When Your Book Fails | Author Career Strategy Pep Talk 

George R.R. Martin had a massive flop with a novel in 1983, which he says 'essentially destroyed [his] career as a novelist.' Nobody would take on his next book, and he nearly gave up writing all together to pursue a career in real estate. He didn't try to write another novel until 1991. That novel was A Game of Thrones, published in 1996. He basically had to take a 13-year break and completely switch genres, but look where he is now! There is always hope, my dudes. If writing really means something to you, don't give up 🙂 Thanks for the video, Alexa.

When you haven't finished your book but you're already preparing ahaha

Fumble is a better word than fail. Failing is when you give up. A fumble is just a blip.

"Read positive reviews of your books" ...You mean my mom? 😅

I’m not interested in being a writer, but reading is one of my hobbies. I’ve learned so much from your channel about becoming an author and I have the utmost respect for established, new and upcoming authors! 💪

Really appreciate the real talk, the honesty, the reality check, the kudos, the reminder that it’s ok, and real options that can be implemented. Thank you! 👏🏼🙏🏼

It's so important to have someone saying "it's OK if you don't want to do this anymore". It's so liberating to hear that. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way. Thanks for saying it!

(we're gonna need a tutorial for editing you's eye makeup because DANG 😍it matches your hair perfectly omg) i'm still in the midst of editing a (very, very) first draft and i can't even begin to think about successfully publishing, let alone failing & having to come back yet, but this video is so, so helpful and while it's eye-opening and slightly terrifying to think about, you've actually made the whole process seem really hopeful. my dream is to hold something i'm proud of in my hands, but it's also important to keep everything you mentioned in mind & remind myself that once I set foot onto a publishing path, my expectations have to be realistic... thanks for outlining everything so well and in a way that actually calms anxiety instead of inducing it!!!

Alexa’s worst-case-scenario videos always manage to make me feel better.

I work at a smaller press & we give tons of time to books. We listen to author suggestions, even if we don’t use them. We pour more time into marketing than large houses. We pay more than 5% print & hardback which is the norm. We do well because we publish local authors & our area is huge on helping local artists. We capitalize on that. A small press can be good. Even Margot Woods who started Epic Reads for Harper Collins left to get a better job with better treatment at a smaller press in PDX (where I live) Small presses are still traditional presses. However, I’ve always encouraged my authors to do their next book at a bigger house. Small press editors do it for passion not solely income. We want our authors to do well, even after their contract ends.

As an agent I follow on the Twitter says: Pump up the mid list! Stop putting everything in just the top tier and debuts.

This will be my debut year!

the sparkly eye shadow is amazing.

I really appreciate this video. I haven’t even finished my first draft, but I’m the kind of person who likes to know the kinds of things I possibly need to mentally and emotionally prepare for.

I'm all about preparing for the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to writing and publishing. Thanks for sharing this with us. It is appreciated!

This is why I adore your videos so much. You don't shy away from the "not so shiny" aspects of the industry, you tell the truth and let people know not just that sometimes things don't work out but you also give ideas and solutions and frankly just great advice. I feel so much more prepared when you post videos like these. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Thank you for bringing the realities of failure in the open. It is rarely spoken about when things go wrong. You are a gem!

So many truths here, Alexa. I know first hand that this industry can be a grind and I don't think everyone is cut out for it which is why there is a percentage of debut classes you never hear from again, which is so sad! I appreciate you offering options for the slump. Between contracts, I started ghostwriting and I continued to learn and hone my craft even when I was unsure if my publisher would offer another contract. It scares me to take a break, but I decided in 2020 to do just that and write the book I've been trying to rewrite for 2 years. My intent is to get an agent, but not until I'm ready. It's very freeing, and I do think of the hustle often and if I should push myself harder but for the last 5 years I wrote over 50+ between my books and my clients, and I *think* I deserve a break LOL

