This will be controversial. Not apologizing.
If you feel yourself getting scared of what might happen in the future of publishing, please close the browser, take three deep breaths, and open the manuscript. (Do all three of those things. Every. Single. Time you feel the fear come up.)
Don’t let fear rule your day. And don’t let anyone make you afraid of what might happen. The fear is causing fight-or-flight responses in us when it doesn’t need to. This type of fear is not helpful.
What can I do… about Amazon? Other writers? Algorithms? Changes? Facebook? Nothing.
And no, the answer is not always “spend a lot of time learning X or Y thing,” even when there might feel like pressure to do it. And the answer is definitely not “worry about what might happen.” I said this in the last Quitcast, and I feel like I need to say it again.
Most of us have *no business* thinking about the future, because thinking about the future is not producing action for us. It’s only producing worry. Worry is causing inaction, fear, anxiety. And we can’t solve it ourselves, so we just keep spiraling.
The answer is, we can’t change those things, so we have to stop worrying about them and focus on just continuing to write. Don’t ask rhetorical questions. Answer the question.
What happens if X happens? I will keep writing.
What happens if Y takes over? I will keep writing.
What happens if Z does blank? I will keep writing.
Answer the rhetorical questions. Don’t just keep spiraling on them without answering them. The plan is, we keep writing. That’s perseverance. That’s resilience.
I’m not trying to be unsympathetic here, especially to those of us who have tied up our livelihood with this. I’m trying to be as sympathetic as I can while also reminding us that fear is not helping us. It’s only freezing us. I’m trying to be as sympathetic as I can while also encouraging us to do what’s best for our mental health, sanity, and long-term career. I want us all to have author careers for our entire lifetimes.
When you solve the fear spiral/response, you can make other rational decisions about what to do with your time or platform. Do not let fear be the driver.
No one can take writing away from you. Not everyone will make money at this. Not everyone will become famous. Not everyone will have all their dreams come true. And the fear of those things not happening is killing some of us. I just want us all to remember…
Even if you stop making money, you can start again.
Even if you stop selling, you can start again.
Even if you stop writing, you can start again.
Even if Amazon flames out…
Even if… no matter what…
Whatever happens, we just keep writing. Deep breath. Close browser. Keep writing.
– Becca