The 8 Stages of Writing &
Publishing a Book
(A Totally Serious, Extremely Scientific Breakdown)
- The Lightning Bolt of Inspiration
That magical moment when an idea hits you so hard you’re convinced you’re a literary genius. You immediately tell three friends, two pets, and one unsuspecting barista that you’re “working on a book.” - The Overconfident Outline Phase
You create a color‑coded outline so detailed it could guide a NASA launch. You feel unstoppable. You are unstoppable. Until you actually start writing. - The “Why Did I Think I Could Do This” Draft
You write 10,000 words in a burst of passion, reread them, and briefly consider faking your own disappearance. You keep going anyway because quitting would require effort. - The Editing Spiral of Doom
You fix one sentence. Then another. You rewrite the entire chapter. You delete the chapter. You undelete it because actually it wasn’t that bad. You delete it again. The concept of time becomes a myth. - Beta Reader Panic
You send your manuscript to trusted readers and immediately regret every life choice that led to this moment. You spend the next week refreshing your messages like you’re waiting for medical test results. Their feedback is helpful, but also shocking, because how dare they be right. - The Querying/Publishing Gauntlet
You craft a perfect query letter, send it out, and instantly lose the ability to breathe. Rejections arrive. You develop a thick skin and emotional calluses. Or at least a leathery emotional callus. Eventually, someone says yes, or you decide to self‑publish and become your own marketing department, graphic designer, publicist, and emotional support animal. - Launch Day Euphoria (and Terror)
Your book is out in the world. People are reading it. People are reviewing it. People are misunderstanding metaphors you thought were obvious. You celebrate anyway because you did the impossible. You wrote and published a book! - The “I’m Never Doing This Again” Lie
You swear you’ll never write another book. Not ever. Absolutely not. Until the next idea taps you on the shoulder like, “Hey. So. What if…?”
