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It’s been an exciting week! I announced my first ever self-published book. Technically it’s hybrid publishing, in that I’ve worked with boutique agency Whitefox Publishing to project manage, consult, market and bring to life a new version of my memoir A Year of Nothing.
This marks a turning point for me. I’ve been inside the traditional publishing industry for ten years, since I published my first book with Penguin, aged 26.
In life, we have moments that feel like a big deal to us, even if everyone around you is shrugging their shoulders. It’s important to acknowledge your own personal milestones, even if they aren’t the classic mainstream ones. As my friend
says: “life is short, celebrate often.”This feels like a shift. After my next book comes out next Summer (to be announced), I have decided to take a big break from traditional publishing. At least for a while. I’m not closing the door forever, but the moment I made the decision (on a beach in Spain): my whole body let out a sigh of relief. I’m out of the race, out of the game! Goodbye corporate treadmills. And truly I’ve never felt better! My friends have commented on how well I look.
There are many great aspects of publishing, and the people who work in it are fantastic (and truly deserve pay rises). But in most book contracts, the publisher keeps the lion’s share of revenue—authors typically earn only 7–15% in royalties, which is very low—and advances are often paid out in slow instalments over a long period. The median author income is at an all-time low.
I know it’s over-quoted to the point of being cheesy, but fuck it: “be the change you want to see.”
This does not mean I’m going to stop writing books! Quite the contrary. I’ll be writing many more books, and finding innovative ways to publish them. A Year of Nothing will be sold across 150 retailers and I keep 100% royalties, monitor my own sales data, own all my IP and I get to choose every element of where the book is sold. It’s currently #1 in a new releases category on Amazon, and it’ll be sold in the usual places like Waterstones, Foyles and Barnes & Noble (and in multiple countries). I’m super proud of it, and how it’s been so warmly received. (It’s also currently a ‘most requested’ book on Netgalley.)
I’m still open to publishers who might want to work differently. But the old way doesn’t work for me anymore. I’m looking for partnership and collaboration. I’m looking for equality and equity. I do not want corporate crumbs. I want creative autonomy. I want to assemble my own team to bring projects to life.
You might think I’m ‘brave’ for leaving the publishing industry for a bit, as a professional author, but the truth is, it doesn’t actually affect my livelihood much. Over the past five years, I haven’t made that much money from writing books through the traditional system (despite selling thousands of copies!). An advance stretches across multiple years and royalty cheques are slow.
Why do you think I had a podcast with sponsors—or indeed have this lovely Substack—or wrote about side-hustles for the best part of ten years?
“Publishing is a business!!!” you hear this all the time. Of course. But guess what? Being an author is also a business. And staying inside that system is, at least for me, bad business.
(This certainly isn’t a ‘you should do what I’ve done’ post btw—this is just me sharing my personal journey.)
The institutional prestige is definitely nice at first. Especially when you’re new to it. You get the validation sticker you’ve always craved—a well-known publisher’s logo on your book—but there might come a time when you realise that being a cog in a big system may start to damage your health and creativity more than you think.
In Brianna Wiest’s (independently published) book The Life That’s Waiting, she writes short paragraphs about different concepts of happiness and this particular one stood out to me: “…We begin to understand that the insatiable craving is not to have conquered the game…. but to stop playing it altogether.”
I read that line, put the book down next to my bed, and sat with it. A peacefulness I had been feeling for the past few weeks landed completely in my body.
A feeling of genuine empowerment rose up in my chest. Not the type that’s blazoned across a pink Girlboss t-shirt, but true, genuine, empowerment—from deciding to stop trying to ‘conquer’ a very particular type of game. You cannot ‘conquer’ a corporate machine. It’s too big. But: you can leave.
I have reached acceptance. I, alone, cannot change the system. I’m just one woman, in a knitted jumper, writing from her office, with a mug of tea. I still get to make things though, and write and publish them.
One thing I know for sure: there’s work to be done.
