilogy, I was in shock. Up until that point I had been walking through the submission process like a dreamer in a haze. I remember the moment the realization struck me: I was asking my editors where they thought The Stardust Thief would sit on shelves and they started listing authors I greatly admired—authors I couldn’t believe I’d get to share shelf space with.

That was in January 2021. The below section lists all the biggest takeaways and lessons I learned from that time to the end of my debut year, 2022. Because this experience is different for every author, I want to stress that I’m not generalizing. This is based on my experience as a traditionally published debut, but I hope these takeaways are insightful in some way!

1) Learning to see the book as a collaborative effort:

The closer I got to my book being in the world, the less I could control about it. Frequently, I had to remind myself that my story was becoming something other than a personal project; it was being packaged as a product.

There were a lot of moments in this process where I felt strangely disconnected from my book. When I first received ARCs and saw my cover in-person, I was both overjoyed and mystified. After years of associating my book with certain colors and imagery, it took me a bit to wrap my head around the TST cover being mine. One thing I realized: You can love a cover but still have trouble processing it as your cover. Many parts of this process were like that for me. If you stick with a project long enough, you’ll probably have a specific idea of how you’d like to see certain things depicted. And that vision may be different than the way others perceive your work. Ceding, or at least reframing, some of that personal vision was something I had to do constantly throughout the debut process.

And yet, the collaborative part of this process is in itself magical. I have the privilege of working with a very passionate & talented team who went above and beyond to make this book look beautiful inside and out, and I’m grateful for it. Many of the things that took me a bit to process were things I ended up appreciating in the end, cover included. Still—it took me a bit to wrap my head around the mindset of “book as a product," and it’s a perspective I continue to work at separating from my personal relationship with my work.

2) Fighting imposter syndrome to celebrate the wins:

As a go-with-the-flow person who only sets goals I can control, I was surprised by how much my brain attempted to downplay every success in this process. My initial response to every good thing that happened to me was, weirdly, denial.

Excitement was quickly chased by anxiety. Anxiety of not living up to expectations, of not deserving a recognition that had been given to other authors. Whenever something amazing happened, there was a little voice in my head that said: Do YOU deserve this? I fell into a vicious mental trap, my brain throwing new goals at me even before I could celebrate good news.

Here’s what I’ve learned: “Success” is subjective. Because you can’t help but automatically make new goals every time you reach one, the bar will always get higher. Everyone might have their own idea of what it means to be a successful author (being in x bookstore, hitting x list, reaching x reviews, being invited to x event, etc), but at the end of the day, what matters most is that you are proud of your work and acknowledge every achievement. So long as you keep writing, you can continue to strive toward new goals and dreams!

One thing I’ve started to do is list out my accomplishments & save all my good news in a folder. Making those achievements material makes it harder for me to push them aside. I’d recommend doing this no matter where you are in your process. Every milestone matters!!

Which brings me to…

3) “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

No matter where you are in your process, it’s hard not to measure yourself up to others. Online, people will often emphasize the highlights of their writing journey. Those wins are what we see most and, as a result, it’s easy sometimes to feel like you’re getting left behind, not going fast enough, or not making the progress you want.

But one of the biggest things about publishing: It’s not a continuous upward trajectory. There are ebbs and flows, and long waits where you may not know what (if anything) will happen while you’re waiting for an email or update. You never know how much is going on in an author’s life behind the scenes. The struggles, the quiet moments where it’s just us and the drafts…they’re not the flashiest moments, but they’re a necessary part of the process, and I’ve had to remind myself of that after the excitement surrounding debut.

On top of that, every individual book journey is different; you never know how a book will be received by its readers. The same is true of every author’s journey as well. What you might not accomplish with one book you may with another. During those long pauses when I’m second-guessing myself—those moments where I’m frustrated at myself for being slower than other writers, for not having made as much progress or not met some personal goal—I remind myself: “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

At times like this, I go back to my roots. I remind myself why I write, why I love my work, and that my process is unique and my own. I remember that the joy is in the journey—my journey :)

4) Post-debut (or pre-debut) crash is real!

One thing I didn’t realize until it was actually happening to me: Feeling deflated after putting a book out in the world is very normal.

The lead up to debut is exciting! But also exhausting. The closer I got to pub date, the more I wondered: Am I talking about my book enough? or What if I’m oversharing and people are sick of listening to me talk about my book? Even with a team behind me, I felt a lot of pressure to post about my work. I made graphics, posted social updates, and promoted (& put together) my own preorder campaign.

I’ve talked to lots of authors about this crash. My experience was that I crashed right before my book hit shelves. I was so ready for my book to be out—for it to be out of my hands—that the time after release was actually a huge relief for me. I didn’t have to overthink about preorder numbers, lists, my book being on shelves early… I could just let my book be and focus on my sequel without worrying that I wasn’t doing enough promotion for the first.

