Hey y'all! I'm Susan Dennard, author of TRUTHWITCH (among other things). Ask me anything!!

oh my gosh! CONGRATS!! So exciting! And...hard. Debut is hard. (Like I said above, getting published isn't the hard part. It's just the FIRST hard part.)

What advice you have for debut authors in the month before/after release?

Enjoy it. It's really easy to OBSESS and STRESS and try to control things you can't control (who buys your book, for example). Almost every debut I've ever known -- myself included -- is a neurotic mess before debut. Hell, I was a neurotic mess before the TW release (new series! Fresh start! New chance to prove myself!).

Try to enjoy this too, though. Take pauses to remember HOW INCREDIBLE this all is. Your book! Out in the world! All that hard work finally coming to fruition!

And remember: at the end of the day, it's out of your control. What happens will happen; you can't make your publisher push you more or bookstores stock you or place you well; you can't make readers buy the book; you can't make readers enjoy it. Embrace the uncertainty. :)

Did you feel any pressure from your publisher to succeed, and how did you deal with that?

I put a lot of pressure on myself. Full disclosure: my first series tanked (by YA standards), and I spent 3 years praying HarperTeen wouldn't cancel me. They didn't me (woohoo!), but it was touch-and-go there. While Harper never put any pressure on me (what do they care if they cancel it? It's just business, after all), I put a lot of fear/worry/stress on myself.

But you know what? Remember what I said about "out of our control?" I'm getting better and better at embracing that. Because even now, a publisher may NEVER buy another book from me. The Truthwitch sequel may tank. I may get hit by a bus tomorrow. ;)

In other words, embrace the chaos. Work on being zen about it and letting go. The less you wrap your personal identity in the book's success, the happier you'll be -- even if the book explodes. Just let the book out into the world and turn to the next project on your plate.

Do you read your reviews? Or, do you have a method for reading your reviews?

No. I don't read reviews. Watch this video and you'll understand why. I do read trade reviews...sometimes. But those people aren't in the ring with me, and I didn't ask for their feedback. So it's really not relevant to what I'm doing. I listen to my CPs, my agent, my editor, and my lovely fans who take the time to write me personally. Those are the only opinions that really matter here. :)

How much of your time did you devote to personal marketing?

All of it. Ha. Not even joking. I spent 75% of my working time in 2015 JUST marketing Truthwitch in some way, shape, or form. And I started marketing that book back in 2013, actually. (Read about how that worked here, if you're curious). It all paid off, but I can't replicate. And I'm also WAY behind on the sequel now.

So was it worth it -- all the time, money, and travel? Yes, I think so. But other factors played into the Truthwitch success as well. Publisher support, the Indie Next List, good early word of mouth, the right genre at the right time, a great cover, etc. So I KNOW I cannot replicate with another book.

Yeah, does that answer your question? I'm sorry this seems so down!! ALL of my answers on here are, like, depressing reality checks. I SWEAR I love what I do. You just gotta find the zen.

/r/YAwriters Thread Parent