I have a freak-out every single time I write something for a new client. I am, however, now( mostly) calm about dealing with book projects because I have worked on so many that I know what to expect. If it’ s your first time working on a book, it is easy to get overwhelmed, panic and shut down. Fear of the unknown is strong, and if you’ re prone to anxiety, your brain will always go straight for the nuclear option.“ They’ re going to fire and sue me!”

I probably had 15 completely hysterical phone calls( from me) with my editor Billie Brownell while working on my first book. She would always say to me,“ It’ ll all work out.” You know what? It did. Say that to yourself. Positive self-talk is a standard of self-help practices for a reason— it works.

FREAK-OUT SITUATIONS AND HOW TO COPE

Maybe you won’ t freak out if you know to what to expect while you’ re working on a book. Here’ s what commonly pushes first-time authors over the edge.

• You’ re not offered an advance. Don’ t sign the contract. Go back to the publisher and ask for an advance. It can be as little as $ 1,000, but you have to get some money up front.

• You suck at photography and you’ re responsible for providing pictures. Be honest about your photography abilities during contract negotiations and find out if there is a budget to hire a professional photographer. If there isn’ t a photo budget, they’ re going to have to work with what you can provide. You need to suck it up and learn about how to photograph adequately. Publishers usually have guidelines and tips they can send you. There are also tons of online resources with photography tips.

Source photos from friends and colleagues.( Try to spare some money to pay them, even if it isn’ t much. The professionals will scream at me, but sometimes there isn’ t a $ 150 per photo budget. In that case $ 25 is better than nothing, and people can always say“ no” when you ask them for pictures.) Always credit the photographers and mention them in your acknowledgements.

• You don’ t like your book cover. Short answer: Tough. Longer answer: In the early stages of cover design, you’ ll have some input. Be calm, professional and specific when sending feedback to your publisher.(“ This font looks too old-fashioned. This picture is not at all indicative of what is in the book. A picture of XX would be better. How can I help you find one that works?”) In the end, though, if you’ re not fronting all of the costs, the publisher has the final say.

Hint: Try to get cover approval written into your next contract.

• You have to turn in a complete chapter and provide photographs a mere month after signing your contract. This is the start of high anxiety for many people, but this step is necessary to make sure you and your editor and art director are on the same page. They will also use these samples to make a BLAD( Book Layout and Design) to act as sales materials. The BLAD is often, but not always, a template to help you as you’ re writing the rest of your book.

• You don’ t like the design of your book. Give comments and hope they are incorporated. As with the cover, unless you’ re the one fronting the costs, you do not have the final say. All of the garden publishers have fairly distinct styles. Hopefully you chose to work with a publisher that has a design aesthetic you like.

• You never saw a BLAD. Let’ s say your book involves a bunch of how-to projects. You wrote a sample project and then never saw a design to use as a template. KEEP WRITING. Once you have an approved outline don’ t use anything as an excuse to slow progress.

• You have a quick turnaround to produce the whole book. START. Hopefully you wrote a fairly detailed outline. Copy the outline into a Word doc and start filling it in. If the whole book is too much to deal with at once make each chapter a separate doc. It’ s easier to come back to something other than a blank page.

• Fact-checking is slowing you down. Write what you know and put XXXs or something consistent that’ s easy to find in a search to fill in where you need to fact-check. That way you won’ t get sidetracked on the internet and get slowed down.

NADZEYA _ DZIVAKOVA

8