Something Nubian

By La Trecia Doyle-Thaxton @somethingnubian.com

There was a time when I believed I had ruined my first major book.

Not because the writing wasn’t good.

Not because people didn’t support it.

Because I let fear rush the process.

When I was working on The Black Woman’s Guide to Minding Her Own Business, I joined a small publishing group. There were four of us, two women and two men. The idea sounded great. Writers supporting writers. Accountability. Shared knowledge.

Reality was…different.

One meeting left me so uncomfortable that I never forgot it. One of the men sat on the floor across from me in a position that made me feel like he was staring between my legs. Whether that was his intention or not, it made me uncomfortable enough that I asked what he was doing. He said his back hurt.

Maybe that was true.

Maybe it wasn’t.

Either way, I learned something important that day.

Your nervous system doesn’t stop working just because you’re trying to build your dreams.

The other challenge was less obvious.

One of the women knew a tremendous amount about publishing. She shared information constantly, and looking back, I don’t think she was trying to harm me. But at the time, my anxiety convinced me she was going to take my ideas.

Whether that fear came from experience, insecurity, or simply protecting something deeply personal, it changed the way I showed up.

Eventually I did something I regretted.

I published before the book was finished.

For years I thought I had failed.

Then something unexpected happened.

I kept writing.

The chapters I thought I had “left out” didn’t disappear.

They became other books.

They became journals.

They became workbooks.

They became blog posts.

They became conversations with readers I never would have reached if I had tried to squeeze everything into one manuscript.

One book became an entire library.

Looking back now, I don’t believe I published too early.

I believe I planted a seed.

Authors often think their first book has to contain everything they know.

It doesn’t.

Your first book isn’t responsible for carrying your entire life’s work.

It only has to begin the conversation.

Mine did.

And years later, I’m still finishing that conversation one book at a time.

If You’re Sitting on an “Unfinished” Manuscript…

Don’t confuse unfinished with evolving.

Don’t confuse fear with failure.

Don’t confuse your first publication with your final word.

Your readers don’t need perfection.

They need your voice.

The rest can come one page, one post, one journal, and one book at a time.

Coming Soon :

📚 The Books I Almost Never Published

✍🏾 Why Your First Book Doesn’t Have to Say Everything

🧠 How Anxiety Almost Edited My Career

🌱 One Book Became Twenty

🦋 Your Legacy Doesn’t Have to Fit Inside One Cover