I was also editing and promoting my debut, not to mention working a day job (for part of it, more on that later) while drafting this second one. Which doesn’t sound too terrible, until you take into account that I’m a slow writer. Do you want to know how much time I had to write Homicide and Halo-Halo? About nine months.

It took about two and a half years to finish my first book (which got me my first agent but never sold) and close to two years to finish and polish the book that would become Arsenic and Adobo. Shouldn’t it just get easier every time? To that I say, Oh you sweet summer child…Īll joking aside, the reason second books tend to be more difficult is due to two things: Time and Pressure.īefore you sell your first book, you have all the time in the world to make it right. You’ve even proven you could sell the book. Go figure.Īnyway, why is that second book so much more difficult? After all, you’ve already proven that you could complete a book. Arsenic and Adobo was my debut, but it was the second book I ever wrote and the easiest book I’ve written so far. Many authors write multiple books before finding an agent to represent them and/or managing to sell a book to a publisher. To be clear, when I say second book, I mean second book under contract. It can also refer to an author’s second book not being as good as their first, but that can usually be explained by the first definition. And part of that guidance was hearing about Second Book Syndrome and how they were dealing with it.įor those of you not familiar with the term, Second Book Syndrome is when writers learn that writing their second book is often much, MUCH harder than their first. I’d been lucky enough to build a writing community long before I sold my first book, and had the guidance of friends who were further down the path than me to warn me about the various ups and downs of publishing. I knew what it was before I got my book deal. Manansala here, on the release week of my second book, Homicide and Halo-Halo, to talk about something many writers dread: Second Book Syndrome.

T he Dreaded Second Book Syndrome (plus giveaway) Mia is here celebrating the release of Homicide and Halo-Halo. And I’ve been lucky enough to work with her on Sisters in Crime’s two big awards - the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Crime Writers of Color and the Pride Award for Emerging LBGTQIA+ Crime Writers. I so happy to welcome back Mia! It’s been such a joy to watch her go from unpublished to published author. Mary C is the winner of Homicide and Halo-Halo.

Mia manansala author