There’s a big glorious life to be had outside the machine—and it’s waited patiently for me. Time to go and live it—and make some new things❤️
I couldn’t have done it without you, dear Substack readers xo
My announcement, in full, here:
NEW THING: I now have a shop!!! A lot of you enjoy my links below of things I’ve bought which I occasionally throw in (although books, essays & podcasts are the main focus of this newsletter)! So I have started a shop on ShopMy, making it easier for you to see the things I’ve bought and what’s on my personal wish list. I’ve made an Autumn Wishlist here. It is full of things I already own and recommend, plus things I want to buy.
Slow Sunday Scroll Picks
The best things I’m reading, listening to, watching…..
— The death of the corporate job
— Bella Freud’s podcast offers a talking cure
— How Toni Morrison Changed Publishing
— The best hotels according to Goop
— Substack is only site to report year-on-year traffic growth in August
— He quit a Vogue job nobody quits: Edward Enninful’s next act
— How Katherine May thinks about social media now
— The dark forest theory of the internet
— The sometimes enjoyable path of becoming a writer
— The Last Days Of Social Media
— I’ve pre-ordered Zadie Smith’s new essay collection out next month.
— Lena Dunham has a new memoir coming next Spring called Famesick.
— Two Women Living Together, a Korean bestseller about two friends building a home together comes to the UK in January.
— Loved
— I’m looking forward to Alison Roman’s new cookbook.
— Anna Wintour in conversation with David Remnick at The New Yorker about the future of Vogue.
— Edward Enninful talks about moving from editor to entrepreneur.
— A Victoria Beckham docu-series is coming to Netflix.
— In convo with
— I adore
and listening to her on Armchair Expert.— Terry Gross celebrating 50 years of her NPR show on one of my favourite podcasts Talk Easy.
— I think I want a Salon C. Stellar facial? Keep hearing amazing things. Although very spenny.
— Obsessed with my new Lamy fountain pen. Under £20 and writes like a DREAM.
— Don’t judge but I bought some anti-wrinkle patches that you sleep with at night. I have a frown line from writing/concentrating! I can’t tell you yet if they actually work.
— This trench coat, which I’ll be wearing in New York next month! I love the detailing.
— I got sent the iconic Papier advent calendar and now I can’t wait for Christmas.
— Everything else is linked in my SHOP! Check it out. <3
Two other interesting things!
— A.M. Heath are launching The Hilary Mantel Prize to honour the late author (who died in 2022). The award will support unpublished writers with work in progress, offering mentoring and financial help to complete their novels — reflecting Mantel’s incredible championing of debut authors. More info here.
— My friend Fiona Arrigo is giving a talk in London on October 9th. Tickets here. I wish I could go but sadly I will be away. Fiona taught me so much about how to recover from my burnout on a retreat I went on a couple of years ago.
NEW YORK DATES FOR YOUR DIARY! 🇺🇸 My US book tour!
THE STRAND, Thursday October 23rd: Join
and I to discuss Table For One, solo dining & more! 🎇 Tickets HERE 🎇BOOKS ARE MAGIC, Friday October 24th: Join
and I to discuss my new novel, Millennial life, writing and everything in between! 🎇 Tickets HERE 🎇
Happy weekend! Do hit the ❤️ if you enjoyed this post :)
*This email may contain affiliate links to Bookshop.org and RewardStyle whereby a small commission is earned for any purchases made.
Your post is such great timing, Emma. All my books are self-pub’d, but I’ve been toying with the idea of querying my current WIP. Perhaps because I’ve never had the professional creds you talk about. But from a purely financial standpoint, it really doesn’t make sense to go the trad route. Thanks for this!
Thank you for being so brave about your journey and experiences. As an unpublished (new-ish) writer, getting that publishing deal does sound big and fancy and shiny and important. This really put things in perspective. It feels nice to know you can really take control of your own path and that the way things are done are always evolving. Looking forward to your post-self-publishing reflections!