A few months ago, IAM publisher Chelle Honiker shared on Facebook a lesson that she’d presented at the Future of Publishing Mastermind: that of the “suck list,” a prioritized list of tasks you don’t want to do or that eat up your time. Create the list, she wrote, then search for ways to take them off your plate—delegate them, automate them, or batch them, so you can save mental space for the fun stuff.
This time of year is always one of recalibration. People are adjusting their schedules to make a final push toward their goals for the year or to protect themselves from burnout, as IAM staff writer Maureen Bonatch describes in her article this month on practicing mindfulness. Holidays and author conferences loom, the latter especially forcing us to slow down but also lighting a fire in our eyes about the possibilities we have in the future. This month’s cover feature, on Author Nation’s managing director, Joe Solari, dives into the inspiration behind one of this year’s most anticipated author conferences, and in this month’s Ten Tips section, Honiker shares how to get the most out of these events ahead of Author Nation’s inaugural event in Vegas later this month.
As we all feel the itch to begin counting down to the new year, things can easily become overwhelming. Perhaps it’s time to put the concept of the “suck list” into practice. Maybe marketing and advertising, the focus of this month’s issue, is on your list. Maybe editing is at the top. I think there’s even room to expand the list beyond specific tasks. Is working long hours or on the weekends on your list? Outlining a book when you just want to write?
As we all recenter ourselves for the final push of 2024, consider what’s on your “suck list”—and consider how you can address it, so you can focus on the tasks that will fill your well in the rest of the year.
Nicole Schroeder
Editor in Chief