If you’re an author about to publish, know that these feelings are very common. Be sure to prioritize your mental health during debut week. For me, that meant spending lots of time with family and friends. I’m incredibly grateful I had people there to celebrate my book launch with me and to distract me from the realization that everything that happened next was completely out of my hands. Every author weathers this time differently, so regardless of your experiences, just know that your feelings are valid!

5) So, about those Book 2 horror stories…

Book 2’s are hard, they (other authors who had gone through this) said. Prepare yourself, they said.

Reader, I was not prepared.

After editing my first book for so long, I knew I’d improved as a writer. I had the thought that even if this project wouldn’t be easier, I could set more efficient goals. The first draft of TST was 297,000 words and took me 2 years to (first) draft. I thought: I can write THIS first draft in less than a year and make it 160k. And then I started writing…and writing… and writing…and the more I wrote, the more awful I felt. When I got to the end of my Book 2 first draft and it was 330k words, it wasn’t excitement I felt, but despair.

These characters (Loulie 💀) defy pre-draft outlines

(Art by @samohsai)

297,000 words on Book 1 felt like a triumph—I knew it was a mess, but it was done and I could take my time with edits!

330,000 words on Book 2 felt like a failure. It was the first time I resented the meandering nature of my drafting process, something I’d always loved off-deadline because it allowed me to explore the world alongside my characters. But when I finished this draft I thought, There’s no way I’m going to edit this in a few months. Have I really improved as a writer?

It took me a long time to recognize I was being too hard on myself. That, at the end of the day, each book is different and my process is my process, even under deadline. It’ll likely change as I keep writing but right now, this is how I work, and whatever works, works—even if it doesn’t line up with the ideal one year publishing schedule.

I have a lot to say about Book 2’s, but as I’m still editing THE ASHFIRE KING, I’m going to hold off on a lengthier reflection until I can look at it all in retrospect. But if you’re having a hard time with your next book: Cut yourself some slack! Learning to write on deadline is hard. Following up a polished book with a messy first draft is hard (as any writer knows). I, personally, am still learning to become comfortable with sharing messy drafts after keeping my early work so close to my chest for years.

If you need an extension, ask for it. If you need help, ask for it. No one’s experience is the same (I’ve also spoken to writers who had a much easier time with Book 2, authors who already had them written before Book 1 publication, etc…), so don’t put expectations on yourself that’ll sacrifice your mental health, regardless of what your Book 2 journey looks like!

6) Community is important.

This is true at every point in the process. Whether you’re drafting, editing, querying, publishing… finding others who a) understand your experiences and b) will let you talk about them is incredibly important. Various times in this process, I felt bad about things. And then I guilt-tripped myself for feeling bad when good things (like getting a book published!) were happening. I was lucky to have friends there to remind me that I’m allowed to feel sad or disappointed while ALSO reminding me that I should celebrate all my wins, even the small ones.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to people. A debut group, friends, family—being able to talk about this stuff and have someone there to put things into perspective for you truly does wonders. I was trapped in my head a lot during my debut year because I truly felt guilty being sad about anything. It took me months to realize this was an unhealthy mindset, and that a lot of authors felt this way, especially during that debut crash.

7) Communication is key.

And speaking of community—communication is also key. Specifically, I’m speaking about communication with the publishing team. Most anyone who’s had some experience in this industry knows that publishing is very opaque. Oftentimes, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes that we don’t know about. But sometimes there’s not—and it’s good to know what you should or shouldn’t expect from your team. My advice: If you have a specific question, ask. And if something is important to you, follow up. Even as I write this, I’m scribbling a reminder for myself because I’m bad at both of these things. Asking for clarity is never a bad thing.

Knowing what your publisher will and won’t do for you will allow you to make plans. If your publisher isn’t making graphics for big announcements, you can choose to make them yourself. If you really want to do a launch event, you can ask them if they’ll help you set one up. If they won’t, you can look at setting one up yourself. If you’re interested in getting the book into the hands of a certain person or a certain demographic of reader, send them that request and let them know it’s important to you.

In general, I had to readjust my expectations a lot during this process. I think a lot of us do. Events, promotion, publicity, etc. look very different across imprints for every author, which is why knowing what your publisher will do for you will hopefully help you avoid disappointment!

8) Timelines can be fluid…or not 🤔

“Hurry up and wait,” they said.

(A publishing mood)

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about publishing, it’s that “hurry up and wait” is a very apt description of the workflow. If you’ve dipped your toes into publishing at all, you’ll probably be familiar with this feeling. Naturally, it persists into and beyond publication.

This year, I realized that it can be hard to predict a publishing timeline. Some deadlines are strict (my team always told me when they were, and most of them were copyedit dates) but sometimes, I had no idea when I’d be getting something in my inbox.

