What Is Author Care (and How Can I Support It)?
I published my first book in 2015, and said yes to everything without question and without concern. I was grateful for the opportunities coming my way (I still am) and I thought this is just what authors do—say yes to everything. It’s more than urgent that we change that narrative or at the very least help writers let go of it.
Today I have no problem admitting that my own definition of what it means to be an author has grown and evolved since then, but if we all hold different definitions of author care, it will remain mystifying unless we open a channel for communication, allowing space for us to share our thoughts and ideas about its potential evolution. After all, we can’t change what we don’t look at.
When launching my first book, Braided Skin, I had no idea what lay ahead. What was the etiquette for accepting or declining event invites? What questions should I be asking? What goals did I have for my book? Where did I want to show up? What if my definition of a successful book launch was different from my publisher’s? These questions made it clear to me that I didn’t yet know how to make aligned decisions about my creative projects or my career because I hadn’t yet identified what was truly important to me.
In the writing and publishing industry, there seems to be a singular definition of success being whispered: Get the best deal, find a top agent, sell the most books, gain visibility, win awards, and then be happy. This narrative never resonated with me. The advice I was getting from industry professionals didn’t always make sense because we were looking through different lenses.
Defining Writing Success
Each book I’ve written has carried a different goal or definition of success. Creating space to articulate my specific aims for each project—beyond the inevitable focus on sales—has allowed me to track my progress more meaningfully. For example, with my novel Junie, my measure of success was anchored in this question: “Will this book help others understand the unique grief of a community they’ve never known?” I gauged this through the conversations I engaged in and the platforms where these discussions took place. While the book did achieve this, and it won awards, and made many “book lists,” if I were to be honest with myself, it didn’t resonate to the extent I had hoped; it was not successful (to me). This, however, is valuable insight for me as a creator. It’s shown me that my exploration of this unique aspect of grief isn’t finished. In fact, it’s the reason I’ve just started writing another novel to continue this work.
What if I didn’t define that success for myself? What random direction would I have gone down?
Don’t get me wrong—selling books is important, and it’s a wonderful byproduct of publishing. But for many writers, we’re not in this to get rich. There’s something deeper that drives us. And it starts with what I call establishing your project pillars: your why, your action, and your non-negotiables. These can be the foundation for powerful decision-making.
But decision-making isn’t just about what we want for our books. It’s tied to our emotions and how we feel. Marc Brackett, Director of Emotional Intelligence at Yale and author of Permission to Feel, says, “When we are in the grip of any strong emotion, we perceive the world differently, and the choices we make at that moment are influenced, for better or for worse.”
We can use emotions as tools, but not everyone knows the difference between a ratchet wrench and a pair of pliers.
Making aligned decisions also comes from having a clear vision of where we want to go. Too often, I see writers standing at the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for a random bus with an unclear destination. They get on without knowing when to get off or why. That lack of clarity bothered me for a long time, which is why I built Breathing Space Creative and have continued to refine the business for the past six years.
The truth is, publishers and industry professionals want their authors to have a good experience, and I believe that. But the industry also needs to be more open to letting different perspectives in to help with the heavy lifting. We need to work collaboratively with people who understand how to manage emotions. Whether you’ve published 30 books or are about to launch your debut, we all feel. We feel all the time.
I was thrilled when Ivan Coyote agreed to write the foreword for Safekeeping. When it comes to author care, I knew they understood how even the smallest act of consideration could make a huge difference in a writer’s life—perhaps even catapulting them into a new, more aligned direction.
Ask writers what success looks like for them. If they don’t know, connect them with someone who can help them figure it out. Some writers think they want to be bestsellers, but they may not want the pressure that comes with it. Others may thrive under that same pressure. We don’t know until we ask, and when we don’t ask, we assume.
Pre-pandemic I didn’t see much interest from publishers when I suggested including specialists like myself in the production process. Post-pandemic this started to change. Author care can be about sharing the workload so publishers can do what they do best. When your car breaks down, you don’t just take it to the gas station, fill up the tank, and hope for the best—in addition to filling it up with gas you go to a mechanic who can see things others might miss.
We can’t see what we don’t slow down to notice. If the industry is suffering from burnout and exhaustion, then it makes sense to let others step in to support authors in whatever way they need.
Writing a book is an incredible act of faith. You have no idea if anyone will publish it, if you’ll make any money, or if anyone will read it. You don’t know if you’ll get to go where you want, book in hand. Doesn’t that leap of faith deserve extra support through asking the right questions?
Sometimes we don’t ask these questions because we don’t know what to ask—or we don’t know what to do when we get the answers.
Supporting Author Care
So how can we support author care? It starts with being open to discussion and transparency within the community, allowing writers to share and learn from each other. Publishers can bake support into orientations and onboarding. We need more spaces where we can openly share our struggles and concerns.
Although publishing has its issues, there is so much going right in publishing and I am keen on looking at what’s going right and doing more of that. Supporting authors based on their needs means taking what works and addressing the gaps in community with open dialogue.
Publishers do the work of calculating what a book is worth when they predict how many copies will sell. Publishers invest in an author’s book financially when they put up an advance. Publishing is a business. The return on that financial investment needs to make sense or it’s just bad business. But at the heart of it, author care goes beyond the numbers. It’s about recognizing that all authors—whether debut or established, marginalized or not—can benefit from resources and investments in time and energy that care for them as people, not just as producers of stories.
Finishing a first draft is a huge milestone that deserves celebration! Even if you’re unsure what to do next, you now have something to work with. That’s a major step forward and one where some big decisions need to be made. I believe that one of the most important skills a writer can develop is the ability to make intentional and aligned decisions about their work. But first, writers need to get clear on two things: what you truly want for your book, and how to use emotions and self-discovery data as tools for decision-making. This clarity leads to confident authors who trust themselves and their work. What do we think the return on that investment will be? Are we willing to wait for it?
Together, there is so much room for exciting change within an industry that, if I am to be honest, can use the shake up.
Author care is about being open to the possibility of surprise, meeting writers where they are, and being flexible enough to bring in others who have bold ideas. We must be curious and not let mystifying terms or language stop us from having these important conversations. We have to be open to change.
As Toni Morrison once said, “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”
Language is powerful. Slowing down is an act of activism these days, and reflection, well that’s where all the powerful information sits.
Check out Chelene Knight’s Safekeeping here:
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