I’m not a juggler, but wouldn’t it be nice? I don’t mean the performer-type who has five or more objects he or she manages to toss and catch without dropping a single one. I want to be the kind of juggler who can handle a multitude of tasks without dropping a single one.

To date, my skills in this area prove I need a lot more practice. For example, I haven’t put up a blog post since early May. A major item this not-so-great juggler dropped. Why? I blame it on the cycle of writing.

We all know writing takes a fair amount of time. What often is not considered, however, is all the other things that go into it. Here’s an abbreviated version of what I like to call a typical author’s writing cycle.

The Idea

First comes the excitement of an idea. Hooray! Then comes the research. This takes a fair amount of time, but once information is finally gathered, strong and solid enough to support the story, onward to an outline followed by writing a rough first draft.

Now comes the fun part. Edit, edit, edit, and polish the piece. Did you get rid of plot holes? Tie up all the loose ends? When the manuscript looks practically pristine, send it to a super-pro editor. The truly persnickety editor (the only kind you want) will find hundreds of things which must be fixed. This leads to several more rounds of back-and-forth edits prior to a final proofreading.

Oh, and don’t forget to find beta readers who will give honest feedback (this usually involves more fixing). Finally, the interior must be formatted and the cover design inspected and confirmed. File all the paperwork to ensure every legal “i” has been dotted and each legal “t” has been crossed. Now is a good time to order a proof copy for another critical look. More errors will be found here (guaranteed), which must be corrected before the final print. A release date is chosen, and – you guessed it – time to start publicizing the book before it even becomes available.

The Backlist

Wait a minute. I have existing books. What about them? Well, don’t worry. They still require plenty of TLC too; including scheduling talks, writing social media posts, and setting up signings. Writing ad copy and buying a few ads doesn’t hurt either. Failure to do these things, means the existing books will drop into obscurity with the biggest thud you’ve ever heard.

Note to self: Refresh your memory before talks on what’s in the older books – easy to forget when you just finished a totally different book, and are working on another book because…

The Next Book

An author’s work is never done. A next book must always be in the pipeline. So before the latest release even comes out, and while publicizing the existing books, an author is way behind the curve if they haven’t started creating the next book (refer back to “The Idea” for what this looks like).

And so it goes. Rinse and repeat. Over and over and over again.

Do you see what I mean? The struggle is real, and isn’t going away anytime soon, which is why I need to learn how to juggle. Right this very minute. While I’m trying to figure it out, I hope you’ll take a look at my upcoming release – On a City Street. Here’s what a few reviewers had to say:

“I found it really hard to put the book down and loved the twist ending.” –Trudi LoPreto for Readers’ Favorite

“This well-written novel has a plot that keeps readers engaged, and characters who soon come to feel like old friends.” –Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite

This 5-star Readers’ Favorite novel is a sweet romance that contains a touch of mystery. Click HERE or on the right-hand sidebar book cover image to learn more and/or to preorder On a City Street. Releases on July 9!

By the way, this story was inspired by certain events which occurred a few years ago (no spoilers here). The same type of events have also been reported recently in today’s news. Does this pique your curiosity?

I hope so!

Pat Wahler is the author of multiple award-winning novel, I am Mrs. Jesse James; On a City Street, first in the Becker Family series; and Let Your Heart Be Light: A Celebration of Christmas. She is co-author of a picture book, Midnight the One-Eyed Cat.