Publishing: the Honest Truth
The Misfits & Daydreamers Primer Series, part 7
Latest News from the Desk of Sooz
Sorry I’ve been absent for July, friends. We went to visit the French family, then I came home to multiple deadlines.
But life has smoothed again, so I return from the depths of my office!
And in completely unrelated news, I’m finally watching Widow’s Bay—which, lo and behold, is just as good as everyone said it would be!
It’s also such a Sooz show and very much in line with what I write. Give me the horror and the laughs, thanks!
(And if you enjoyed Widow’s Bay, I highly recommend you check out The Executioners Three or my upcoming Four & Twenty Blackbirds.)
The Misfits & Daydreamers Primer Series
We’re down to the VERY LAST ROUND-UP in the Misfits & Daydreamers Primer Series, and as mentioned last time, this is a big one.
It would seem I have written quite a lot about the realities of publishing. And even as the industry itself has changed since I entered it in 2009, I think my advice is evergreen—because so much of “surviving in this business” is mindset-oriented.
Like, if I had to pick one single lesson to try learning, it’s that you cannot control the outcome. You can only control the words on the page.1
But before we get into that, here are all the other entries in this 7-part series:
Following the “Right” Story — Shared Feb. 16, 2026.
Building Characters & Worlds — Shared Mar. 9, 2026
Scenes, Sentences, & Series — Shared Apr. 6, 2026
Revisions & Editing — Shared Apr. 20, 2026
Finding Your Unique Process — Shared May 20, 2026
When Things Get Difficult — Shared June 10, 2026
Publishing: the Honest Truth — We are here!
Now onward to our final compilation!
7. Publishing: the Honest Truth
If you’ve followed me since the early aughts, then you may recall that what first “broke me out” in the writing advice space was that I was really honest about the difficulties of traditional publishing.
Nowadays, everyone is honest and “authentic.”2 But back in 2011-2015 days, it was rare. We all wore smiles and were toxically positive about everything.
I wore a smile too…but I wasn’t always positive.
I’m still not today.
That said, I do always try to find some kind of positive spin for whatever I’m preaching on, while simultaneously offering concrete steps you can take to help your situation and/or mindset.
Because as mentioned above: if I had to pick one single lesson to TRY to learn in this industry, it’s that you cannot control the outcome. You can only truly control the words on the page.
But I’ll be the first to acknowledge that’s not an easy lesson to learn.
It takes effort to 1) familiarize yourself with the nuances of the industry so you understand what’s happening (and why it’s not personal), and 2) to accept the parts we’d all prefer would change.
As someone who has now been publishing for 17 years,, and as someone who has weathered lows and highs (and plenty more lows again), I’m here to tell you that longterm sustainability and even joy are possible.
But at the end of the day, I can never guarantee an agent will represent me, I can never guarantee a publisher will want to publish me, I can never guarantee the market will want what I’m publishing, and I never guarantee readers will enjoy.
All I can do is keep writing and (to help keep the joy) change what my metric of success looks like.
Now onward to the nitty gritty details!
The Big Lessons
Three Publishing Lessons I Wish I’d Learned Sooner: This is basically e’erything in a nutshell. It’s a good primer, in other words, on how I generally view this biz and what I prioritize.
What I Would Do Differently With a Career Do-Over: Ah, the joys of hindsight. It’s really interesting to look back and say, “Here’s what I wish I’d known sooner,” while also knowing I wouldn’t actually change anything—because how else would I have learned all I learned without experiencing it?
How Publishing Actually Works
How Books Get Publisher Support: Herein lies my very detailed timeline of how Truthwitch went from a book I was drafting (and discussing in my 2013 newsletters as I wrote!) to it hitting the New York Times list—and ultimately transforming the trajectory of my career for a while. But not forever.
Editorial Turnaround Times: Here I discuss what it’s like go from developmental editing to pass pages on the traditional side. I break down that process and offer tips for learning how to be a better editor.
Working With Developmental Editors: This piece is about when to hire a developmental editor and when to save your money. (Spoiler alert: I’m usually in favor of saving your money.)
Audio: How Authors Sell Their Next Projects: This is a deep dive into what it’s like for me to create a proposal (which is how I sell my next books to publishers) + how I choose what I want to try selling next.
