As of the writing of this article, it’s been a year since I published my fiction novel, Breathe for Me, and there hasn’t been a day that I’ve gone without learning something from my self-publishing experience.

Since publication, I have gone down so many rabbit holes that it’s not even funny, chasing everyone else’s recommended to-do list to make them my own. I’ve chased platforms to subscribe to, signed up for book promotions that left me no choice but to reduce the price of my book; and manipulated my finances so I could publish a hard copy which, by the way, never materialized.

All I have to show for my efforts is exhaustion.

I was so drained and tired that I couldn’t put two sentences together, or muster enough energy to walk to my computer. If I did, I couldn’t sit longer than thirty minutes. I began to moan for unknown reasons. Couldn’t cry if you stabbed me in the foot. I was emotionally spent. Tired of running. Tired of chasing. Tired of trying to dot every “I” and cross every “T.” Overcome by my lack of accomplishments. Literally earning pennies on every ten dollars I spent. Left discouraged, ready to quit, but defiant enough to try one more time. Kept telling myself … “If I can just get this one thing done today …”

This past August I bottomed out and shut down. My body quit. My mind went limp.

I didn’t write because I couldn’t write. I didn’t have it in me.

It got so bad that I couldn’t hold a conversation. No matter what I attempted to say, I didn’t make sense. I had to quit talking, and was too tired to explain why.

What’s the valuable lesson here?

No matter what you’re passionate about, take time to rest. Daily.

The publishing world will drive you crazy with all the to-dos. They are a selfish brood. And they will nickel and dime you to death and make promises they cannot keep.

I sit and chuckle at that because I remember a promotion I entered in March 2024. The headlines sounded promising. You pay $80 for a one-day book promo as voracious readers anxiously waited to hear about your book. I received nothing. A week later, once I calmed down from this debacle, I wrote a very courteous email to the platform who hosted the promo. They told me that the algorithms showed “no hits” on my book. They politely refunded my money.

If we listen to the publishing industry, we can end up in a slush pile of our own making.

Dreams are just dreams if we don’t use care to pursue them in a healthy and sane way.

Chaos is for novels. Wield and manipulate chaos with an expert hand and you’ll captivate an audience and have them turning page after page of your novel. But invoke that same chaos in your personal life and you will reap disaster.

All I want to do is write. That’s it! I never set out to make millions. But neither did I set out to spend millions.

I read an article in Publishers Weekly back in March 2024—it was an older article—about a man who over the last twenty years set out to write. He didn’t follow the tantalizing echoes of the publishing industry to get this done and that done. He blocked out all the noise and created a routine for himself. Stuck to it. And has since written over forty books. Somewhere along his writing journey, he made a name for himself and is doing very well.

Moral of that story?

Consistently writing new stories sells stories. You’ll probably glean something else from the Publishers Weekly story, but that’s my take on it.

That story has stuck with me. It won’t leave me. I realize now that I no longer want to pay attention to the naysayers or chase one platform after another. I want to sit and write one story at a time, making each story as great as it can be.

Since I was forced to stop everything I was doing several months ago, I can finally breathe again. The ground beneath my feet is stable. Doubt has dissipated. I’m smiling more. My energy has returned. My strategic and creative juices are flowing. I’m becoming comfortable in my own skin again. I’ve even taken the time to create a reasonable schedule, one that includes rest.

It’s of no benefit to work yourself into a stupor. Too often we won’t give ourselves permission to rest. And believe me, we can come up with some pretty convincing storylines to support our need to push ourselves. But listen carefully. If you refuse to rest, your body and mind will retaliate. And I don’t care how strong your will may be, your body will do some crazy things until you STOP and rest. Once your body shuts down, there will be dire consequences … consequences that will require a slow, a very slow recovery.

Like with any passion, pursue it diligently … with everything in you. But as you sit and create a workable schedule for yourself, it is essential that you purposely include a time to relax and regroup. Daily. Not when it’s convenient.

Our brain is a muscle. Muscles need to relax. Your brain isn’t designed to be constricted for long periods of time. Neither is your body.

Make rest a daily part of your writing schedule.

You’ll be more productive if you do.

If you have suggestions you would like to share to help others come up with a workable schedule, please share in the comments section.

Happy Writing!!!

Donna B. Comeaux

Author

October 13, 2024