Eleven weeks after the first day of the second new year

This could happen, you know. You could find yourself sitting in front of your laptop after having completed some task or another, or perhaps without having done anything at all, and wondering, with some panic perhaps, what on earth you’re supposed to do now.

It could happen when you’re writing—you might have no idea how to proceed with your story, or how to solve an issue in it, such as, perhaps, a location you realize doesn’t fit in it after all, perhaps a character you need to change, add or even remove. This might happen at any point in your work, but it does tend to cause more worry if your manuscript is in its advanced stages, if you’ve already thought you’re almost done, and as you realize any change done at this point will have to be made throughout the entire manuscript.
Or it could happen when you’ve finished your book—perhaps you have no idea what to write next. You just might find yourself sitting in front of your laptop, racking your brain for ideas with no idea what words to put on the screen, and when that doesn’t work you might walk around the house absently busying yourself doing just about anything, or maybe go out for a walk, as if moving your body might move those gray cells in your mind to action. Pretty soon you’re obsessing so much about the lack of ideas that the tension alone blocks any creativity you have.

It might not be related to writing at all. There’s a long way between that draft you might have written and a published book, and that long way can be very foggy when you look at it the first time. You just might find yourself sitting before your draft with no idea what to do with it. How do the words on the screen or that bunch of handwritten-papers sitting in an orderly pile on your desk become a book you can hold, with a cover and all, or a downloadable ebook on Amazon?

Or maybe you do know how to get to a finished book, maybe you already have that part of the work figured out and have uploaded a finished book, perhaps you even have a print book, a paperback sitting on your desk beside your laptop, but you have no idea how to let readers know they’re out there for them to purchase, how to get readers to know that your book and you even exist
Whatever the circumstances are, this is happening to you now, and it will happen again. And again. At different times in the life of this venture you’ve chosen to undertake, on this path you will walk for years to come, there will be many times when you will find yourself having no idea what to do, no matter how much experience you’ve gained.
Whenever you think you now know everything, if you’re not one to stay where you are but would instead choose to evolve further, continue to develop yourself and what you do, you are bound to reach a fork in your path that will lead to a road you haven’t explored yet. And if you choose that path you will face new unknowns and wonder yet again what to do next.
No matter what it is that you don’t know, remember that it’s been done before. Yes, there’s a map that you can use to find your way. In fact, there are two maps. When it comes to the content of your story, that map is yours, it’s in your own mind. Your mind has taken you this far in the story, and it can and will take you the rest of the way. Look at the words you’ve written. They are yours. The story they make up, it came from you. And the answers to what’s missing, you’re the only one who has them. So take the time you need, and do what needs to be done. Read what you’ve written, go through the story in your mind, run with it wherever it goes, and write it all down, just scribble away and let the words turn into coherent sentences when they’re ready to. And if your story runs to a dead end or any place you don’t want it to go, just take some steps back, go back to where you can take it in a different direction. This is yours to do, and only you can do it.

As for publication and what comes after it, that map has already been charted by other authors who have taken all the steps to publication before you. Go online. Speak to authors who have already published. Ask for advice: you will get it. And here Author speaks of self-published authors—there are more and more of us with time, we’re gaining experience, and we help each other with valuable advice. You are not the first to do this. You might not know what to do next, but there are others who do. Just look at how many self-published books there are out there today.

There are specific, concrete steps that need to be taken to bring your draft to publication. You will do some of them yourself—such as completing the story, revising where needed, and preparing the publication formats, and in some you will be assisted by others—such as in the early stage editing or in preparing a cover. It might seem scary and you might think you can’t do it, but you can. The first time around you will learn what needs to be done and how to do it. The second time around you won’t feel lost anymore.

And as for what comes later, the post-publication, marketing side of it, in this era of online access to the world there are ways to let readers know you’re there, and these too you can discuss with authors like you and with those who help them publicize their books. Some of them have even written books on the subject. Just remember that this part of the self-publishing world is still new and evolving, so be open to experiencing new marketing venues alongside other authors.
And one more thing, by way of encouragement. With time, you will learn that yes, you do get stuck now and then, but then you learn what needs to be done and get through whatever it was you got stuck on. Like when you’re writing: you will learn that eventually you always find what eludes you that you need in order to complete your story.
And when you learn that, when you learn that you do in fact find your way every time, you will be able to take a step back when it happens, take a step back from the obstacle and from the tension being unable to break it brings with it. This will bring the solution faster. Taking a mental step back, letting go, giving yourself a breath, works. And that is perhaps the most important tip Author and Sister can give you.