Is Publishing Sustainable?

a new series

Hello friends,

I’m deep into working on my next book project, but there is also another aspect of my career that has been keeping me going lately, and that’s the reminder of how much it means to me to be an advocate for other authors, especially women, and especially Black women, Indigenous women, women from marginalized communities, and other women of color.

I find that the conversations we keep having around publishing are, at best, terrifying, and at worst, bring about a sense of complete loss of agency or control about the process of writing a book.

And it breaks my heart, honestly, because I love writing.

I’m in it right now, the beautiful writing part, and every time I start a new book project, I remember how sacred and special this is, this communion with words, this excavation of myself, of the world, this endless spiral of curiosity that leads me in a new direction every single day, it seems.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

It’s beautiful, and utterly human to be a writer.

But it gets pretty bleak and painful when we have to enter through the other side of things, where we have to put on a marketing and publicity hat and figure out what it’s really going to take to get our books out in the world successfully.

I recently shared about this on social media, and other authors of course chimed in, just like they did when I wrote about the realities of burnout during launch season.

Here’s what I shared:

The world of publishing is so complex, and I am constantly trying to analyze and make sense of it from within as an author.

So far, this is what I’ve come up with, and it’s not perfect but here it is—publishing a book is one part publisher, one part author, one part loyal audience, one part luck.

It gets scary out here, and when we don’t know how our books will do out in the world or we recognize that we can’t or don’t want to compete with trashy algorithms or toxic social media, it’s hard to not panic and reach for some sense of control.

So we do our best, hold out hope that those audiences will show up or our publishers will step up or we won’t burn out so quickly.

How do we take care of ourselves AND publish successfully?

I meet so many people (especially women) who want to be authors, and all they are told is to boost their social media. Maybe it’s true, but it’s an awful thing to carry around on your shoulders when you just want to believe in the power of words.

I don’t have answers here, just some things I’ve noticed.

So, I want to expand this conversation into a series, because I want these conversations to be accessible for the people asking these same questions, especially for authors who feel afraid to ask the big questions.

And here’s the thing—these conversations are helpful for new authors, sure.

But those of us who have written multiple books, some who are NYT best-sellers, others who are are “living the dream” are also totally struggling! Because the system of publishing as it is set up today is dehumanizing, capitalistic, colonial, linear-based, and absolutely un-sustainable.

Sustainability is the ability to maintain something at a certain level, and as authors, we are expected to keep growing our readership, to go above and beyond for numbers, to be on every podcast and engage in every opportunity, to deny our own mental and physical health to launch a book, and that is anything but sustainable.

We are human beings with limits and need for care. We live in cycles and seasons. And the expectations placed on us by others and by ourselves make it all problematic.

So, what do we do?

As always, I’m not here to offer answers for everything—we live in complex, liminal spaces, right?

I’m a curious questioner. I notice. I think constantly, looking at things from different angles to make sure I haven’t missed something. So that’s sort of what I’m doing with publishing, and I hope that the thoughts I share here are helpful.

Here’s how the series will go. I think of publishing in 4 parts, as I shared earlier from the Instagram post:

📖One part publisher responsibility (are they doing their part?)

🔥One part author hustling (and managing burnout)

🫶🏼One part loyal readers (are they out there!?)

🍀One part luck (get the right eyes at the right time on the book)

So we will take a look at each of these in a separate post, and then, my favorite part, I want to share with you a vision I have for a more sustainable model of launching our books into the world, and yes, it’s based on Indigenous wisdom!

I am really looking forward to sharing stories and thoughts with you along the way, and hearing from you as you process. If you’re an author, I encourage you to respond in the comments—to share your questions and thoughts as we grow in community, and if I’m able, I’ll try to respond to some of them at the end of the series.

And here’s another thing, even if you’re not a writer, not in the publishing world, this conversation still matters for the sake of solidarity and care. If you love reading books, you should know the troubles authors face. It makes us all more loving, it makes us think harder about how we support (especially marginalized) authors, and it keeps us connected.

So, please stick around! Invite a few friends to join the conversation, and keep caring for yourselves and one another.

Onward.