The Bermuda Triangle of Books: Why Authors Struggle to Publish
Authors may avoid reading their own manuscripts before publishing due to fear of judgment, procrastination, distraction, and fear of being seen as a big spender, which can result in their book disappearing into the Bermuda Triangle.
You know the Bermuda Triangle. That quasi-mythical area somewhere in the Caribbean where ships enter and never emerge.
I can’t speak to the legitimacy of the Bermuda Triangle. Maybe it’s real and maybe it’s an urban legend. But I can tell you with authority that when it comes to books, there is a phase of the writing process that books enter but from which they never emerge.
The Bermuda Triangle of Books, in my experience, is the time when authors have finished their manuscripts and need to do one top to bottom reading before they’re ready to push the button and have it published. As a ghostwriter responsible for more than a thousand books over the past 35 years, I have seen time and again my clients get to the moment where their draft is complete and ready for review…and then I can’t get them back on the phone.
I used to find it bewildering that individuals who invested a lot of time, money, and hope in their book projects would vanish like a boat sinking to the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle. After all, these folks are this close to becoming published authors. So what’s the deal? I finally came up with a few reasons why this happens. Let me share them with you.
Number one. Fear of being judged. None of us wants to be judged by our friends, peers, colleagues, or even by total strangers. So it is understandable that a certain amount of fear creeps in when people start wondering, what are people going to say when my book comes out?
When that comes up in conversation, I always tell my clients that they need to think not so much about the critics, who are typically imaginary and illusory. Instead, they need to focus on the people their book is going to help.
Sometimes people don’t want to write a book because they feel that there are so many other books on the same topic. In reality, though, many of those books are out of date, don’t relate to new problems and issues that people have today, or are simply aimed at audiences different from the ones that a new book on the topic could attract.
I tell my clients, “They’re people out there that only you can help. In Seth Godin’s wonderful expression, they are your tribe. You are their tribal leader. If you don’t provide the information, wisdom, and guidance they need, no one else will be able to reach them.”
“So stop thinking about the imaginary critics, because nobody has time to criticize your book. Instead, focus on the people you’re going to help, some of whom are going to become your clients, customers, and friends.”
After the issue of fear of criticism comes fear of completion. This is a psychological issue often beyond the scope of my abilities to rectify. A lot of people get through life, often extremely successfully, while still failing to finish stuff that they know they have to do. They get through college without turning in that last paper, through grad school without defending their dissertation, or they get a promotion even though they haven’t really followed through completely with their current responsibilities. They just get kicked upstairs.
In a world where there is often no penalty for failing to finish, some people take that attitude into pretty much every aspect of their lives. Is it good for their family and friends? Probably not. Is it good for their careers as published authors?
Definitely not.
I like what Tony Robbins says about procrastination: put it off! Whatever’s keeping you from finishing, try to uncover the reasons. And then, honestly, just get over yourself and get the book done.
The third reason I’ve identified for books slipping into the Bermuda Triangle is distraction. Let’s face it. These days, because of technology and social media, pretty much all of us have some level of ADHD. We all move on rapidly to the next shiny object. This means that instead of giving something our full attention – like a book we had written for us – we want to know what else is out there. What else can we do to alleviate whatever boredom we might be feeling?
Abandoning one important project for another, moving from that initial shiny object to the next one, might be stimulating, but it leads to that dreaded medical condition, “half-finished manuscript in a drawer syndrome.” This tragic condition is a precursor to books disappearing into the Bermuda Triangle! If you don’t read it, it’s never going to get published. So my message to my ADHD clients is simple. Stay on task just for a little longer. Make the time. Read the manuscript. And get back to me.
The fourth and final reason for books sinking into the Bermuda Triangle is so perverse that I saved it for last. It’s that people who have been trained to footnote meticulously every thought that they have, because they’re scientists, doctors, academics, or attorneys, can find themselves overwhelmed and frozen in place by the degree of freedom they have when they are publishing a book for a general audience. I like to say that “When you’re the author, you’re the authority.” This means that readers will trust what you have to say simply because you are a published author, not because you have 486 footnotes after every chapter.
So if you are a member of any of these groups, fear nothing. Your peers will not judge you or avoid you at industry cocktail parties simply because you didn’t have a gazillion references and a 40-page bibliography in your book. Instead, they’ll simply be jealous that you got a book published and they didn’t.
So there you have it. The key reasons why authors can write an entire manuscript or have a ghostwriter like me write an entire manuscript, and yet they never read it all the way through and move on to the publishing stage. Fear of what others will say. Procrastination. Distraction. Inability to handle the freedom that writing for a general audience offers.
If you’re contemplating a book or if you’re already partway through it, just remember that the Bermuda Triangle beckons…but you can sail away from it and publish happily ever after.