I will spew some personal business in case anyone else needs a You're Really Not Alone, This Is The Worst real life story... because it's taken me a few years to get to the point where I can even type a comment like this without the crying and shame and etc, but yeahhhh, my debut was a failure. It was 2016 (it came out about three weeks before the election, so, yikes), got no buzz anywhere, no push from marketing (despite my advance being ... pretty decent? not newsworthy but above average for sure - so not enough to make the book a priority, but enough to mean there was basically no chance of it ever earning out, or even coming close, which is the part I still have the hardest time dealing with, but anyway...). Book 2 on the contract was the sequel - which, good news, they didn't cancel! Bad news, it flopped exactly as hard as you would expect the sequel to a book no one read would. (Remaindered in under a year.) So that was late 2017, and oh yeah, my dad died two weeks before it came out... did I mention it was dedicated to him? ... so I had a few VERY BAD YEARS all around, as you can imagine. Needless to say, my option book, uh, wasn't optioned. (To be fair: it was a space YA. Also, it was a disaster. Just, a giant mess. Obviously it wasn't picked up on spec; I wrote the whole thing, cried every time I tried to read it and every time I got feedback, and put it in a drawer. So I don't exactly blame my editor for not picking it up.) The good news in all of this is that my agent is great -- she still believes in me and loves my writing and when we talk I pretty much always feel energized and excited. Here's where we are now: I spent 2017 writing that space book that is now super duper in a drawer, and then just crashed for a bit. I barely managed to write in 2018, and what I came out of the year with was a really short draft that was basically unusable BUT at least had some good concepts. In 2019 I was finally far enough out that writing wasn't such an exposed nerve anymore. I rewrote from scratch into a version that I actually liked, though it was still messy, and did some strategizing with my agent - which is all the stuff discussed in this video, pretty much. My debut was YA fantasy and we're now looking at adult houses instead. (My voice was already on the line between YA and adult, and my main strength is worldbuilding - and adult allows for slightly slower pacing to let the worldbuilding breathe, where YA has to be pretty breakneck.) We've discussed but haven't come to a decision on using a pseud, which has both pros and cons. And of course, there's time passing - I'm now re-re-redrafting, though should actually be done with that (FINALLY) within a few months, and then will be doing revisions with my agent, so we won't even have anything on sub until later this year at best -- which is a 3 year gap between my sequel flopping and this project (and four years since my debut, six years since the initial sale). As you can imagine, this is all stuff that's been incredibly painful and I've rarely talked about it. It took me two full years from the sequel flop before I could really look back at it without that edge of shame and frustration and bitter sadness. Now I'm able to look back and just think of it as a bummer, but be proud of all the work I did. *I* love my books, even if a vanishingly small number of people actually bought them. I'm finally at a place where I enjoy writing again, and am ... not necessarily optimistic about making future sales, but it no longer feels completely futile to try. But it took a long, rough time to get me to this point, so major love to everyone else who's going through it.

It dawned on me watching this video that you would make a great agent.

Thank you for this video! My debut comes out next year and I am already terrified. Even though this video is about "failure" I actually found it surprisingly reassuring and inspiring. 😁 So thanks!! I really appreciate the honesty and frank practicality.

Also love your videos, I've been having anxiety about writing, for less than a few years now. It was never like this when I was younger, I could push out a hundred pages, when I was in high school. Now that I'm an adult... Things are different. It's been months sense I've written half a page, but seeing you and hearing you. Makes me want to write again. Thank you

I actually hope more and more writers pursue independent publishing and the barriers to entry (for high quality independently published novels at least) reduce over time. It just seems like a travesty to me for talented writers to have to do everything they can to get published. "The talent" is basically the beggar here, saying "publish me, please, please" to the industry. The power play seems wrong, though of course, publishers are entrepreneurs who need to be rewarded too.

I used to write short stories as a child purely for fun - no profit motive, no ideas of accomplishment, no notions of making it big. When everything else is stripped away, writing, like all art, is about the act of creation. The creative urge is ancient, arcane and part of what it means to be human. At one point, that was enough for me. This is what I'll try to hold on to if I ever get broken down by the commercial grinder. I found Brenda Ueland's "If You Want to Write" to be a refreshing read, as it adresses why we even do anything creative at all to begin with. I can see myself returning to it, when the going gets tough.

That whole, writing for fun thing -- that is genuinely a part of my process. I write books I want to sell and it can be super intense and stressful (and morish haha) but at least once a year, I make a point of stepping back from the heavier, more serious stuff and I write something that I know very few people will see, something I know I'm not going to try and sell. My best friend gets a book a year from me, for her birthday, where I just write her life and make all her dreams come true and I don't see it as a waste of time. It's fun, it provides a bonding opportunity with my bestie, (because let's face it, writers aren't the most social people a lot of the time haha) and every word I put down on paper is more practice too. There are no wasted words. But having that pressure off, I think, is why I'm able to work as hard and consistently as I do. Gotta have some fun with it -- that's why we all started writing in the first place, right? Because we enjoyed it.

Appreciate your honesty, darlin! 💗💗💗 I cried with you when you posted about your newest book deal and the background of it. 🤞🏻Here’s to hoping your new book sails above the highest peak.

I know it was depressing, but something a lot of people need to hear.

Also taking a break means you can find different avenues to a creative career and not just " I have to publish a book"

Alexa, thank you so very much for posting these videos & sharing all of this information!

