We all like to hear about the journey to publication, and hopefully other people's success stories help bolster the confidence of those still slogging through the query trenches. But what happens after that first book deal? When the honeymoon is over, you end up back where you were - sitting in front of a blank Word document with shaky hands. Except this time, there are expectations hanging over you. With this in mind, I’ve created the SNOB (Second Novel Omnipresent Blues) interview.

Today’s guest for the SNOB is Kelly Sokol, the author of Breach which is a story about the blurring of the boundary between the battlefield and home front.

Whether you’re under contract or trying to snag another deal, you’re a professional now, with the pressures of a published novelist compounded with the still-present nagging self-doubt of the noobie. How to deal?

When I signed with an agent who then sold my debut novel, The Unprotected, to an editor at a sizable, respectable New York publishing house, I naively thought I'd accessed the keys to the publishing kingdom. I'd done those two, nearly impossible things, and surely everything in my writing and publishing life would be easier from then on. On top of that, The Unprotected had earned back in its first month and I was already accruing royalty payments. My debut novel was out in the world and it was a small success.

So much for the keys to the kingdom. Within a couple of months after publication day, I was left reeling. It started with an email from my editor: "I'm moving on to another house." Then the marketing and PR folks said the same. I didn't know that a third of the publisher's staff left or were let go that summer. It continued with an unanswered email and a second unanswered follow-up email to my agent. She had suddenly stopped agenting completely, and her clients found this out from one another.

I was completely on my own now to market and promote my novel. Impostor syndrome roared between my ears. The two professionals who'd championed my novel left it back in my lap. What did that say about my work? About me as a writer?

Fortunately, I'd formed partnerships with communities like Postpartum Support Virginia who were interested in The Unprotected and its subject matter--a driven woman who overcomes infertility to have the daughter she's sacrificed everything for and who is driven to the brink of insanity by the life she created for herself. I connected with book clubs who enjoyed arguing over protagonist Lara James's complicated decisions. I learned that, ultimately, no one cares about a novel like its author. No one will support my work if I don't.

But it still royally messed with my head.

Is it hard to leave behind the first novel and focus on the second?

Yes! In the months leading up to publication day for The Unprotected I wrote personal essays. I couldn't find the energy for fiction while swirling in the outward facing parts of an author's job (that part that I thought I wanted so badly--interviews, questions, early reader reactions).

At what point do you start diverting your energies from promoting your debut and writing / polishing / editing your second?

I am always writing, whether it's a novel draft or in the form of personal essays for publication, race reports to share with fellow trail and ultra runners, or morning pages to mine what my o'dark-thirty mind has for me. I'd written for years prior to publishing any of my writing, and I've always known that writing is how I make sense of the world.

The moment I decided to let go of my first novel and devote myself to Breach is fresh in my memory. It was the summer of 2017 (The Unprotected debuted in April 2017), and I was sitting with a group of writers all scribbling to the same prompts. As I made a prose list from one of the prompts, I met Marleigh, the protagonist of Breach. I knew she wouldn't let me go until I got her story down onto the page as truthfully and faithfully as I could. For me, stories always begin with a character, and when I meet a character that keeps me up at night worrying and wondering, I can't help but devote myself to her.

Your first book landed an agent and an editor, and hopefully some fans. Who are you writing the second one for? Them, or yourself?

I write my early drafts for me, and then revise and rewrite for readers. First drafts are compulsive. I'm tugging a knotted thread to see how far it will go before it breaks. I'm writing for the moment that my main character takes control of the plot and shows me her full humanity, power and truth. That experience is like nothing else. When reworking the later drafts, it's imperative to keep the reader in mind. How do I pace the book to keep them from putting it down? How vivid can I make setting and atmosphere? I tell my creative writing students this frequently, too. The joy of creating doesn't necessarily translate into a joyful read. An enjoyable read takes work!

Is there a new balance of time management to address once you’re a professional author?

It's incredible when a reader of my first novel asks when or where they can find Breach. I knew I had multiple novels inside me, but I wasn't sure I had the stamina or discipline or thick skin to write and publish more.

I'm incredibly thankful that I had dedicated students who motivated me to keep at it. Who wants to learn from someone who has stopped writing and publishing? And my family took my writing more seriously after I had one book in the world, so I could be more protective of my writing time and schedule when I worked on Breach. It still took nearly five years from that first night of writing until publication! Nonetheless, my third novel is now finished and in the late draft revision stage. I'm much better at structuring and adhering to the writing schedule and process that work for me.

The months immediately surrounding publication are a heady whirlwind of promotion and touring, and they require serious time management. I'm definitely better at that this time around.

What did you do differently the second time around, with the perspective of a published author?

I didn't spend more than nine months looking for agency representation for Breach. That was a major change. I researched independent publishers, and quickly found two that took a serious interest. The experience with koehlerbooks has been terrific so far. I've had transparent insight into every step of the process, as well as much more input than I expected. I think it's important to know that there are different roadmaps to traditional publication.

I learned after The Unprotected that even if I sign with an agent and even if that agent sells my book to a large publisher that no one will care for my novel more than I do. I knew that ultimately I was on my own not only in writing the best book I could, but also in marketing, promoting and selling my work. No one is going to do that for me. Like Marleigh in Breach, I realized I am in charge of keeping my book and myself well afloat.

Kelly Sokol is the author of Breach and The Unprotected, which was featured on NPR and named one of Book Riot's 100 Must-Read Books of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood. She is a Pushcart Prize-nominated author and MFA creative writing graduate. Her work has appeared in Alpinist, UltraRunning Magazine, The Manifest-Station, Connotation Press, and more. She teaches creative writing at The Muse Writers Center. When she is not reading, writing or parenting, Kelly dreams, in color, of the mountains. She can often be found running in the backcountry. She resides in Virginia with her family.