Pulling Back the Curtain on Becoming a Published Author
Publishing a book is a dream come true—until reality sets in. In his witty and candid essay, Scott Eveloff pulls back the curtain on what it feels like to be the dog who actually caught the car—and discovers the real work begins after “The End.”
Publishing a book is not for the faint of heart.
I followed that sage piece of advice: write what you know. But there were already many medical thrillers out, written by authors far more established and talented than me. I was comfortable and familiar with horror and supernatural through reading and research. Again, there were already so many such novels already published, written by authors better known and talented than me. So I wrote about that which I know, but with an original twist that hopefully would separate me from many others. I combined medical intrigue with supernatural villains instead of Big Pharma villains. I inserted a little-known supernatural creature into my World War II historical fiction story. Through literary agent advice (in many thoughtful rejection letters) I remained mindful of the delicate balance between intriguingly original and too niche and narrow.
Years of revisions, rejections, more revisions, hiring and paying editors, and countless writing conferences ensued. I wrote for my own entertainment firmly believing that after all, publishing a book is something that happens to those many other better or luckier writers. Facebook posts from debut authors prompted jealousy, tempered with resignation of my own solitary literary fate. Then, whether through my off-beat cross-genre writing, sheer persistence, or just luck, my debut novel was accepted for traditional publication, followed by another novel. Over-the-top elation followed my initial reaction of utter disbelief, once I confirmed the two publishers had not simply contacted the wrong person by mistake.
But now, months away from my first novel’s release date, elation has ebbed.
I feel like the dog who actually caught the car.
Besides the dog-chasing-after-the-car idiom, I can only compare my situation to entering medical school from college. Then as now, I was suddenly immersed in a strange new world of strict responsibilities, impossible selling and marketing goals, entirely foreign words and phrases, and expectations of a knowledge base for which I had no prior experience to draw from. Distribution websites, promotional outlets and on-line marketing mechanisms, publicist offers, book review options, and Amazon rating systems have replaced medication names, medication mechanisms of action, disease states, anatomical structures, and treatment algorithms. The impact has been no less overwhelming, except perhaps with less anxiety over the possibility of a malpractice lawsuit.
It may seem a stretch to compare learning how to treat living breathing human beings with validating a publisher’s trust in the potential profit of my book. Yet I have been met with the same sense of suddenly falling into the deep end, expected to stay afloat and beat everyone else to the shore without lessons or a life preserver. I had four years of medical school to validate my Doctor of Medicine label, but I’ve had only months to fulfill my Published Author label.
I’ve heard it said lawyers should not become their own clients and I confirm that doctors should not manage their own practice. Of course, plumbers have no problem with their own leaking toilets, accountants can do their own taxes, and mechanics can spare themselves the cost of dealership repair shops. Writers responsible for getting their books out into the world likely fall somewhere in-between. I have encountered fellow published authors who revel in marketing, bookstore signings, and managing their Amazon ratings. Whether I simply am not one for self-promotion, or resent being thrust into such responsibilities instead of volunteering for them, I have found the world of marketing and publishing finances unexpectedly stressful and at times overwhelming.
Writing fiction was an absorbing and even exciting pastime when there was no pressure. In fact, writing became therapeutic. I had control over the lives of characters and over the events in my fictional world, even as my own real world spun further out of control in the face of my son’s worsening medical condition. Creating plot twists softened and distracted not only from my parental concerns, but also from the stressful turmoil of medical practice. As those life priorities became more real and more urgent, my writing became increasingly therapeutic and relaxing. I could write a paragraph, a chapter, or put it off for a better time, all without any performance pressure or deadline. Then I got accepted for publication.
Don’t get me wrong – I still feel an extraordinary sense of pride and accomplishment at having my writing accepted for publication, at obtaining validation from professionals in the publishing world. Chasing the dream of reaching the Published Author status, like chasing the car for my four-legged friends, was an enthusiastic and enjoyable preoccupation that paid off.
Living the dream has been a whole different story, no pun intended.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Scott Eveloff MD is a pulmonary physician with thirty years’ experience of treating seriously ill patients. He has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, ABC’s 20/20, and Inside Edition. His insider’s knowledge of the many ways to harm patients in today’s hospitals as there are to heal them prompted this debut novel.
Dr. Eveloff loves evenings out on the deck with a good whiskey, dwelling on new plot twists. He loves to travel but hates cruises, and can often be found attending concerts of his favorite (aging) musicians. He is enjoying retirement with his supportive physician wife. Spending time resuscitating plot lines instead of patients, he remains motivated by the comforting recollections of an uplifting childhood and by his late son Andrew, whose boundless enthusiasm lives forever like the characters he inspired.
CONNECT WITH SCOTT EVELOFF!
Website: https://scotteveloff.com/
X: https://x.com/writersblockdoc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scott.eveloff/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-eveloff-20845645/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/docsee22/
DO NOT RESUSCITATE
When medical intern Harry Lindmark’s patient gruesomely dies, he fears an Angel of Death is loose in his hospital. Soon, however, Harry falls under suspicion when unexpected deaths mount. His desperate investigation to clear his name reveals a nightmarish conspiracy—hungering souls of those long-dead are killing his patients, led by the vengeful soul of former physician Sylvester Morrow, as heartless in death as he was in life. Their motive is as unimaginable as it is grotesque—they are seeking escape from a painful afterlife limbo by claiming bodies left vacant at the moment of death only to be restored to life through modern medical resuscitation.
Burdened with his infant’s death and a wife grieving alone due to his long hours, Harry must now confront a more urgent challenge. How can he overcome entities that have already escaped the limits of life itself? The dead have their own plans for the living they envy, leaving Harry in desperate pursuit of some solution to save all those he cares about.
In today’s hospitals, instruments of healing can so easily be turned into instruments of death. With a belief in worlds existing beyond, Do Not Resuscitate becomes uncomfortably possible.
