First Book Anxiety and what to do about it

A lot of the people who come to me for advice or publishing services are first-time authors looking to publish their first book. I remember how overwhelming this experience can be, merely from a practical standpoint.

Of course, when I had to figure all of this out back in 2012, I was doing it to help other authors. So, the hard work of getting the manuscript ready and learning to let go and release it into the world wasn’t something I had to deal with. At least not until the following year, when I started to publish my own work. Still, that was scary enough!

In those early days of researching and experimenting could simply focus on the technical and project management aspects of the publishing process. That helped, in a way. Distance can be such a useful thing.

It’s daunting to consider that soon, a random stranger could come across your novel, which you’ve worked so hard on. Will they understand and appreciate your efforts? Or will they simply glance past it and ignore it, or worse still, leave a negative review for it?

And unfortunately, there’s only one way to find out for sure what will happen. By taking a deep breath, diving right in and trying it out.

But there are some things you can do to prepare yourself. Here are some tips that helped me overcome anxiety prior to releasing my first books:

• Remember that a first book is just that: a first step on what will hopefully be a long journey. You can’t run before you learn to walk.
• You’re meant to evolve and improve over time, so your latest book is always going to be better than your first one.
• Create distance between your emotions and your book by using a pen name at first.
• Remember that you can always fix any mistake you make. Nothing is set in stone in self-publishing, that’s its biggest advantage!
• There will be readers who dislike your book, just as there are going to be readers who love it. You can’t please everyone, so try to focus on the latter.
• Ignore the haters. Nobody will come to your house to shout at you if they didn’t like your book.
• Consider not reading your reviews yourself. If you must know, perhaps ask a loved one to screen them for you to protect your feelings.
• Always look forward. Your next book is going to be the best book you’ve ever written!