SECOND BOOK SYNDROME: PART 2

Dr Sophie Mort on second book syndrome and the difficulties of having multiple editors

Dr. Sophie Mort, aka Dr. Soph, is a Clinical Psychologist and Sunday Times bestselling author. I don’t represent her anymore but I actually agented her first book ‘A Manual For Being Human’ before I left my previous agency. It became an instant Sunday Times bestseller and I’ve long admired her commitment to get psychology out of the therapy room and into people's lives in ways that make sense to them.

Named the ‘Guru of Insta-Therapy’ by the Telegraph, and the ‘Charismatic Therapy Queen’ by the Daily Mail, Dr Soph has helped thousands manage their emotional well-being by sharing her psychological expertise and up-to-date research on social media, her blog, through her online private practice, and most recently through her books.

Her second book (Un)stuck; 5 Ways to Break Bad Habits and Get Out of Your Own Way will be out in June this year and I was lucky enough to consult on the project by doing a manuscript assesmment. (You can read her feedback on that process here.) She’s a brilliant writer with an inquisitive mind and she’s very thoughtful on the process of writing books and has always spoken openly about her own struggles. Because as we all know, writing a book brings challenges for every writer.

Having just finished writing this second book, I knew she had lots to offer on the subject of second book syndrome and she opens up about spiralling worries surrounding how a second book compares to the previous one. She also talks about how writing the first book was extremely difficult and the learnings she put in place when writing a second. She then shares her experience of things getting lost in translation when working on a project with different editors, which is quite common and often not ideal.

Over to Sophie…

1. What does ‘second book syndrome’ mean to you ?