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I may have talked about this before, but it is really important for indie authors to unplug and decompress. The funny irony is that, while there were many reasons I chose to self-publish, one of them was that I didn’t want the pressure of working under someone else’s deadline.

And yet, it’s hard to imagine having a NY publisher could be more stress than going indie.

In theory, it’s completely stress-free. You work at your own pace. You do your own thing. You chug along like the little engine that could, and everything is great. It started out that way for me. Then I started taking on obligations and creating expectations.

At first I released my novella and I just did my thing. But I didn’t do it quietly. I did it loudly. And suddenly there was a lot of pressure. A lot of the pressure is self-inflicted. In fact, probably almost all of it is.

This isn’t really about sales numbers and stats. It’s not about too much social marketing. It’s more about the cumulative effect of everything. Being driven and ambitious is seen as a virtue in the western world, but at what cost?

High levels of stress are very unhealthy. Both emotionally and physically. As an indie, you have to do literally everything. Even things you don’t have to do, you are in charge of getting them done. And making sure they get done right. I talk a lot about the happy happy side of this… creative control, freedom, fun. And, despite this post, it can be a lot of fun.

But the darker side is something that we ignore probably more than we should. It’s when your to-do list far outpaces your ability to get things done. When you feel like you’re constantly running to catch up. When you’re afraid if you stop or slow down, you’ll disappear.

It’s just not healthy.

The problem is that self-publishing has always been hard. But now, with the changes in publishing, more and more actually GOOD writers are jumping on board to do it. It was a little easier to rise to the top when so few good writers were doing it. When you’re on Kindle and there are a lot of other good writers who are savvy marketers and pricing low and having great covers… it gets very competitive.

One of the predictions made about e-publishing by Joe Konrath and others, is that as prices drop all across the boards, readers will have more discretionary funds to buy more books. So more authors will be able to grab a piece of the pie. That’s true. But everybody’s slice of the pie is likely to be smaller. It’s going to be harder and harder to reach the top of the heap.

With over 600,000 ebooks in the Kindle store, and growing, it’s harder than ever before. It’s no easier for traditionally published authors, though. Those authors, who previously only had to compete for reader attention with other traditionally published books, now have to share virtual shelf space and mind share with the talented indies.

When I started this, I had the attitude that it was going to take as long as it takes to build an audience. It would take as long as it takes to get where I want to go. But when you start to see a certain level of success it’s harder and harder to dial it back and be calm and patient.

Suddenly you become overwhelmed with a to-do list larger than you can possibly tackle. And the stress and hamster wheel you thought you were getting off or avoiding altogether becomes a reality.

But the thing is… if you get to this place (like I have gotten to this place), it’s nobody else’s fault. So here are some ways to decompress and keep the stress from overwhelming you:

1. No matter how much success you see temporarily, don’t hold onto it too tightly.

The writing life is feast and famine and it’s true for indies as well. It may take years before you see any leveling out and true stability. Your body can’t take the stress you’ll put on it if you freak during that whole trip.

2. Get up off your ass.

Get out of the house. Away from the computer. Take a walk. Socially engage with the three-dimensional people where it’s not about your book.

3. Take time for yourself for whatever relaxes you.

Yoga. Meditation. Massage. Manicures. Bubble baths. Whatever.

4. Keep track of the things you need to do but work on accomplishing a manageable list of tasks each day.

If your to-do list has more than you can possibly accomplish, even if you accomplish a good chunk of it, you’ll feel like you failed. Prioritize and tackle the most important things first. Leave the others for another day. (You’ll also find that some things you think you have to do will just eventually disappear and turn out not to have been necessary at all.)

5. Unplug.

One of the hardest things about working for yourself is that you’re the boss. And frankly my boss is a crazy bitch. You will sometimes push yourself far harder than any other boss could push you. When you work from home there is no line between work and relaxing. It’s hard to find that space that’s just yours where no work and nothing else can intrude.

Pick a time to unplug and stop work. Don’t be partially “on” all the time. Trust me on this one, it will make you crazy.

If you’re juggling kids and another job along with the indie thing… then God help you. I don’t envy you.

Zoe Winters writes and self-publishes both fiction and nonfiction under a few different names and imprints. She’s been called a “publishing geek” and loves all the minutiae of publishing just a little too much. She’s very passionate about the indie author movement and helping other authors who want to self-publish learn how to do it in the way that best suits them and their goals. To contact Zoe, visit her at: smartselfpublishing.com or http://www.zoewinters.org

Tags: challenges of working from home, indie authorship, self-publishing, stress management, stress reduction, unplugging

This entry was posted on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 12:14 am and is filed under For authors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.