A Day in the Life of an Author: A Guest Post by Renee Rosen
I’m on maternity leave! During this time, a few of my favorite authors offered to step up and write guest posts so that this blog would remain active while I adjust to my new role as a mother. I may also be a bit slower to respond. Thanks for understanding and for being so supportive of me, my family, and my blog. Want to donate a few dollars to keep this blog running or perhaps contribute to my diaper fund? You can do so on Venmo or Paypal.
A Day in the Life of an Author: A Guest Post by Renee Rosen
Before my first novel was published back in 2007, I was slogging away in my advertising job and dreaming about what my days would be like if only I were a full-time writer. Well, fast-forward many, many years and nine novels later, and now I am a full-time writer. While it’s pretty great, let me tell you, it’s nothing like what I thought it would be. Come with me and I’ll take you a on tour of a day in the life…
For me, no two days are ever the same, aside from the fact that I do write every day—seven days a week—even on holidays. And more times than not, I do my best writing in the morning. From there, how I structure each day depends on which phase of the writing process I’m in. For example, drafting a new book is very different from editing a book I’m delivering to my editor, which is also very different from copyediting, marketing, and promoting a book that’s about to be published.
A Day in the Life of an Author: A Guest Post by Renee Rosen
On a typical day, I get up anywhere from 5AM to 9AM. I refuse to set an alarm clock unless I have a plane to catch or an early morning call. Once up, I get coffee. We are very serious about our coffee in this household, and I start with an americano with foamed almond milk. With coffee in hand, I go to my desk and because I’m a glutton, I check my book stats. Penguin Random House has an Author Portal which gives you the cold hard facts—how many print books, e-books and audiobooks moved over the past 24 hours. It’s like stepping on the scale each morning.
A Day in the Life of an Author: A Guest Post by Renee Rosen
With stats checked, I move onto any emails that may have come in overnight and then, finally, I’m ready to get down to work. Right now, I’m juggling two books: I’m marketing and promoting my April 2023 release, FIFTH AVENUE GLAMOUR GIRL and at the same time, I’m drafting the new book I’m writing for 2025 (about Ruth Handler who invented Barbie).
A Day in the Life of an Author: A Guest Post by Renee Rosen
Right now, I’m looking at a FIFTH AVENUE GLAMOUR GIRL pre-pub to-do list that seems to grow daily. I need to update my website, issue a newsletter, work on the pre-order campaign, complete some Q&A interviews, figure out my event schedule, create my presentation slide show, and a whole host of details.
On the writing side, my Barbie book is slow going, which is not surprising. Drafting from a blank page is daunting for me. I work in a software program called Scrivener. It allows me to keep all my research in one place and I can move scenes and chapters around with a click of a button. Hemingway said, “The first draft of anything is shit”. Pardon my language but he was right. First drafts are me telling myself the story, or in the best-case scenario, waiting for my characters to start speaking to me and telling me their stories. Drafting really takes it out of me and while I aim for about 2,000 words a day, that rarely happens. Some days I do so much deleting that even after hours of typing, my word count will only show a net gain of 40 words.
When I feel emptied out, I’ll take a break. I’m a bit of news junky so I might grab a quick lunch and watch a half hour of news. Then I’ll do some reading. One thing I never expected after getting published was the number of blurb requests that come in. I usually have a stack of books on my desk that I’m reading with an eye toward endorsing. At some point I venture onto social media. While I consider both reading and social media to be part of my job, it’s so fun that I feel guilty taking time during the day to do it.
Since writing is such a sedentary job and horrible for your posture, I try to hit the treadmill at least five days a week. This could happen anywhere between 11AM and 5PM. I’ll put on an audio book and alternate running/walking for about 40 minutes. Longer if the book is really, really good! ee
I also love meeting with book clubs and supporting my fellow authors by attending their events. Sometimes this happens in person, but mostly it’s over Zoom. On a busy week, I can have two or three book clubs and author events a week.
We tend to eat dinner late, usually around 8 or 9 at night. I am very fortunate to have a man who cooks, so John typically makes dinner and I do the dishes. It’s a more than fair arrangement. While he cooks, we play music and try to relax. After dinner we’ll catch a little news, or a show we’re binging, sometimes it’s a little backgammon before we turn in. The next day, the process starts all over again. Is it the glamour life I thought it would be? No, but it’s one I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Find more from Renee Rosen:
Preorder Link for FIFTH AVENUE GLAMOUR GIRL https://amzn.to/3TcLALY
Website: www.reneerosen.com
A Day in the Life of an Author: A Guest Post by Renee Rosen
