5 things I've learned from interviewing over 20 authors
The last one will surprise you
For this Substack and the So, I wrote a book… Now What? podcast I have had the immense honor of interviewing over twenty authors on their writing process and publication journey. Here are five things I’ve learned from my hours of interviewing both traditional and self-published authors.
Everyone’s journey is different.
Part of the reason I started the So, I wrote a book… Now What? podcast was find out how everyone does it? Almost to find a formula or a roadmap I could follow. Once I had the map…boom! Agented, published, Reese Witherspoon’s book club here I come. But the truth is—there is no map.
Everyone’s journey is so wildly different.
Jenny Adams (author of A Deadly Endeavor) in her upcoming episode talks about her journey in self-publishing, then querying again:
“I think I queried 40 agents with blood-like roses. I ended up with about the same similar like 70 % request rate. And then one offer... I am proof that you only need one yes. Because that happened both with querying and then again when I was on sub. You just need that right person to see you and believe in your work.”
-Jenny Adams
Noreen Nanja (author of The Summers Between Us coming 2025) in her upcoming episode tells the absolutely wild story of how her manuscript went into acquisitions while she was querying agents.
“…she (the editor) took one of the drafts to acquisitions while concurrently I was querying. And so it all kind of happened at the same time…I had gotten a few full requests. And then she was taking the manuscript acquisitions kind of after she had met with me…
I was lucky with how it kind of all lined up.”
-Noreen Nanja
While there is no checklist for becoming a published author, there are some commonalities or best practices. It’s like baking, we all do it differently but some techniques are tried and true. Here are some things that have been similar across all the interviews.
You must be brave.
My absolute favorite quote from the 1998 movie masterpiece You’ve Got Mail is this: “I lead a small life—well, valuable, but small— and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it or because I haven’t been brave?”
I ask myself this a lot. And honestly it’s one of the reasons I started writing my first book.
Bravery is essential when writing a book. It takes bravery to even sit down to write it. To recognize that you will not be good at this at first. You will have to learn. Like Mara Williams (author of The Truth is in the Detours coming 2025) said in episode 3:
“it's not about being perfect. It's about actually trying and committing and realizing that perfection is kind of boring anyway….
…it was the first time in my life where I gave myself permission to be really bad at something. And then of course there's these milestones of like, okay, am gonna allow anybody to read this really bad thing? But without reading it, you can't get better without sharing it, people can't give you input. there's, you know about 100 points of bravery along the process of writing your first book.”
-Mara Williams
In episode 1 Gina Banks expresses a similar sentiment.
“I sort of had to give myself permission to try and to try to write the stories that were in my head. And I think for some women, not all women, but for me, I sort of had to get to a point in my life where I was like, I don't care if this goes nowhere, I'm doing this for me.”
-Gina Banks
It’s scary to try something new, especially something so incredibly time consuming and personal. Just by sitting down to write you are brave.
Community is essential.
Writing is a lonely pursuit. It’s just you and Scrivener and the characters in your head. But in order to take your work to the next level you must get feedback. Plus it’s fun to talk about your ideas and your made up people with friends. When you need a second set of eyes you can rely on them and if you ever feel stuck you can talk through your issues with them.
Olivia Jackson (author of Digging Dr. Jones coming 2025) in episode four says:
“…I definitely get stuck. And through conversations with other authors—creative people—I get through it. So always make sure you have your crowd because it helps tremendously. Not only when you stuck. But when you're down, they're there to catch you and just cheer you up and tell you, you know, to suck it up and keep going. Or they'll just say, you know, they suck and you're cool. And sometimes that's what you need to hear…”
…It's very important not to be alone in this industry, because we're always alone. I mean, this is my spot where you would probably find me writing and I have to be by myself because I have to focus and it's lonely. So it's important to have people like you and my other friends that we can chat and balance ideas of each other and lean for support.”
-Olivia Jackson
Listen to your gut when it comes to feedback.
Feedback is essential but it can vary from person to person. One person can love your book as is and the next can suggest that you completely rewrite the whole thing. I took a craft class from Cece Lyra and one of the many things she said that stuck with me is: when approaching feedback ask yourself do I not like this because it doesn’t resonate with me or do I not like this because of the work involved.
We all get feedback that slaps us on the side of the head and it’s an important skill to know what to take and what to leave.
Katie Naymon (author of You Between the Lines coming 2025) talks about some of the feedback she received about her absolutely stunning debut:
“I had agents who were like, this is too in the weeds…this is too much about the academics. And then, you know, people on sub would be like, I love the writing, but I don't want a book that's writers writing about writing. It's dull. And I'm like, okay, like you don't get it… And that's fine.
Like you, and you 100 % don't have to like it or get it, but I feel really confident that like some people will get it. And that's the kind of book that I want to read. I get off on the weeds. I love like inside baseball. I want like the most granular kind of stuff. And so I was just like, whatever. This is what I'm going to do. But I think a lot of people did end up getting it…”
-Katie Naymon
It’s so important to know the story you want to tell, and only take the feedback that serves your vision.
No one knows or feels like their story is ever done.
Part of the roadmap I was hoping to find is when do you know your story is done? I’ll be honest I was hoping for an answer along the lines of—it’s a feeling quite similar to an orgasm that washes over you in a wave and that it, it’s done. Or maybe—you’re screen flashes green just like the elusive flash of the sunset in Hawaii. Or more realistically, I was hoping for a checklist so I could cross of boxes and move forward confidently knowing in my heart my story is done.
Unfortunately the answer I received most is: Is it ever?
Cue tiny violins.
When I spoke to Erin Rose (authors of Sparring Partners coming 2026) they had this to say:
“It's never really done, but we have to force ourselves to be done. Because you know, there's a certain line of like perfectionism where you're like, but I just know that there's a missing comma somewhere. Or did I do that scene right? But I think once you get through your final feedback from your editor and it goes through all the line edits and the proofreads and all that, the copy edits, you're just like, well, here it goes. And there's always still going to be a missing comma.”
-Erin Rose
Mara Williams in episode three when asked when she knows her story is done said:
“…done is such an interesting word in writing because I tend to write in order most of the time, not always. So, you know, I get to type the end. That's when I feel like, okay, it's a book like thing. And, but then I usually take a break and a week later I'm in revising and revising and revising and I send out to beta readers and do a lot of revisions. I would say my my pace because I tend to draft and edit all at the same time. Like I'll start drafting something while I have another book out with beta readers or with my editor or whatever the timing is. I'm always circling back.
So I guess, ask me again in a year. There will be a book out there that people can buy and I'm going to have to say that one is done…
It's sort of like turning off a tap, right? Like when I'm drafting, it's it's flowing out, flowing out, but it's sort of a broken tap and I close it and there's still a drip. And sometimes the characters are still talking to me for up to a year before I feel like, okay, this is good enough to go out. But I don't ever feel like anything's perfect or fully done. And I don't think I'm gonna feel that way until I see it in print. And even then I'll probably be like, what about this?”
-Mara Williams
So while there is no roadmap for becoming a published author, no green light to tell you your manuscript is done and no checklist to get an agent, I have learned a lot from all these authors and hopefully you found something that speaks to you as well.
It’s comforting to know that everyone’s writing journey is unique to them. It’s your story, it’s your journey, and it’s your road.
One bonus trend that kept coming up, literally I think every author mentioned it, is they all listen to The Shit No One Tells You About Writing.