Christine Kelly Reads and Writes

There has been a big learning curve on how I handle my time now that I’m authoring, mothering, agenting, and working my full-time job. It’s a lot. And one thing that has been the source of guilt (on two sides of the coin) has been the reason I started doing most of my things, and also the thing that has helped me cope with the others: Reading for me.

I’ve dealt with a lot of guilt (still on-going) with how long it takes me to get back to authors in my Query Manager. I know what it’s like to be on the other side of things and the waiting is (one of) the hardest parts. I also want to be respectful of your time and work.

But also, on the flip side, I worry (and get anxious about) not knowing the latest new reads. Once I start to see too many books used as comps I don’t know, my anxiety ticks up a notch and fear I’m not reading enough.

And I think it is also important that I am able to recognize comps, trends, and author writing style. Which is why, even when the guilt is clawing at me to return to Query Manager, I will be sure to keep reading what I want to read, or need to read for myself. Because at the end of the day, if I only read my queries, or fulls, I won’t be aware of market trends, craft, and generally turn off my editing mind. And when that happens, I also may not feel that same high from reading a book purely because I want to, like the story and that’s it. My mind isn’t used for anything else.

So many people leave the industry (author, agent, editor, etc) because of burnout. So it’s important to me to protect reading and keep finding time to do that. So when you may see my posts about what I’m reading, I hope you understand I’m doing it to better serve my authors, be a good book citizen, and help my own writing. But most of all, I’m doing it so I don’t disapear from burnout.