Reflections on 10 years in publishing

Happy June! I’m writing this (though probably not sending it out) from a hotel room in Phoenix, Arizona, where I’m attending Phoenix Fan Fusion. Technically, I’m hiding in my hotel, because it’s 42 degrees C here, which is officially too many degrees, twice as many as it is where I’m from. I would love to come back to Arizona in the winter, though, because I’m a hiking fiend and the mountains look stunning. Thank you to all the wonderful readers who came to see me at my signings and panels.

In book news, I’ve finished the copyedits for Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter! Always a nerve-wracking part of the process, because this is the version that will go into the ARCs and, thus, out into the world, though I do get to do another editing pass before the final version is out. I love this book, and especially the cat sidekicks, and I can’t wait for readers to meet them. I’ll talk more about the process of writing this story, which I’ve had lodged in my brain for many years, in future newsletters.

My publisher has a couple of giveaways happening right now—US readers can enter to win a copy of Encyclopaedia through Storygraph until June 18^th and through Goodreads from June 10 till July 3^rd. If you’re outside the US and feel left out of giveaways, know that I run separate ones through Instagram and Substack every once in a while, and they’re always international.

I will have a few more exciting announcements in the coming months (one that I’m particularly looking forward to), but that’s all for now.

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I realized a few months ago that it’s my publishing anniversary (publishiversary?) this year. 2025 marks 10 years since I found an agent for my YA fantasy novel, Even the Darkest Stars (the awesome Brianne Johnson), who sold it to an imprint of HarperCollins in the summer of 2015. That same year I joined the online author community, which for new authors at that time primarily consisted of Twitter (RIP) and debut groups (are these still happening?), through which I made several of my first real live author friends.

So, though ETDS didn’t come out till 2017, I consider 2015 the year I entered the industry and became a Professional Author. It was also the first time I got paid for my writing. I was able to start doing this full time a few years later in the late 2010s, and Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter will be my 12^th published book. I’ve written middle grade, YA, and adult, mostly fantasy with a couple of contemporary kids’ books.

Initially I was excited to write this post, but as the months went on and I kept putting it off, I started wondering if I actually had anything to say beyond “happy anniversary to me!” Maybe it’s because I don’t have anything scandalous to say (to be honest, I probably wouldn’t be writing this if I did)—on balance, with the obvious caveat that every career has its ups and downs, I’ve had a positive experience in publishing. I suspect most people who are lucky enough to do this job full time would say the same. Given the precarity of being a working artist in any field, if you aren’t enjoying yourself, why keep doing it?

My initial thought was to write about how being an author has changed since 2015. But I actually don’t think the underlying fundamentals have changed all that much—at least from my perspective. The 2010s felt very trend-driven (e.g., vampires were very much in, then very much out, then somewhat in again), and it still does; that particular tendency has just been accelerated by social media. There were regular controversies erupting online, as today. The math is still rough—it’s still hard to find an agent, hard to find a publisher, and hard for books, including fantastic books, to find their audience.

So instead I thought I’d write about how how my perspective on writing and craft, and generally Being an Author, has shifted over the decade. Some of this could fall under the heading of “advice I’d give my younger writer self,” though I know my younger self wouldn’t have listened!

I enjoy writing more

I’ve always loved storytelling, but I spent the early part of my career worrying more about what I should be writing than what I really wanted to write. I haven’t stopped caring about what the market is like (I’m not sure that’s even possible) but rather I’ve realized how much better my writing is when I’m excited about an idea. This is true on the micro level, as well—I used the think there were scenes in my books I simply had to write in order to fulfil a certain plot goal, even if writing them felt like drudgery. Now, if I’m not enthusiastic about writing a particular scene, I stop. I ask if I can’t achieve my goal some other way, or if it’s the right goal in the first place.

