I published another novel. What now?
closing a chapter while also starting a new one
Table For One, my new novel, is out now—in all good book stores. Here is a little three-day diary in case you are curious as to what my publication week has looked like. <3 My recommended retailer is Bookshop.org.
23rd April 2025
The day before publication day, I felt jittery and strange. I felt this enormous sense of ‘what have I done??’ and not in a good way. I had just spent four years of my life (on and off) making something that had absolutely zero guaranteed outcome. I’d spent days and months and years making this thing—alongside my publishers who created a beautiful cover—and now it was going to be released into the world. A fear suddenly plagued me (that tends to plague a lot of creative people): had I just wasted my time?????
The ratio seemed really off suddenly! Oh no! I’ve spent years making something, and now I have one day to celebrate it and it might tank. Had I made a huge mistake? I could have done so many other things with those evenings, weekends, early mornings!! Why did I spend so long making this thing, just because I wanted to? What a weird job this is!
It felt like the end of an era, too. A closing of a specific chapter. I got a two-book deal in 2020 for my first novel Olive and before Table For One had its own beautiful name and cover, it was just my ‘dreaded second novel’ for a while. I launched Olive during the pandemic and even though the book did well, I had a very weird time sitting on Zoom with zero IRL connection. Table For One took me four years to write, because for some reason I had lots of stage fright. Instead, during that time, I wrote three other non-fiction books (Disconnected, The Success Myth, A Year of Nothing) and threw myself into Substack and other projects. This second novel plodded on in the background—and it was slow, and painful.
I’m good at getting myself out of a funk these days. I think it’s partly about getting older. I know my own familiar tricks, and now I have some helpful tools to outsmart myself. I cleared my inbox. I ran myself a bath with epsom salts. I went for a walk, and listened to a friend’s podcast who has a soothing voice, I re-arranged my bookshelves, I sat in the garden, I made myself tea, I watched a bit of BBC TV (Andrew Garfield’s Who Do You Think You Are), I pulled some tarot cards, I texted my writing group for support.
The insides of my head had re-arranged themselves accordingly and I started thinking logically again: WOW I WROTE ANOTHER NOVEL AND THIS IS NOT THE END > > > IT’S ACTUALLY THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING GREAT. That feels more like the truth.
In the evening, I hosted a dinner for 24 of my writer friends in a private dining room in Islington. The energy was brilliant. There were many times during the evening where I looked around and everyone was actually mingling—and introducing themselves to each other and moving around and seemingly enjoying themselves. A total delight and the most perfect way to celebrate this book, with people who have been on the journey with me. My own creative community. As much as I was celebrating the book, I was celebrating these beautiful friendships.
24th April 2025
Publication day! I woke up to a flurry of messages from my nearest and dearest, and felt the love online too. I was on my phone too much from 7-10am, and decided to spend a few hours sitting in the garden (it was a beautiful day) and read a book to take my mind off things. Paul and I decided to clean the house. I thought: wow, is this what people imagine, on a publication day, mopping and hoovering? But it felt good—and my parents arrived at 3pm from Exeter. I’d organized a dinner out in London for the evening, at a beautiful restaurant Clos Maggiore (funnily enough where I’d hosted a dinner in 2020 for some journalists to promote Olive.) We got one of the best tables! By the fireplace, nestled in amongst the blossom hanging from the walls and ceiling. On the way there, we stopped off via Foyles on Charing Cross Road and the Waterstones in Covent Garden, and under the ‘new fiction’ shelves: there she was. Table For One.
I already know, from pre-orders alone and the first couple of days sales, that my book probably won’t be a Sunday Times Bestseller. It’s so so hard to get on that list these days and it needs to be normalised. There are SO many books published every week. They can’t all be the Top Ten. This is okay—you can have a beautiful, nourishing, fruitful, successful book launch without having that sticker. The measure of success, for me, has truly shifted. Maybe because I have such a lovely community online and in other places. There are bigger ‘brand’ authors who are way way more successful than me—who sell tote bags and key-rings and hats with their book names on. Who have legions of followers on TikTok and sell out arenas. The traditional publishing bestseller list is no longer a game I am playing. My creative life is insanely beautiful right now. I’m happy.
25th April 2025
Excitingly, I woke up to my Condé Nast Traveller article going live “A love letter to solitude”. (It also features fellow foodie writers and their favourite ‘tables for one’ including Substack royalty
). My mum brought a vase to London on the train that belonged to my dear old Grandpa who passed away in 2023. “I’d love some dried flowers to put in these”, I said, putting the beautiful vase on the kitchen island. A few hours later, there is a knock at the door. It’s a delivery, a huge cardboard box. I open it to find the most beautiful dried flowers I’ve ever seen—a gift from my literary agent. Not only that, they were the most perfect colours ever for the vase. “I cannot believe how well it matches,” said my Dad.
I always read a book at the right time, always. I have piles of books in my office and today I accidentally knocked over a pile—and out popped this book. A tiny second hand book that I don’t remember buying: What Now by Ann Patchett—it’s less than 100 pages, a long essay based on her commencement speech at Sarah Lawrence College in 2006. It’s a book about those moments in life where you’re at a crossroads, when you’re struggling with the inevitable question: What Now?
With any artistic project, you are collaborating with the unknown. You are in a dance—and there is a force greater than you who sprinkles some magic dust and ties up all the bows while you sleep. Most of the time, you don’t get what you want. You often get something better—disguised as something else.
So—what now? First, a retreat in Italy that I’m hosting next week, a new blank page, and a whole Summer of joy and play and creativity.
In the words of Abigail Thomas: “I don't know anyone's story except my own and I don't even know that.”
Join me on my UK book tour… <3
Hi Emma,
Firstly CONGRATULATIONS for the book 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
I never understood why some books are sold only in few countries, why not trying to sell it in other places?
I thought this only because a lot of times I had to buy books online because aren’t available in Italy.
Anyway I find interesting the topic of ur book, I still don’t understand why for the majority of people it’s strange having solo table or travel.
In Italy if u take a table for one everyone would look at u so badly, more or less like if u had asked them to eat their firstborn, it’s well accepted only if u are out for business or u are a tourist.
Honestly cleaning the house the day of ur book I think have a lot of sense, it could be considered therapeutic put everything in order or simply useful since the fact I think u will have really intense days so it could be difficult cleaning the house, the flowers and the vase are wonderful!
Again congratulations for the book and if u need suggestions for Tuscany and Florence u can write to me in DM at any time.
But if u go to Florence u HAVE to find the “buca per il vino” “holes for wine” are small windows where u see only the hand of the waiter that gave to u wine, were an old way to serve wine during the period of plague in the past and “thanks” to Covid they decided to reopen it, now it’s a big success.
Have a great day!
Congratulations- looking forward to being in the uk so I can get a copy 🌞