Publishing is a series of ups and downs. What do you do on the bad days?
If you’ve been in publishing for a while, you know the feeling: the publishing rollercoaster of highs and lows. Today just happened to be one of the bad days in publishing. I’m an editor (and a writer), and the good news is, today was a bad day as an editor, not a writer. Because I have some plans in place for bad editor days: I’m talking agents yelling at you, losing auctions, finding out the cover reveal isn’t working the way it’s supposed to, all that fun stuff. Personally, my worst days are, pretty much without fail, the days you lose the auction. Knowing that you saw a vision for a book and convincing your team it’s a good bet and then not quite getting there is a bit of a kick in the teeth. Being on the receiving end of a rejection never feels good (even though I know, trust me, we do an awful lot of rejections…apologies).
First, take a beat. Don’t fire off the email, don’t freak out, don’t say or do anything for like, a few minutes at least. Be sad, be upset. But don’t put anything in writing, because that’s hard to come back from. When you have had the chance to hydrate, or take a walk around the block, or blast an angry song, or whatever you need to do to get back to work mode, then you can reply. (This unfortunately does not work when, say, an agent calls you to say thanks but we’re going with a different offer; in that case, sorry, you have to put a smile in your voice and hope they don’t want to talk to you for long.)
Second, write the email. Then WAIT. Wait at least a few minutes. Read it again. Add an exclamation point maybe (or take one out if you’ve already tried to overcompensate for your bad mood). Make sure the right people are on the email. Check again. It’s really easy to slip up when your emotions are high and you do not want to be in the wrong place. Save the dramatics for the group chat, and even then, make sure it’s the right group chat.
Third: this is the magic thing. This is what helps me every single time. Write another email. Reach out to someone you really admire. Ask an author or agent you’ve never spoken to if they want to chat about publishing. Chase something else. That small gesture may turn into nothing, it may go ignored completely. But it might, maybe turn into your next favorite thing.
True story: The day I lost my very first auction, I had just hopped on the commuter train to go home, and I’d been refreshing my email the entire time I was walking to the station. The (very thoughtful) email came in saying “the author loved meeting you, thank you so much for your enthusiasm, but ultimately we went with another publisher.” I sat on the train, with Nine Inch Nails in my headphones, trying desperately not to visibly cry in front of all these strangers. I ordered takeout and wallowed in my feelings of inadequacy and sorrow for the evening.
I woke up the next morning and there was a DM on my phone, from an author I’d emailed out of the blue on the previous bad publishing day. And the message said (I’m paraphrasing), “hey, remember when we were talking about books a few months ago and you said reach out if I ever wanted to write something for you? I might have an idea…” I bought the eventual book and it’s been one of the most fantastic editorial experiences I’ve had so far.
Anyway. I’m off to put a little bit of magic back out into the world after losing a bit today. If you have any great ways to combat the bad publishing days, I’d love to hear them!