In the beginning, I tried to carve out time in anticipation of edits. As it turned out, this was a futile exercise. The first time I got edits, it was a month or so after I’d planned for them. In the end, it didn’t matter; that time was accounted for and I still had the same amount of time to turn my edits around. So, my advice: Don’t stress too much if your initial edits come in later than expected. This is something that happens pretty frequently with all the juggling editors need to do between manuscripts and seasons. Also, I’ve been told this a million times, but don’t be afraid to ask for deadline extensions. Depending on what your pub schedule looks like, you may have some wiggle room, so it’s always worth asking. (Also: It’s more common than you think for release dates to be pushed back, so don’t feel bad if your book ends up getting pushed!)

9) Learn your boundaries and limitations.

As my book went out into the world, it was surreal to have people reading it. To see others enjoying and engaging with my work is the greatest compliment I could ever receive as a creative, and I’m grateful to everyone who gives my book a chance.

One thing I’ve learned throughout the process, though, is not to overextend myself. Every author has a different threshold for this sort of thing. In general, I try to answer and interact with as many things that I’m tagged in as I possibly can (even if I’m sometimes slow or can’t get to them all!) and I don’t look at reviews or lists that I’m not tagged in, because I know those are for readers.

When it comes to media requests, I pass on anything I don’t have the energy or time for. Videos, for instance, take me forever to record, so I avoid them unless it’s for a thing I’m excited to put my time into or something really important. Similarly, I love interviews but don’t do many of them because they eat up a lot of the free time I spend writing.

I am truly grateful for every opportunity that I’m offered, so saying “no” was one of the hardest things I’ve had to learn to do. But life happens! And as you get closer to debut or start to work on that second book, you might start to feel the effects of burnout—which is normal. The best rule of thumb is to do what you love and enjoy. This goes for social media, publicity, etc. As of right now, Twitter and IG are the only platforms I have because they’re all I have the time for. Overextending yourself can take the joy out of things, so learn your boundaries and limitations so that you don’t drive yourself to burnout!

10) No book is worth your mental health.

On my worst days, this reminder has the effect of completely turning around my perspective. Books mean something different to everyone. For authors, they can be our livelihood, our escapes, our sanctuaries. They can be as personal as we want them to be.

For me, writing is deeply personal. But during debut year, my life revolved around my writing in a way that it never had before. Book-related anxieties plagued my mind daily, and I overthought how much I was promoting, how much I was/wasn’t responding to readers, etc. While promoting Book 1, I was also writing my sequel, and I spent nearly all my free time writing and brainstorming. Every moment I spent not writing made me feel guilty because I had limited free time to work on it.

But here’s the thing: Books aren’t created in a vacuum. Sometimes, you need to take a break from your writing so you can come back to it refreshed and inspired. “Progress” isn’t always defined by the words we add to a draft, but by the steps we take to get ourselves across the finish line. I had to remind myself of that when I wrote 330k words for my Book 2 first draft and knew I’d be cutting a lot of it.

The same thing is true of taking a step back during the debut process. If you need to take a break from social media or promotion, do it. Or, in the very least, build some cool-down time into your schedule after reaching some goal or deadline so you can take a breather without feeling guilty. Whatever the case, remember that a book isn’t your life; it’s a part of your life, and you should never feel like you have to sacrifice your mental health to put it out into the world. Better to put out something you can be proud of and that readers will hopefully enjoy than to rush to get something out and have regrets about it!

…And onward to 2023!

As you’ve probably gathered from this post, 2022 was a bit of a whirlwind for me! Publishing a book has been a dream of mine since I was a kid, but the actual publication process is filled with ups and downs. Going into debut year, I wish I’d seen more of those lows spoken about online. Or rather, I wish I’d looked for that content, because when I started feeling the burnout after debut, it was a relief to hear from other authors that I wasn’t alone in some of these experiences. My hope is that this post can provide a similar kind of reassurance or, in the very least, that it can shed some light on what this experience can look like for authors.

But I want to end this blog post on a high note! If you’re about to debut, remember that publishing a book is a huge accomplishment. That manuscript you’ve been working on is going to be book-shaped and people are going to be able to read it—which is incredible! Absolutely make the most of your debut year. We may not be able to control a book’s reception, but if you have the ability to make something happen that you’ve really wanted to make happen, do it! One of my dreams was setting up a preorder campaign, and I’m so lucky I got to work with talented artists samohsai and saramirza_art to make it happen :) I also always wanted to celebrate launch with friends and family, and I’m so happy I was able to do so.

And remember: There’s a lot of spoken (and unspoken, I think) pressure for debut year to be the definitive year of an author’s career, when it’s (hopefully) just the beginning. I am very grateful for all the incredible things that happened this year for The Stardust Thief—I truly cannot have asked for a better debut experience, and I’m floored by all the opportunities I’ve been given and the kindness of my readers. But I’m also excited to see what the sequel (and so forth) journey looks like! So…onward to 2023! :)

— Chelsea