Choosing the Best Path for Your Books Questions to ask before each project, when deciding whether to go indie or traditional. I’m obviously a traditional first author, but I’m pretty familiar with indie publishing—and I’m also diving into it for my Something Strange & Deadly series reboot this year. There are pros and cons to either direction, and the choice really boils down to you and your unique needs at this moment in time.
Two Things I Would Change About Publishing: What’s so depressing about this post is that very little has changed since 2024. If anything, everything I was worried about back then is so much worse now. 🥲
Failure & Success
Audio: The Benefits of Failure: This is about how I expected it would feel to be “famous” versus the womp-womp reality. So many of us go into publishing thinking WE will be the exception to the rule—that WE will be the ones to break out and become the next Stephen King… But lol, no.
Writer Career Shifts: As someone who came from a different field into publishing, and who has since pivoted multiple times within publishing, I have some thoughts on making big changes!
My Books Ranked From Easiest to Hardest to Write: This post is less about actual publishing as a business, but since some of my hardest books were hard BECAUSE of the reality of publishing deadlines + pressures of success… Well, I decided to link to this post here.3
Promo & Marketing
Swag, Travel, Social Media, and Writing: This is about where and how to focus your efforts—based on what actually moved the needle for me (and what absolutely didn’t). BUT, please keep in mind, things are always changing and much of what I used to do is not what I do now.
Author Self Promo and Social Media: This was a live chat for premium subscribers on the my failures (and successes) with self-promotion. It’s a doozy, if I’m being honest.
Finding Your Social Media Spot...Or Not!: Not every platform is for every person. And maybe none of them are for you—which is okay too. I like Discord these days (and Substack), and that is IT. Once upon a time, however, I was all about Twitter and Instagram. People change, platforms change, and it’s okay to go where you want to go and when.
Standing Out in a Crowded Market: This is advice for querying writers in an increasingly difficult landscape. (Which has only gotten worse since the posting of this newsletter in 2024). To go back to my constant advice: all you can really control are the words on the page!
How to Support an Author If You Can’t Pre-Order: This is for the readers who want to help but can’t afford to pre-order books by authors they love. We get it! Truly we do! And there are so many other ways you can help us authors out.
Querying & Pitching
How to Write a 1-Page Synopsis: This is absolutely, hands-down my most popular and successful post of all time. It has migrated to a few different blogs/newsletters over the last 13+ years as I myself have moved around, but the content is unchanged (and evergreen).
Developing Your In-Person Pitch: Pitching your book in under thirty seconds is a skill not everyone has. But if you’re new to this whole publishing thing (indie or trad!), it’s good to be able to hook a reader in a few seconds. Here are my tips on how.
Going Full-Time
Quitting Your Day Job to Write Full Time: This post and the next should be read together so you understand the realities of this business. Follow your dreams, FOR SURE! But also please go in with clear eyes.
Income As An Author: Per the previous link, I really wish people would pay more attention to what income is actually like in this industry. A seemingly “big” deal gets small real fast when you spread it out over multiple payments (and then subtract agency fees and taxes). There’s a reason so many authors have day jobs!
PHEW.
And there you have it, friends. We’ve reached the end of the Misfits & Daydreamer Primer Series.
I’m sure there are many posts I’ve failed to link to, but I did my best! There is a lot of content on this Substack—and even more over on my Susan Dennard Writing Academy!
(Seriously: if you want even more insights or craft lessons, then go to the Academy. So much of the content over there is TOTALLY FREE!! You don’t have to give me your email or anything. You can just read and learn.)
I am now going to turn back to One Raven for a Dove—which is the final Murder Quartet installment. I was so, so stuck on it (for over a year!), and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve rewritten the first 30,000 words trying to crack the love interest…
BUT I FINALLY DID IT. (And yes, I’m certain I’ll do a post on that breakthrough soon.)
Thanks for reading, fellow misfits and daydreamers! Until next time. 👋
💚 - Sooz
Since I know I’ll get some people arguing with me, I will simply add here: you can increase your chances of your success (yes) with hard work. But you still cannot guarantee it.
I put that in scare quotes because I…am not convinced a lot of the authenticity out there is actually authentic.
I said this in other primer series posts, but it was hard to come up with my seven categories and then decide where some posts would go! I so often straddle so many lines in a single newsletter…