The budding writer? Mostly go crazy

Beginning writers need psychological assistance. And not because of what they write, but because they published their first book. Various associations have decided in England, including obviously the Pen club, which intend to create a mental support network. Now, it is true that often an author in his first steps when he is confronted with publishing has the impression of going a little crazy, between dashed hopes, postponements, interlocutors who disappear, but it has always been believed that all this was so to speak ” normal”, which was part of a stress typical of a difficult environment. But no. A survey by the Bookseller (the magazine specializing in editorial problems) revealed a few weeks ago that the discomfort is much stronger than one thinks.

In fact, more than half of those interviewed claimed that the publication of the first book had caused them serious mental health problems. There were 180 respondents, which from a statistical point of view are perhaps not many, especially in a market like the English-speaking one, but well distributed between fiction, non-fiction and children’s books, and also between types of publishing houses. Analogous for all, however, the symptoms reported: from anxiety to stress, from depression to a disastrous collapse of self-esteem, to not feeling supported, to bad communication with the publisher. Not only that, but the day of publication for many was to tell them the saddest life, because they suddenly understood that nothing at all would happen, that they were alone with themselves and powerless.

Only 22 percent are perfectly satisfied, ranging from grumbling to disaster among others. One respondent cited the scandalous lunch (with friends or perhaps family) to celebrate the book’s release as the scandal stone, discovering that he had to foot the bill even though the publisher had offered the wine. Candid soul, the expectations of him were a bit unrealistic, many Italian authors would comment, even non-debutants. The problem of communication with the publisher is more serious: another of the interviewees explained that he had spent all the advance with the psychoanalyst, to overcome the trauma of the information that did not arrive – and here it really seems an extreme case, it is not excluded that it was he who got on the nerves of the editor and press office by transforming himself between emails and the telephone into a serial harasser (it happens, it happens…).

The anecdote on the subject, abroad as in Italy, is endless, usually told with a smile. But maybe it’s a mistake, who knows, an excess of cynicism, a phenomenon of hazing, a reflection of the hateful patriarchy. According to the Bookseller, yes, there is a lot of ingenuity, okay, in the behavior of newcomers (not all, there are very clever ones, in Great Britain as in Italy) but above all an objective and widespread suffering that is not yet taken into due consideration . Hence the decision to create a body capable of coordinating policies of respect, help and benevolence. Those making their debut should not be discouraged, on the contrary they must be lovingly assisted.

At a meeting also organized by the magazine, for example, the communication manager for Canongate (independent and quality publisher, with authors such as Irvine Welsh or Nick Cave, but also Michael Faber and Barack Obama) launched the idea of ​​creating Society of authors (a trade union that brings together those who live from their writing) a real manual for those who approach this world to promote, needless to say, the “best practices”; others have committed themselves to online courses intended for editorial staff on how to best relate with authors, in general good intentions – and quite easy – good feelings are certainly not lacking. No one has yet proposed the psychologist in the newsroom, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get there. In England, it goes without saying. Our rookies, numerous and often not so lucky, judging at least by the social networks seem to have quite tough skin. And without compassionate editors.