I decided that I wanted to write a book about adult ADHD about 3 years before I typed the first word of the manuscript that would become It All Makes Sense Now. During that time, I thought about writing every day, but instead of getting words on a page I spent my time overwhelmed and confused about the publishing process and the options available.
This was such a validating read. It's refreshing to see the challenges of traditional publishing through a neurodivergent lens—thank you for sharing this perspective with honesty and clarity.
I'm an ADHD adult and therapist and about to be a second-time published author for New Harbinger Publications. And the struggle is real to get the words out, organized, and polished. Thanks for this post.
Thank you, Meredith. This is incredibly helpful. I'm currently writing my first book, and I have a feeling I'll refer back to these points often, especially from the ADHD perspective. It's also reminded me that I need to be brave and reach out to fellow authors so I have a community around me. Writing can be a very lonely process!
I’m writing a book right now and planning on self publishing. I’m using the punchy book accelerator program, which really helps with accountability and breaking it form into manageable bits and walks you through the process step by step.
Incoming long winded ADHD comment 🥳 I have no idea what the biggest challenge is haha. BUT I will say… I was traditionally published in academia as a professor (former now, I quit in 2023… and was subsequently diagnosed with ADHD etc. lol go figure), and so I think it’s precisely my knowledge and experience with that traditional publishing model + academic publishing world and its processes that led me to decide to create my own publishing company. However, I also decided to do this because of my experience and my love of the process. I served on editorial boards for scholarly journals, and I LOVED the editing process. I still do. I got to be on both sides of it fairly often. I loved my editors at the company that put out my academic book. It was a really positive experience for the most part, and my main editor was remarkably chill when I missed deadlines, which was literally for every chapter. But the royalties were shit (that’s academia, it’s not like I was writing a riveting novel) and budgets for any real marketing of my book were virtually nonexistent. When I quit my job, I had to think hard about what I loved doing, what I would love to keep doing, and what I’d love to do more of. And when it came down to it, it was writing. Yes, I started my company as a means to publish my own writing and have complete control over the entire process, but I also wanted to do it to help others, to amplify marginalized voices and support underdogs. My plans got detailed with the death of my dad + 3 diagnoses just 4 months after I left my job (I had tenure and had been at the same university for 17 years), but I’m finally getting back on track and it feels amazing. All that to say, I published a book just a year ago, and I did everything myself. And when I say everything, I literally mean everything, down to filing for copyright, securing ISBN numbers, the proofreading (though I did enlist a squad to help me with that), securing beta readers/potential early reviewers, the editing, the book formatting, and even the cover design. I did this because I thought, if I’m going to run a publishing company (that uses a self-publishing model) then I want to be well acquainted with every aspect of the business. I’m very creative and I have enough self-awareness to let something go if I’m not good at it (eg cover design). But I’m pretty crazy. I don’t recommend this route unless you have a deep love for the entire process and you’re passionate about running your own business. Because it is a business. Like, if you just love writing but are overwhelmed by the rest of it/don’t care, seek traditional publishing… except that this is so hard and the process of getting published can be so brutal on RSD-prone people in particular. But if you’re creative, adventurous, want to be in business for yourself and understand and accept the challenges involved, go for self-publishing. You can always still delegate everything but the writing (or hell, even the writing haha, I guess that’s what ghost writers are paid to do) but just know that it’s not cheap. The advantage of a traditional publishing route, if you can get a book deal, is the potential financial benefit, meaning you don’t have to pay for your book being published, and if it’s a good deal with a decent advance, the company will market your book because your success is their success. The book I published myself last year cost me nothing more, financially, than the cost of copyright and the ISBN numbers (so around $100); but: never forget how valuable your time is. It cost me a lot of time. It takes time. And if you self publish and only want to write, you’ll need to consider the costs of hiring an editor, a cover designer, a book formatter, and any marketing you might desire. It’s a huge investment. My 17 cents (used to be 2, but I’ve adjusted for inflation). Good luck out there! Happy to chat with anyone about this at anytime. ❤️Thanks for coming to my TED talk 🫥🤣🤘
“If you’re the type of ADHDer who struggles to get anything done when you have a 4pm appointment in your calendar”. Ermmm… not just me then?!
