Episode 7: How to Overcome Publishing Roadblocks: Rejection, Excuses, Time Management & Juggling Projects

About This Episode

How to Overcome Publishing Roadblocks: Rejection, Excuses, Time Management & Juggling Projects

Every author and illustrator hits a wall at some point. The good news? Those walls are breakable.

In Episode 7 of the Publishing Cousins podcast, Melissa LaShure and Nikki Boetger get real about the roadblocks that slow creatives down. They cover rejection letters, the excuse trap, time management, and juggling multiple projects at once.

Here’s what they shared — and how you can use it to move forward.

Rejection Letters Won’t Stop the Right Author or Illustrator

Rejection is not the end. It’s part of the process.

Melissa points out that she doesn’t know a single author who got picked up on the first try. Even J.K. Rowling collected around 20 rejection letters before Harry Potter found a publisher.

You have a choice when a rejection lands in your inbox. You can let it tear you down. Or you can let it push you forward.

For illustrators, the experience is slightly different. Nikki explains that when you submit to publishers, you often won’t hear back at all — not even a rejection. Getting a response, even a kind ‘not right for us,’ is actually a positive sign.

After researching nearly 400 publishers worldwide, Nikki submitted to 71 of them. Within a month, two responded positively. They didn’t have work for her yet, but they added her to their illustration files for future projects. That’s a win.

The key takeaway? Research before you submit. Visit publisher websites and ask yourself:

• Do they publish books that look or feel like my work?
• Does my style, genre, or color palette match what they produce?
• Are they currently open to submissions?

If you submit when they’re closed or to the wrong publisher, your email gets deleted without a second glance. Do the research. Save yourself the frustration.

Stop Making Excuses and Start Making Progress

There will always be one more thing. One more obligation. One more reason to wait.

Melissa and Nikki are direct about this: excuses don’t disappear. You have to outgrow them.

Start small. Even 10 minutes a day counts. That could be jotting down social media post ideas while waiting in the carpool lane. It could be sketching thumbnails while pumping gas. It could be outlining a chapter on your lunch break.

“If you make excuses why you didn’t do it today, you’re going to make excuses when you actually have a book in contract — and they’re not going to let you do that.”

Nikki holds two part-time jobs and still treats illustration as a full-time career. She draws every single day — weekdays, weekends, and even on vacation.

Melissa mentions D.M. Beller, a multi-published author and business owner with four to five kids, who still releases four to five books a year. If she can find the time, the excuse disappears for everyone else.

The mindset shift is simple but powerful: treat your creative work like a job. Not a hobby. Not a side project. A job.

Time Management for Authors and Illustrators: How to Actually Get It Done

Once you stop making excuses, you need a plan. That’s where time management comes in.

Both hosts swear by time blocking. Here’s how they break it down:

Block Your Calendar

Melissa protects her Saturdays for deep writing sessions — sometimes six to eight hours. During the week, she assigns specific tasks to specific days. Mondays might be for blog posts. Tuesdays for newsletters. Other days for her novel.

The calendar becomes your accountability partner. Set an alarm. Show up for yourself.

Know Your Most Productive Hours

Not everyone works best at the same time. Nikki is a morning person. Some illustrators she knows work from the time their kids go to bed until 1 or 2 a.m. — because that’s when they finally have quiet.

Schedule your hardest, most complex creative work during your peak hours. Save the lighter tasks for low-energy times.

Build In Rest — But Plan It

Nikki is candid: she’s extreme about working her business every day. But Melissa balances that with intentional rest. She and her husband take Sundays completely off. No work. No projects.

Rest is not a reward. It’s a requirement. Burnout is a real roadblock, and you avoid it by building breaks into your schedule on purpose.

Think 90 Days Ahead

Nikki shares a powerful mindset shift: what you do today will impact your business 90 days from now. If you do nothing today, your business will feel it in three months.

That’s not meant to scare you. It’s meant to motivate you. Small, consistent actions compound over time.

How to Juggle Multiple Creative Projects Without Losing Your Mind

Illustrators almost always have multiple projects going at once. Authors often do too.

The secret is knowing where each project stands — and managing your time so they can all move forward simultaneously.

Nikki’s approach: spread projects across different phases. While one book is in the sketch phase, another is in color. That way, you’re not doing everything at the same time.

Her rule of thumb: allow two days per piece. That doesn’t mean eight hours each day. It means you have the time available, broken into morning and afternoon blocks, to give each piece what it needs.

For authors, Melissa suggests a similar approach. If you’re stuck on one manuscript, it’s okay to shift to another project for a bit. The creative momentum keeps moving — and often, the original idea starts to open up again on its own.

The real skill is time blocking multiple projects into your week so nothing stalls. Plan your deadlines. Work backward. Then execute, one time block at a time.

Your Accountability Partners Are Waiting

Here’s something both hosts agree on: once you have listeners, readers, or followers, they become your accountability partners.

Melissa learned this firsthand. When she told readers that Book 2 of her series was coming out in May or June, she created a commitment. Her readers hold her to it.

Your audience will notice if you go quiet. They’ll email. They’ll message. They’ll wonder where you went. That’s not pressure — that’s proof that your work matters to people.

Use that. Let it motivate you to keep showing up consistently.

The Most Important Thing You Can Do Today

You don’t need a full day. You don’t need perfect conditions. You just need to start.

Find your 10 minutes. Make a plan. Put it on your calendar. Then do it again tomorrow.

Publishing is a long game. Every small action compounds. The moment you make your creative work a priority is the moment small successes start showing up.