Excellent topic to cover! Thank you for starting the conversation.

I love your channel and videos. Thanks for the wonderful insight you provide. Much continued success for your writing career. I can't wait for your next video post!

I'm still mid first draft but this actually takes some anxiety away. There are options which is hopeful.

Thank you so much for the advice, Alexa. I am an unpublished writer and am working on my first novel (actually, it's a trilogy!) I love listening to your vids and get a lot of motivation to write because of you. Keep us posted on your personal writing journey!

This was a wonderful video. Really inspiring and while I'm not at that point it helps to push such positive points and that there are options even when things look bad

I really needed this kind of reality check. Thanks to (binge-watching) your videos, I've been able to do some serious soul-searching. In just a few weeks, you've motivated me to get out of my year-long worldbuilding phase, get past the anxiety, and finally got me writing. Side note: I also want to thank you for mentioning in several of your videos the topic of cultural appropriation. Coming from a low-income immigrant hispanic family who survived a lot of injustice, it bothers me when suffering is romanticized by those who JustDontGetIt. I'd love to see this subject delved into more, at least in an academic way. Any thoughts?

I asked about something similar in PubQ and I think you answered me then too, haha. Thanks for being upfront and transparent about these subjects. I think I only found about 2 or 3 others who talked about it and shared numbers too.

+10 for mentioning going to your publisher with a full book, not just a proposal. My debut actually did very well - I earned out before the release date, and am still getting steady royalties three years later. But I had a very hard pregnancy and then had my second kid just before it released, so I've not published since. I knew I could take a synopsis+three chapters to my publisher, but I feel more confident and comfortable bringing them a full book.

I love this post! About 3 years ago, I basically gave up writing. I got a job (which was mostly writing marketing copy, emails, applications, and student handbooks for a graduate program) and decided I was just going to work and live my life.... and then... yeah... I started writing again. I'd wake up early, write for 1-3 hours and then head off to work. Now, I'm in the process of leaving my job and I'm back at it full time as a writer. I've found that this case of writers going back and forth from working jobs to just writing and back again to working a job is super common. I think that maybe taking the time off and really getting clear about what it was that I wanted was so key... ultimately, giving myself the permission to do this was complete freedom. Taking the break for 2-3 years, after I did get a hard rejection from what I was sure would go well, was hard, but now I feel so much more confident with this re-start.

Thank you for this...I really needed this.

Lots of great options and suggestions! Thanks!

This is good advice, especially having a complete book prepared to submit as well as homing in on the specifics that the publisher wants--it's overwhelming to see all the books just in one genre, it does seem like the market is correcting itself.

Alexa: "Staring down the barrel-" Me: "of a .45!" I'll see myself out.

I literally teared up when watching this video. Thank you for making this!!

I needed this video Thank you

This makes me want to go either for small publishers or Amazon tbh. I am glad that there are options for that (I'm not even done with my novel's first draft yet but this is good to know)

*sees the title OOO this video is for me

I love your honesty so much

just ordered your book! if its not doing well its not gonna be my fault lol

Alexa: making the unmentionables mentionable. 💛 (Thank you!)

Thanks for always making these videos. As someone who makes graphic novels, I’m surprised that agents and publishers haven’t aggressively gotten into the market considering how massive manga is - and how many films are based on graphic novels. I’m starting to see a few agents start to be open to graphic novels...but a lot of them still seem to focus on kids stuff.

ok be honest...editing Alexa is your evil twin "Smalexa"

I'm terrified and excited about being published in August. Even if it flops I'll be happy to be published. Also I'm working my hardest to make it a success, so cant ask more of myself than that. Well.... that is what I keep saying to myself lol

Alexa, I was wondering if you could do a video or mention it in an upcoming video on how you have overcome burn out - if you haven't already. I did NaNoWriMo this last November, and I won, but I am still not feeling very interested in writing at all. Does this go away? I have been struggling so much with writing since NaNoWriMo finished.

I feel this is going to happen to me😫

For some genres changing publishers can be the most productive. For example; many romance authors publish with multiple different romance imprints & small presses. Usually if their pitch fails they move to the next. And, Romance editors are usually okay with that, even if it’s a shift in imprints within a house. This is not true for every genre. For example, Crime Fiction does not hop presses very well at all.

Do you reckon it might be a good idea to have multiple books ready before you even start querying with how tough the industry is becoming?