I self published a decade ago and I’d love a trad publisher next time but my trepidation is the delay between writing and selling.
I will be well and truly over it by the time I’ve got to start promo.
It really did feel like forever and my timeline was quicker than many!
This was such a validating read. It's refreshing to see the challenges of traditional publishing through a neurodivergent lens—thank you for sharing this perspective with honesty and clarity.
I'm an ADHD adult and therapist and about to be a second-time published author for New Harbinger Publications. And the struggle is real to get the words out, organized, and polished. Thanks for this post.
Thank you, Meredith. This is incredibly helpful. I'm currently writing my first book, and I have a feeling I'll refer back to these points often, especially from the ADHD perspective. It's also reminded me that I need to be brave and reach out to fellow authors so I have a community around me. Writing can be a very lonely process!
I’m writing a book right now and planning on self publishing. I’m using the punchy book accelerator program, which really helps with accountability and breaking it form into manageable bits and walks you through the process step by step.
Incoming long winded ADHD comment 🥳 I have no idea what the biggest challenge is haha. BUT I will say… I was traditionally published in academia as a professor (former now, I quit in 2023… and was subsequently diagnosed with ADHD etc. lol go figure), and so I think it’s precisely my knowledge and experience with that traditional publishing model + academic publishing world and its processes that led me to decide to create my own publishing company. However, I also decided to do this because of my experience and my love of the process. I served on editorial boards for scholarly journals, and I LOVED the editing process. I still do. I got to be on both sides of it fairly often. I loved my editors at the company that put out my academic book. It was a really positive experience for the most part, and my main editor was remarkably chill when I missed deadlines, which was literally for every chapter. But the royalties were shit (that’s academia, it’s not like I was writing a riveting novel) and budgets for any real marketing of my book were virtually nonexistent. When I quit my job, I had to think hard about what I loved doing, what I would love to keep doing, and what I’d love to do more of. And when it came down to it, it was writing. Yes, I started my company as a means to publish my own writing and have complete control over the entire process, but I also wanted to do it to help others, to amplify marginalized voices and support underdogs. My plans got detailed with the death of my dad + 3 diagnoses just 4 months after I left my job (I had tenure and had been at the same university for 17 years), but I’m finally getting back on track and it feels amazing. All that to say, I published a book just a year ago, and I did everything myself. And when I say everything, I literally mean everything, down to filing for copyright, securing ISBN numbers, the proofreading (though I did enlist a squad to help me with that), securing beta readers/potential early reviewers, the editing, the book formatting, and even the cover design. I did this because I thought, if I’m going to run a publishing company (that uses a self-publishing model) then I want to be well acquainted with every aspect of the business. I’m very creative and I have enough self-awareness to let something go if I’m not good at it (eg cover design). But I’m pretty crazy. I don’t recommend this route unless you have a deep love for the entire process and you’re passionate about running your own business. Because it is a business. Like, if you just love writing but are overwhelmed by the rest of it/don’t care, seek traditional publishing… except that this is so hard and the process of getting published can be so brutal on RSD-prone people in particular. But if you’re creative, adventurous, want to be in business for yourself and understand and accept the challenges involved, go for self-publishing. You can always still delegate everything but the writing (or hell, even the writing haha, I guess that’s what ghost writers are paid to do) but just know that it’s not cheap. The advantage of a traditional publishing route, if you can get a book deal, is the potential financial benefit, meaning you don’t have to pay for your book being published, and if it’s a good deal with a decent advance, the company will market your book because your success is their success. The book I published myself last year cost me nothing more, financially, than the cost of copyright and the ISBN numbers (so around $100); but: never forget how valuable your time is. It cost me a lot of time. It takes time. And if you self publish and only want to write, you’ll need to consider the costs of hiring an editor, a cover designer, a book formatter, and any marketing you might desire. It’s a huge investment. My 17 cents (used to be 2, but I’ve adjusted for inflation). Good luck out there! Happy to chat with anyone about this at anytime. ❤️Thanks for coming to my TED talk 🫥🤣🤘