I am proud that I am writing, but I get into this weird head space (that comes from overthinking) where a part of me yearns to do more, but I stop myself (financially and anxiety wise).
So, I am writing enough as I can, I just want to put myself out there. I am still undetermined if I want to self-publish or go with trad-publishing. I am on the fence of wanting to know now because I need to know which route is better for me.
I’m still going to write, but I seriously cannot shut my brain off for anything besides writing, when I am writing.
Enough complaining and whining constantly! I want to do more with my stories, I’m just so indecisive and tired.
For someone who is not supposedly interested in showing herself and revealing to the world who she is, I am trying to find ways to do this. I have a mental health/developmental disorder that makes being in the spotlight horrible.
I don’t think I can do it. I don’t understand what to do.
So, maybe you need to ask yourself if you want to see someone holding your book in their hands.
If yes, then I’ll need to ask you how much you’re willing to spend on getting the book out there. Self-publishing means you have to do everything yourself, but that could also be a positive. You can make the book you want to make.
Trad-publishing means you have to write TONS of queries and get rejections, be okay with that, and still try for TONS more, but the positive of trad is that you leave most of the stuff up to the publisher.
I would love to have it in many ways. I would love to see my book in the hands of others.
That is the troubling part because I am SUPER indecisive so early in the game. I am trying to figure out what will work best for me in the long run. I just want to know what my life will be like years from now, since I am taking writing seriously.
I am scared and full of anxiety…along with crippling AuDHD.
People say online how in traditionally publishing, first time authors take a VERY LONG TIME to get famous and it’s rare. Even self-publishing it is rare to get super famous, but it’s more possible than traditional publishing.
The way I see it, I am stressing and overthinking about how I should put myself out there, I do still listen to thoughts and searching things on the internet going into a downward spiral.
I don’t want the world to know my name, but I want a large fortune that comes with being successful and famous. I just want to walk down the street with people never knowing that I am an author who is selling a shit ton of novels, making loads of money, and being a mysterious author.
Yes, this is true. It might look like there’s hundreds of famous authors making it big, but they didn’t all publish in the same year.
The world can know your pen name.
There’s something called a reach goal or a stretch goal, I think, and basically you set your goal sooooooooooooooo far ahead that it seems almost unachievable. Essentially, you dream big.
Reminds me of the old Pokemon song where Ash says he wants to be a Pokemon Master. That’s a big dream.
I think it’s good to have a stretch goal. Every year I have my goals of the year and I always make them a little bit ambitious. A little bit impossible because you never know. You might surprise yourself. And I also think it’s healthy to dream big. It makes me excited. Doesn’t it make you excited?
I notice you tend to get overwhelmed about the future and then go into a negative spiraling. Same. I do that to myself, too. But what are you going to do once you get down there? Dig to the center of the earth? At times like that I take a break and go outside or sip coffee somewhere or lose myself in a hobby.
I notice that you can take action and do things that will get you closer to your dreams. It might take you while, but you do get yourself out of the spiral.
Anyway, I think it’s totally fine to dream big and even healthy. It’s when people had big dreams that wonderful things were achieved. And when they weren’t, well, you get up and say okay, that didn’t work, what’s the next dream? There were a lot of stories I wanted to finish last year but didn’t and I felt bad and really let myself down.
So, what am I going to do? Wallow in misery. Then what? Prepare for the next goals, that’s what.
I’m a mysterious author XD No one knows what I look like fully. Even if I do miraculously become famous you will always see me in a fox mask at interviews.
I am on the first draft of two different novels that are in the early chapters.
(Project Magecraft is on chapter 3, while Project Bloodline is going to be on chapter.)
I am writing, but I feel like I should do more for my sake. I do want to do traditional publishing, yet I always get indecisive about everything.
I see people online talking about how they want to be faceless as an author, due to social anxiety and other things. The comments vary depending on the person. Some say use a pen name and tell those you work with to not reveal yourself. Others say use a picture of something other than yourself.
