Pushing through with the writing and publication of a second book can be fraught. How can you navigate some of the inherent concerns about the process?
Sian Prior, ‘‘Ask yourself – why are you writing a second book? Is it just because you feel you should – because you might feel like a failure if you don’t? Or is there a story you’re burning to tell?…’ Photo: Shutterstock.
It’s a well-known phenomenon: the anxious, agonising self-torture writers put themselves through when releasing their second book. (Musicians suffer from a similar malady: the difficult second album.)
ArtsHub interviews six writers (memoirist, novelists and poets) who’ve either published a second piece of work or are about to do so, to gauge their feelings on the subject and to elicit some tips for those about to visit the publishing path, once again.
Thuy On is the former Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian.
She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025).
Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy
