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"You don't need to be everything": A 
I just finished a meeting with the publisher. I expressed anxiety that creating my season's schedule out of nothing was very hard for me—timelines, due dates, overviews. She promptly said, "Of course it is. You're not a managing editor."
I just finished a meeting with the publisher. I expressed anxiety that creating my season's schedule out of nothing was very hard for me—timelines, due dates, overviews. She promptly said, "Of course it is. You're not a managing editor."
I looked at her, very confused. She said, "Do you realize that, at a normal publishing house, you'd be doing maybe 1/4th of the job you're doing now?"
"No?"
"You're currently a copyeditor, a proofreader, a managing editor, and an acquisitions editor. You're not supposed to be."
"No?"
"You're currently a copyeditor, a proofreader, a managing editor, and an acquisitions editor. You're not supposed to be."
"Oh." I thought of my coworkers. All of them managed it just fine. They acquire books, schedule out their seasons, and copyedit their books. "I'm not?"
"You've been here for two years, right? At a big publishing house, Sadie, you'd have been training under someone, and at this
"You've been here for two years, right? At a big publishing house, Sadie, you'd have been training under someone, and at this
point, they'd MAYBE let you write catalog copy. Or you could MAYBE oversee a single book."
"WHAT."
"Meanwhile, out of sheer necessity, you're the editor for 10 books, copyediting most of them, acquiring books in the meantime, and trying to make schedules for your next season."
"WHAT."
"Meanwhile, out of sheer necessity, you're the editor for 10 books, copyediting most of them, acquiring books in the meantime, and trying to make schedules for your next season."
I stared at her a little longer.
"You're moving very quickly," she confirmed. "And it's completely understandable that you don't know these things. The fact that you can do this much is amazing."
I'd just sort of figured I wasn't learning fast enough.
"You're moving very quickly," she confirmed. "And it's completely understandable that you don't know these things. The fact that you can do this much is amazing."
I'd just sort of figured I wasn't learning fast enough.
"So..." I was confused. "Okay, so... I don't do the schedule. You and our managing editor do the schedule?"
"Right. And we're going to take more off your plate so you can spend time acquiring."
OFF my plate?
The answer wasn't that I needed to become all of these things???
"Right. And we're going to take more off your plate so you can spend time acquiring."
OFF my plate?
The answer wasn't that I needed to become all of these things???
I was completely befuddled. I'd been sitting here not feeling like enough, and she was telling me that I'm doing far, far more than most people in my stage of progression. She wanted to make it EASIER on me, not harder.
"I want you to understand how much you do, and to be
"I want you to understand how much you do, and to be
patient with yourself for the areas you're still learning."
It is so rare to hear a manager tell us to slow down.
I think about my TTRPG friends. How many teach themselves writing, editing, layout, art direction, graphic design, streaming, mechanical design, story design,
It is so rare to hear a manager tell us to slow down.
I think about my TTRPG friends. How many teach themselves writing, editing, layout, art direction, graphic design, streaming, mechanical design, story design,
researching, mentoring, marketing, kickstarting. I think about how many of us wonder why we're not wearing more hats.
I think about how it's amazing when we can wear even two or three.
You don't NEED to be everything. That's what other people are for. That's why we make teams.
I think about how it's amazing when we can wear even two or three.
You don't NEED to be everything. That's what other people are for. That's why we make teams.
Take a breath today. Lean back and breathe. Look at how much you do.
Ask yourself if you're trying to be everything. Put the extras down for a bit. Praise yourself for what you are.
Ask yourself if you're trying to be everything. Put the extras down for a bit. Praise yourself for what you are.
