Publishing Advice I’ve Ignored (And You Probably Will Too) That Turned Out to Be True Sara Bennett Wealer

When GRAVE THINGS LIKE LOVE comes out in October, it’ll be my fourth YA novel published. My debut, RIVAL, came out in 2011, and that year I helped facilitate a group of other amazing debut YA authors. We called ourselves The Elevensies, and we were filled with all the excitement and terror you’d expect in people who were both realizing a dream and getting ready to send that dream out into the world.

A lot has changed about publishing since then, but those feelings of exhilaration and fear have not. I know this because I see today’s debut authors agonizing over the same things that preoccupied us Elevensies. We were positive our debut was our Make or Break Moment. We worried we weren’t doing enough to promote it. We analyzed every list, every review, every festival invite or snub. I remember it well.

I also remember more seasoned authors telling us a longer view would be healthier. Did I listen? Nope. I don’t expect many current debuts will listen to me now—especially since recent publishing and bookstore news has been distressing, to say the least.  

But I can say that, in many ways, those older authors were still right. Publishing is a long game, not just because it takes years for most books to go from first draft to bookstore shelves. For most of us, success will be measured over many books, small victories, and not-so-small disappointments. For me, the best reason to stay in it is because writing helps manage my anxiety and fulfills a basic need for creativity. Yes, getting published is awesome, too.

More than a decade out, I’ve found it interesting to look back on my YA debut group.

Some had blockbuster books that got made into major motion pictures.

Some became Big Name Authors with the kind of prestige the rest of us have only dreamed of.

Some invested tons of time, money and energy in marketing, only to see their books underperform their expectations.  

Some I haven’t heard from in a while, either because they haven’t published another book or because they got out altogether.

And some of us have continued publishing, on smaller scales, enjoying the buzz of each new launch and always chasing the next deal. I haven’t done an official survey, but when I look at all the debuts I’ve seen since my own, I think it’s safe to say “some of us” actually is “most of us.”   

When you’ve had the benefit of all these years, you start to realize certain truths.

While authors are (unfairly) judged on things like sales numbers and (even more problematic) how they show up on social media, the truth is you can run yourself ragged spending mental and monetary resources you probably don’t have trying to market yourself when what really moves the needle is whether and how your publisher markets your book, along with where your book shows up for sale. Right now there are important discussions to be had and, I hope, action to be taken around how this affects marginalized authors in particular. The stakes are so much higher for them and for the bigger issue of how marginalized voices are lost while marginalized readers go unrepresented.

While we do that work, the truth remains that there will always be drama and disappointment in this field. Authors will always feel like someone else is doing better, writing better, getting more attention. You will see books that are a Big Deal one season fade into obscurity while slow-and-steady authors gain loyal followings. You’ll see trends come and go and come back again. You’ll see some authors doing great on whatever the newest Social Media Thing is and wonder whether you should give it a go, only to realize you’re not great (like, at all) at dancing for the camera.

The biggest advice I can give is to keep writing, keep improving, and try to let go of worrying—as much as you can—about what it all means for your career. Yes, you need a website and a basic social media presence—a way for people to find you that looks engaging and professional. And for GRAVE THINGS, I hired a publicity team because with my busy life, I’ve come to know just how limited my capacity can be for promoting myself.

But while you invest what you can in marketing, and while pushing back at dangerous and marginalizing publishing trends, try to invest the most time and energy in writing your next best book. In the end, that’s the only thing you have any real power over. 

When I got this advice years ago, I didn’t want to take it. I think it’s because that debut frenzy to do ALL OF THE THINGS can be a way of denying the reality that a career in publishing might not end up looking the way you dreamed.

It might mean going several years without having something new out. Trust me, you can always re-emerge. YA trends cycle like everything else, and that idea you’ve got now that you think missed the boat might just be the big thing again when you’ve got it written and ready for submission. While you’re writing, it will also evolve—just like you.

It might mean being realistic about what a career as an author looks like. I do make a living as a writer; I don’t pay my mortgage with money from books. I am not a Big Name Author. One day I might be. I am not now, and obsessing too much over why that is will only dig a mental health pit I’ve worked hard to keep myself out of.

All this advice might be true, but it doesn’t make the journey easier. When you’re between books, feeling ignored, feeling out of ideas, feeling like the career you envisioned sputtered before it could even start, there are few pep talks that help. I know for marginalized authors, fearing their voice is in danger of being silenced—a voice readers need and deserve to hear—it feels even more dire. I don’t have answers to these high-stakes problems; I’m learning and committed to doing what I can to help.

I do still maintain that publishing is a long game. Celebrate wherever you can, and embrace the small things. I’m proud of GRAVE THINGS LIKE LOVE. I have other books in the pipeline, but most important, writing them fed a need in me. They were something I could work on and control when the rest of the world felt out of control. Being an author—especially one who writes for young adults—can feel like chasing something that’s always just out of grasp. But if one of my books doesn’t get published, it still brought something good to my life.

And if you’re debuting? Congratulations! You’ve already achieved something few people ever do. If you’ve read this far, you might be thinking you don’t need my advice; your career will be different. I hope it is! I wish Big Things for you, just as I know Big Name Authors have their own wells of self-doubt, disappointment and behind-the-scenes drama to dig out of. I hope your debut is everything you’d dreamed it would be, and I look forward to hearing from you ten years from now. Did my advice turn out to be true? After all these years I can say: only time will tell.

 

Sara Bennett Wealer grew up in Manhattan, Kansas (the “Little Apple”), where she sang in all the choirs and wrote for the high school newspaper. She majored in voice performance at the University of Kansas before deciding she had no business trying to make a career as an opera singer and transferred to journalism school, where no one cares if you can hit a high C or convincingly play a Valkyrie. She went on to become a reporter covering everything from house fires to Hollywood premieres. These days, she writes event scripts and marketing copy while the sun is out. By night, she writes books for young adults. Sara lives in Cincinnati with her husband, two daughters, two dogs and four cats, and she still sings sometimes when her schedule allows. When Sara is not writing or running around doing Mom Things, you’ll find her at the ballet, or obsessively watching ballet on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Find out more about Sara on her website.