The goal posts thing is super important. My friend always reminds me to be in the now. Where I publish I have over 300,000 reads and am in the top 0.8% of all stories on the platform. But the first thing you notice in being in the 1% is that the distance between the bottom 1% and the top 1% is WILDLY WIDER than the distance between the bottom 1% and the bottom 99%. Haha So id course the instinct is to just want to be where those people in the clouds are - and you forget that so, so many people wish they could be where you are. That RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE is their “good enough”. Luckily I also have readers who are creators who also mention how they “aspire to be” where I’m at. Being grateful is always super important, and it makes you never take for granted a single solitary person who’s giving your work a chance.

Legit... all I could think of was, "I need a big social media platform with loyal followers, I need a big social media platform with loyal followers" and so on

I can apply this to poetry?

I am indie pubbed but I didn't realize that trad pubbers can fail. I am not doing well because I have trouble with marketing. Can you do a video on marketing if there are those of us who have to self market, Alexa?

Hi Alexa (and fellow viewers if you wanna help me out) I have a question- that hopefully won’t get lost down here. I’ve been writing for years- but just started back up again these past months since nanowrimo- and I’m really proud of my progress. I’m doing really well writing short stories (often I’ll come up with the idea in 1-3 days then write it in 4-6 weeks) and this has been working pretty well to get practice and a feel for my voice. However I’ve had a story I’ve been working on for five plus years (AHH I know) that I can’t seem to finish. I’m so worried about it being perfect because I’ve been working at it for so long. My goal is to try and finish it as soon as possible, but after so many started and neglected drafts it feels too big to tackle. It’s less of a “just write it” problem and more of a perfectionist problem- and I’m by no means a perfectionist when it comes to my writing. I love the feeling of just getting the words out- but this “big project” feels too big. Help a fan out?

Debut author here. Bookshops won't even consider reading my book to figure if they'd take it on consignment due to the pandemic restricting sales. I'm so disheartened.

If I traditionally publish and my book flops is there a certain period of time when they stop printing that I could get the rights to the book back? I'm just curious, because if it's a series or passion project I might want to self publish it or its sequels?

Honestly, I’d love to make it big, but I write books and story because I absolutely enjoy it. I’m into writing fantasy and I always have fun writing it down and coming up with the plots and fun characters. I mean, I don’t know if the young teens book I’m working on is any good. But still I’m gonna try Like this whole story I’m working on, well I’m wanting to write it in about a five or six book series. Even if it’s not successful at first, I’m still gonna keep writing and finish the series. And if u do end up like that at the end, I’ll keep writing more books. So basically, if I ever get my first book finished, I’m already gonna know what to do next until I finish the whole series. That’s my plan anyway if I ever make it

Can you do a video on writing with learning disability?

I think your publisher might have been at fault for your debut book not doing better. When I got a kindle sample of it a few months ago, I loved it and wanted to buy it but they wanted $17 CAD for an ebook at the time! Personally, I feel that was more than other ebooks in the same genre and I would not spend that much. Maybe others felt the same way. But Amazon does have it down to $13.50 now, which is better.

16:10 I started reading YA when I was ten 💀

Is dark comedy a commercial genre? I don’t really care if it is. I just like it. It’s soooo fun to write dark jokes

Can authors have more than one publishers and agents?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but are you saying if you don't become a GRRM, Stephen King, or Gillian Flynn on the first shot and instead have "normal" success but not a total flop, you could still be dropped by a publisher?? How does that make sense, is it really better for them to drop a decent author and throw the line out hoping for a Stephen King when they are more likely to get the same thing they just dropped? I guess I don't understand how they decide what is a flop and what isn't.

I'm an indie who never even came close to breaking out with my first book - I can only go up from here, right!?

You did say that the first book is usually REJECTED.

Publishers rarely help new authors get their debuts sold. I’ve seen it with my brother’s books. He has more than 10. BUT, the publisher only offer e-books for a debut author and they primarily even only offer the same for other authors. I HATE e-books. I would rather pay 100 bucks for physical book vs a cheaper priced e-book. Not kidding, I’d pay 100 bucks for a paper back Jane Austen before I pay even .99£ format. I’ve bought plenty of e-books and I just can’t get far into the story, even if it’s a fave!

My debut is quite viral. It sold out almost at all bookstore at my country. My second published book perform not as good as my first and my third (yesterday published). It was indie publisher. I dont have courage to do SElfPub, yet. I dont have loyal fans. I think I will stick with mayor publisher for a while. Thank you for the insight

I'm the first to like!

Is it a dumb idea to write all 12 books now, and then query them all in one year, one book a month, until an agent realizes that you have a wealth of ideas greater than the average querier? Or is that too intense?

Duh, just figure out what you did wrong and make it better. Stay positive and don’t give up.