I start freaking out and going into spirals without needing to because of my indecisiveness. Another thing is that there are writers out there who are well-known and not super duper famous who made plenty of books, but show their faces and only a decent size group of fans know them. They may not be Stephen King or James Patterson or someone else in levels of fame but they do have some of it.
I am delusional that I will get a book that will be an ultimate bestseller and I will get super famous. The honest truth is that I have a small group of fans (if any) and still have to work to make ends meet, while not many people know me besides some family and friends, if I tell them.
Writing is more my hobby than my other hobbies. Yes I watch anime, I read fiction novels, and manga. I go on YouTube and sometimes doom scroll. I just don’t have any new hobbies besides the ones I’ve listed. Finding a new hobby comes in waves. I prefer to stick with what I know and only dream about doing other new hobbies as if I mastered it already.
Writing fiction is a part of me to the point it defines me. I don’t even know what my life would be like if I didn’t keep writing.
I focus on the future because there is nothing happening in the present, when things do actually happen in the present it is fleeting.
I suspect trad publishing would be better for you for two reasons: lack of money, but more importanty, because you need someone to hold your hand. I don’t mean that as an insult, just that you seem really insecure. With trad publishing there will be editors and book cover designers and marketing execs and other people on your team helping you.
To be a successful self-publisher you’d need to be more like Jenna Moreci or any of those popular YouTubers: forceful, confident, a take-charge kind of person. You have to do everything yourself, and marketing alone takes a massive amount of moxie.
But I would suggest finishing your second book before querying your first book since it takes so long to write a book. When you get a contract they’re going to give you a deadline for your next book, and if you can’t meet your deadlines they’ll drop you like they did Kara Barbieri. (╯︵╰,)
As for fame and the spotlight, most writers don’t have to worry about that. Seriously. But you can always tell your publisher you want to write your books incognito like Elena Ferrante. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯
Not an insult, I need that. Thanks for stating something I needed to hear.
I will admit that even with the rejections that I will get from trad-publishing that will give a dose of reality.
I believe that I need to please strangers, when I should make people happy and make friends. I shouldn’t have to bend backwards for people who don’t want me and my work, someone will, I should continue moving on.
Nope, not that I know of. She presumably just doesn’t want the annoyance of stardom. It’s been suggested by some that she likely worked in the publishing industry long before she ever wrote a book, but since no one knows who she is it’s impossible to prove. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯
She used to be in this community, but disappeared sometime back. Every few years she pops in again. Her book was a huge success on Wattpad, so she got offered a book deal with MacMillan. Couldn’t meet their deadlines, though, so they dropped her. Remember, publishing deadlines are always too short, so plan accordingly! Have your next book done before you query the first one so you can stay ahead of it. I think Erin Morgenstern is another good example. Her second book seemed way inferior to her first, like she was pressed to get it out quickly to trade on the success of The Night Circus, and so far there’s been no third book.
Then that is an issue that is conflicting for me. AUDHD makes sticking to deadlines hard because I get stressed out and overwhelmed by that.
Are you sure that there’s no flexibility in traditional publishing? Self-publishing has that, but it costs money that I get monthly which is from the government. The obvious answer would be to get a part-time job, but my mental health is severe and I need to do what makes me sane along with being happy.
I am still going with traditional publishing, I am worried about deadlines. That was one of the reasons for being indecisive about what to choose.
There is hybrid publishing when someone is both self-published and traditionally published, that is an option that ALSO has pros and cons.
I’m not trying to sound defeated but deadlines that strict, freak me out.
Oh shit! I remember that person! I haven’t heard from her in a long time. I wonder what happened. I had no idea that was the person. Damn, I am curious what happened.
In situations like that going hybrid would make sense, only if you made some money from traditional publishing. I could do that route, though I’d rather stick with trad-pub for a while and focus on that.
There are small presses that can be great, even those have their pros and cons.
