The Pressure to Publish: Why Chasing Speed Is Hurting Authors

Trigger Warning: Deadnaming

Indie publishing is a hyper capitalist hellscape right now, and the pressure to keep pumping out books is EVERYWHERE. The phrase I often hear is ‘The money is in the back list’. The thing about this saying is that it is true. The more books you have on offer, the more money you make as an author.

And when you add that A.I. has taken over publishing like a disease. It often feels as if you are forced that have to commit to machines to make a decent living. We are in a recession, one of the worst since the great depression, and authors are also feeling the pinch. The result is that either author is burning out at an exponential rate, or they rush to publish books.

The gag is that those books are usually of far less quality than their usual books and/or authors give in to the temptation of using AI generators to generate stories. And let me just say here that authors who do the latter almost always get caught. It’s only a matter of time, and then you will have to deal with a bunch of pissed-off readers on top of the stress you are already dealing with.

But I’m going to keep it real with you and tell you why rushing to publish your books is bad, and some good writing tips to help you alleviate the pressure to rush to publish.

A Little Story Time

If you look at the chronological timeline of my publishing journey, the first thing you will notice is that there are large gaps between publishing my books. In truth, it took me two years into my publishing journey to publish my first book, ‘The Devil’s Bargain’ (which I am now rewriting and republishing as A Damning Desire).

I took two years to really hone my writing style and to learn the ropes of publishing. But near the end of those two years, I was desperate to publish my debut book. I felt as if I didn’t publish a book that year; I was never going to do it. But then I cut corners by not doing a better and more thorough editing cycle, and as a result, that book was mediocre.

To this day, I have always regretted not taking more time on The Devil’s Bargain, and so last year I decided that it needed a complete rewrite.

And the thing is, this is all too common for debut indie authors. Our first books tend to suck, and then we take the feedback we get with our first book and hone and tighten our writing. I learned the hard way that rushing a book and publishing before it was done was only going to bite me in the ass.

This is why I took two years to finally publish my last book, Splinter. It gave that book the time that it needed to cook, and as a result, that book is beloved by a lot of people, and Splinter was a semi-finalist in the Indie Ink Award.

Now this is me not trying to toot my own horn (well, it is a little), but it’s also an example of what is possible when you give your manuscript the time it needs.

The Pressure To Produce

Did you know that most indie authors (especially romance authors) are expected to produce a book EVERY QUARTER! Back in the day, if you were a published author, it was okay to publish only one book a year.

However, the expectations for traditional authors have also increased. If you are a trad author, some publishers are demanding 2-3 books a year these days. The online book community is voracious readers, and on one hand, I love that more people are reading. Yet, on the other hand, those voracious readers are constantly demanding MORE even at the expense of the author.

This pressure by publishing as a whole and the book community in particular can weigh heavily on the author. And these types of expectations can lead to situations where readers feel entitled to more than what the author can give, and burn out.

This is the type of pressure that leads to authors leaving publishing altogether. There are thousands of books on how to write, but there is no instruction on how to deal with the heavy expectations that are placed on your shoulders the moment you start building a reader base.

(Warning: The video below was published before Milo Winter came out as trans, and so it has his dead name but Shelley makes a lot of good points that I thought still needed to be shared. )

No Wants A Dough-y Book

The constant complaints I hear from readers, time and time again is that the books they are reading are feeling rushed. I think authors (even though most authors are readers themselves) don’t realize that their readers are very discerning. As a romance author, it’s very easy to fall for that booktok stereotype that readers are dimwitted smut-obsessed fiends who read anything as long as it feeds their craving for spicy books.

And you would be wrong.

In fact, romance readers are the most discerning readers. They know what they like, and they know what they don’t like. Authors should underestimate readers at their own peril.

Readers will automatically pick up if a story is badly written or rushed. And the moment they do, you have lost a reader. When you are starting out as an author, you are not only supposed to be building a reader base, but you also have to maintain the trust of that reader base. The moment you lose that trust, it’s damn near impossible to get it back.

Let me be clear here, most readers are an understanding lot. Yes, you do get entitled assholes who expect you not to be human and have a life beyond writing. But most readers understand that this is your job, you are human, and that shit happens. A lot of readers would want a book that takes the time to simmer and marinade the plot instead of half-cooked, unseasoned chicken.

The biggest example of that is Milo Winter’s situation.

Despite him proudly talking about working on Age of Scorpius since he was twelve, he refused to take the time to give the book the editing that it needed. He is also a lesson in what happens when you pay for feedback, but you don’t take that feedback to polish your book.

Don’t be like Milo. Give your book the editing and the time it needs. Your readers will thank you for it.

Tips to Keep You From Rushing Your Writing

Slow Down and Reassess

Part of being a writer is that you have the ability to look at your writing and tell if it’s objectively a good book or not. You also need to be able to see where you need to improve and what you need to change. When I write a draft, I often pause my writing to jot down notes on things I need to change in the next draft.

Yes, you should be confident in the story you are telling, but you also need to be able to acknowledge when a story still needs work. And I am talking like it’s easy, and I know it’s not. But all creatives walk this tightrope between confidence and realism when it comes to their work.

Embrace The Feedback

Yes, your opinions on your work are important. But more important is the opinions of your readers. This does not mean you have to cater to every reader’s preference. If you try to please everyone, you will end up pleasing everyone. And let’s be honest, no matter how many rounds of editing you get, your manuscript is never going to be perfect.

My book Splinter had five rounds of editing, and two years after publishing it, I am still finding mistakes. THIS IS NORMAL! But your job as an author is to put your best effort into the world. Perfectionism is not only a subject but a pipe dream. But your main priority is to publish the best version of your story you are capable of.

Getting feedback and listening to that feedback is a fantastic way to do that.

Take A Break

Sometimes we get so lost in a manuscript that we stop having the ability to judge the quality of the book objectively. Not only that, sometimes you just hit a wall with a writing project. It happens to me all the time, but I have found the best remedy for that is to simply take a break. There are times you need to let a story marinate in your brain for a while before you can write it.

The best way to take a break is just not to write for a day or two. Find something else to do. I tend to read books during times like this and it refills my mental cup.

Another way to take a break is to switch to another writing project. I have ADHD, and as a result I constantly have 3 or 4 different writing projects that rotate from month to month. This stops me from getting bored and burning out on a project. Sometimes, to be creative, you have to rest.

Know When To Stop

There are some books that no matter how much you want to write them? You just don’t have the spoons, the will, or the motivation to write. Hell, there are times when you are not vibing with a book idea at all. Again, this is totally normal! As an author, you have to have the ability to step back and really think about whether you want to publish a book.

Certain story ideas sound great, but they can’t last the distance. When writing books, you are going to have to write, rewrite, and read that story dozens, if not hundreds of times. You need to be able to step back and honestly consider if that story idea is something you want to stick with for the long haul.

If this is not a book you can’t see yourself writing for a long period of time? It’s time to kill the story idea and let it rest in your story idea graveyard (aka a folder on your cloud storage).

In conclusion

Don’t let the hyper consumerism in publishing delude you into thinking that you have to build your backlist at the expense of the quality of your books. Now more than ever, your readers’ trust in you is extremely valuable and you should do everything in your power to keep it.

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What do you think? Do you think rushing is okay? What alternatives have found to help you not rush writing your book? Let me know down in the comments!

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