Allison Epstein on the Differences Between Publishing Her First and Second Novels
My second novel, Let the Dead Bury the Dead, comes out in October, and I’m coming to terms with no longer being a debut author. It’s not my first rodeo anymore. What has the process taught me? Mostly that it takes more than two rodeos to be good at rodeos.
In some ways, I found publishing a book to be easier the second time. With my debut, I had no sense of how to calibrate my expectations. I scoured each “Most Anticipated” list hoping to see my name and constantly came away disappointed. Now, I take joy in the press I receive, but I know my book’s not ending up on Good Morning America. (Do I still hope? Sure. I’m human.)
I also have a better sense of how much control I have over sales—which is to say, not much. That’s been freeing. For publicity, I planned a few book events in cities where I have friends and family, and I’m blurbing other writers’ books to build relationships in my genre, and I’m trying to be chill otherwise. My team reassures me I don’t need to be on TikTok.
In other ways, though, publishing has been significantly harder the second go-round. I took eight years to move my debut, A Tip for the Hangman, from empty Word doc to published book. I was on the hook for a final draft of book two in 18 months, during a global pandemic that obliterated all my routines. Besides, there were eyes on me now. My editor and agent had expectations. What if I couldn’t deliver? What if my debut was a fluke, and a midlist fluke at that?
There were multiple points writing Let the Dead Bury the Dead that I thought this would be the book that beat me. I’m delighted to say it wasn’t. I’m so proud of how it came together, and I hope it finds readers who care about it as much as I do. But I’m not sure the process of publishing a book ever gets easier. Every project is different and comes with its own challenges, whether they’re thorny craft problems or new bumps on the emotional roller coaster of publishing. All I can do is keep working and hope I figure it out.
Anyway, I’ve been distracting from my publishing nerves by revising my third novel. Maybe it takes three rodeos to get good at rodeos. We’ll see.
Allison Epstein is the author of the historical fiction novels A Tip for the Hangman and Let the Dead Bury the Dead, both from Doubleday Books. Her third novel, Our Rotten Hearts, will be published in 2025.