I view my own curiosity and enthusiasm as a compass

To build on that last point, I no longer consider “This is a cool idea” sufficient reason to write a book, or even a proposal. I have a lot of ideas—they’re not the difficult part of writing for me. It’s when I can’t stop thinking about an idea, and when I find myself fantasizing about that idea when I’m supposed to be writing something else, and this carries on for a while, that I know it’s appealing enough for me to turn it into a book.

Similarly, I use my own curiosity about the story I’m telling to guide me through the telling of it, which sometimes feels like the sort of mythical task which is only possible if you don’t think too hard about it.

I prioritize reading

I often say I get a lot of ideas from the books I read, and this is true, but I find that reading does more than that: it makes me want to write. Novels are my favourite art form (I’m not a movie buff, music buff, or really anything else buff), and when I read a book by an author who is at the top of their game and creating something extraordinary, it renews my excitement for my own work. Where I used to see reading as something to push to the bottom of the priority list when I got busy, I now view it as an essential part of my job. (Not to brag. But also, to brag a little.)

I’m always looking down the road

I used to be very focused on whatever project I was currently working on—I think because, when you’re a newer writer, each individual project feels monumental, because you don’t have that many under your belt. I think this is partly why some newer writers struggle to let go of books that aren’t working, revising them over and over again instead of moving onto something new. Now, while I love every book I write, it’s easier to let go of them when I’m finished, and also to give space in my head to other ideas, which might be percolating at the same time. I now maintain a sizeable word doc (I’m quite low tech) of book ideas that I occasionally pull up and fiddle around with, often to no purpose, but it does keep me thinking about what I might want to write in the future.

I’m also less focused on staying in the same lane. I used to think I wanted to write nothing but fantasy, but now I’ve also written contemporary (kidlit) and I’d love to try other genres one day.

I’m curious as to whether other writers who have been at it for a while have had similar realizations, so feel free to share comments or questions below!

Q&A

I answer reader-submitted questions at the end of each newsletter; you can email yours to heather@heatherfawcettbooks.com or leave it in the comments.

Do you have any thoughts on the AI discourse?

I’m not sure what specifically this is referring to, but pretty sure that between the time this question was submitted and the time I’m answering it, the discourse will be different! All I can really say about AI is that I disagree with it from an ethical standpoint, and I avoid using it (or purchasing things made with it) to the extent that’s possible. So, I don’t use it for any writing, creative and otherwise, but I don’t use it for research either; it’s just neither necessary nor accurate. Not knowing the source of a piece of information irks me to no end (probably not a surprise to anyone who knows my affection for footnotes).

Did you take certain classes in college that have fed into your writing? I am attempting to do so, if you have any tips.

English Lit, definitely—I was introduced to (and/or forced to read?) so many authors I never would have read otherwise. But I’ve also found myself making use of what I learned in mythology and folklore classes, which at my university fell under Humanities. It’s definitely dependent on genre, so I’d recommend considering what might be useful on that basis. (I feel like psychology would be great for romance?) Also, if you can, keep your textbooks! I’ve regretted selling some of mine back to my bookstore, though I couldn’t really do without the money back then.

What I’m reading

I liked The Three Ravens Folk Tales by Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux so much that I wrote a blurb for it—if you’re interested in English folklore, this is a great place to start or to deepen your knowledge. I loved Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree, which felt like an old-school fantasy RPG in the best way, but cozy and character-driven. I also read Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill as an audiobook, which was a delightful, friendship-forward cozy fantasy with a monstrous protagonist.

Random inspiring thing

This is where I nerd out this month, because my inspiring thing is JSTOR! Did you know that even if you aren’t a university student or researcher, you can read 100 scholarly articles from around the world each month for free? I sound like a JSTOR ad now, I know, but it really is a great resource for book research, or even if you just want to expand your mind by learning about some random subject. I believe you can also access copyright-free art through JSTOR, though I’ve never used that feature. (I can write more about how I research a fantasy book in a future newsletter if that’s of interest to anyone.)