It’s About Time

 It’s a strange thing – time. Things always seem to take forever, or it else it all happens too quickly, and never are these two issues more apparent than in the writing world.  

I worked in traditional media for a long time – radio, television and then magazine publishing. Everything needed to be done yesterday. Time was money. Imagine my shock when I moved over to traditional print publishing – books – and I was told by my publisher to SLOW DOWN. He actually berated me for moving too quickly. At the time, I couldn’t fathom why this was a negative trait. For years I’d been pushed to make things happen and now I was being told to stop.   

Working with authors who have both traditionally and self-published, I now see that everyone is right…and, also wrong. Confused yet? 

Self-publishing is awesome. You have all this control, you don’t have to wait in line whilst your editor or publisher works on that other, more important title. You can’t get it out in the world for people to start reading (and, more importantly for some, to start buying).  

Traditional publishing is awesome. There is so much thought and time put in to to ensuring that everything is spot on, in order to secure as many sales as possible. You feel so supported knowing that someone is helping you take care of the marketing, editing, design and production. 

So here’s where so many of us go wrong. We spend days, weeks, months, sometimes years working on that manuscript and getting it done…then we rush through the edit process and miss vital opportunities to make it read well and flow. We spend days, weeks, months, sometimes years putting it together, then we rush and choose a title in a day and a designer on Fiver. Creating a book is not a sprint, it isn’t even a marathon. Sometimes it feels like setting sail to an entirely new civilisation! A voyage if you will. You can’t rush it, but you shouldn’t take longer than you need to at each stage either. You need to continue plodding along, a little piece of right action each day, working towards the end result.  

Sometimes that means completing the manuscript before you decide on a title. Sometimes that means getting quality feedback from your Beta Readers and undertaking a solid edit (sometimes even a re-write) to make sure that you’ve got it right and your readers understand what you are trying to say. Sometimes that means things move slower than you would like. Of course, sometimes it means you’ve been arseing about so much on the final copy you’re simply moving commas…and it’s time to go for it and get it out there!  

I see so many new authors rush. They don’t wait for feedback, they don’t decide who their audience is, they simply finish that first draft and get it checked for spelling errors and upload it on Amazon. I see so many new authors sit on their manuscript or work-in-progress while they stress about titles or who their agent is going to be. 

There is no need to rush. So long as you are moving forward, you are right where you need to be. The timing will be perfect when everything is done. It can wait another month…another year. I promise. The process is a big one (see this blog post) and every single element requires the same amount of respect…and time. I promise, to have that book in your hand – knowing it’s the best it can be – is such a rewarding experience. It’s well worth the wait. 

So breathe easy, keep plodding and trust that it will all work out in the end.