The Life and Times of a Publisher and Writer

[APFuchs]

As a fulltime writer and publisher, my work life doesn’t start at 9 and end at 5 like most. If anything, my day starts around 10 in the morning and ends around midnight, six days a week.

Of course, I’m not sitting in front of a computer for 14 hours every day. I’d go into severe burnout if I did (i.e. I pulled a 17-hour shift the other day and paid for it bigtime the next). But my work day has no off switch. I get the bulk of what I need to do done before 5pm, have supper, spend time with my family, then usually work from 8-10pm again. However, during those hours away from the computer, I’m still working inside my head, thinking about the various projects I’m involved in, how I’m going to solve certain problems in, say, a book’s design or layout, or what color text I’m going to use on the cover. If I’m in the middle of a personal writing project, my mind’s going a mile a minute, thinking about the next scene or three, perhaps even getting new ideas for other stories.

Which brings me to today. I’m excited. Today, if all goes to plan, I’ll be wrapping up two projects. And, for me, “wrapping up” doesn’t just mean I’m done writing or getting a book ready for press, it’s means that that project is done-done, gone to press and left alone till release time.

Up until today, I’ve been caught in an internal whirlwind, one of a constantly-busy head and fluttering emotions thanks to the excitement for each of these projects.

Once I lay these puppies to bed, that tornado of thought and feeling does a final zip through my body and then–POOF–gone . . . until we get close to release day.

I’m excited for the rush of wrapping these things up, the final slurry of emotions and thought, the big OOMPF at the end of a job well done, and the amazing sense of accomplishment at seeing yet another couple projects through to their completion. There’s nothing like sitting back, crossing your arms and knowing something is done, complete and finito.

I love it. Can’t wait.

Gotta get to it.