The unexpected joy of being a nobody
What happens when you reach a career high and then walk away from it all? A guest column about mental health, freedom and leaving the corporate publishing world.
I am posting a series of guest columns while I'm away in Vietnam on holiday. To join the community and receive access to all paywalled posts, make sure you sign up for just £1.75 a week. I have written an introduction below, followed by the guest column by a writer I love.
Last autumn, I found myself having long calls (old-fashioned telephone calls!) with women I’d connected with online because we’d been through a similar experience whatever it may be (burnout, depression, long Covid, grief, post-partum adjustment — our own individual flavour of crash-and-burn). When something really rough happens, the Earth seems to pull you towards the energy you need. A wave-form of some kind.
To my delight, I found a new friend in
. I had heard Katy’s name before. Someone at the top of her game within the publishing industry— and I remember initially feeling intimidated. She has worked for over fifteen years in publishing and built a list of bestselling and award-winning books for Penguin (from helping build Richard Osman’s book brand to working on Emily Henry’s novels) and she won Editor of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2021.Katy and I probably only ever saw each other’s Twitter bio or shiny shop window at that time. She is incredibly impressive, but what’s more impressive is how she’s been able to speak about her journey and struggles that ultimately led to her leaving the corporate publishing world. In 2023, she wrote publicly for the first time about all the reasons why she had to leave.
Her piece for The Bookseller “Why I left corporate publishing” ricocheted throughout the industry. She waved the flag for more conversations about stress, burnout, money, privilege, access and mental health care. I remember reading it with my hand on my chest. Her description of being stuck down a dark well made me weep.