Oh dear, it's the post-publication slump!
I’ve shared the highs of releasing a book—now here’s what comes after
I had a different post lined up for today, but I felt compelled to write something a bit more spontaneous instead. I want The Hyphen to be a space where I can share both the highs and the lows of a creative life.
As you’ve seen in my recent posts, I’ve been celebrating my new novel—the outfits, the tour, the glamour! But now, I’ve hit the inevitable anticlimax. It happens after every book: the adrenaline, the excitement… then the crash. It’s like my monthly cycle—I know it’s coming, yet it still catches me off guard.
Here comes the slump. I thought I might have been able to dodge it this time. I have good boundaries, I didn’t overdo it, I have lots of tools to stay on track day-to-day. But it is inevitable. A natural part of the creative cycle: I’m now in a creative slump. Depletion. No energy. Emails have gone unanswered. Deadlines for other things have been pushed back.
A slump feels different to burnout. It feels temporary: a state of being uninspired, and “meh”, and “ugh”. (Burnout is more severe and a deeper level of exhaustion.) This is just a creative comedown of sorts.
The good news is: the book has done 'well.' The six weeks of intense promotion and travelling paid off! In publishing terms, this means it’s been selling steadily each week, it already has hundreds of Amazon reviews and thousands of Goodreads ratings. Booksellers are writing recommendation notes in shops. It’s received good press. And now, it’s over. (Aside from a couple of events later this year).1 Now, there is blank space. Life is more mundane. No jazzy outfits, just a pair of jeans. No packed schedule, just wandering to my local café. No fast-paced back and forth email exchanges with my team—instead an OOO alert saying that I’m now taking some time off for the summer.
What does this slump look like on paper?