Ambrielle Butler

What a year! 2025 brought some unexpected changes, but was overall an incredibly positive year. As I reflect on the author growth I’ve made, I’m also planning for the future.

Here are 3 things I learned this year as a writer:

1. Writing journeys are not linear. This sounds like a “no, duh” platitude, but 2025 really proved to me that sometimes we go back a step so we can jump forward three. After amicably splitting with my first agent earlier this year, I decided to re-enter the querying trenches. This was TERRIFYING. I was so worried I’d fail, so worried this new book wouldn’t resonate like my first did, and so worried that somehow landing an agent the first time was a fluke. So imagine my surprise when this second time querying brought me a flurry of offers just one month after I sent out my manuscript. I ended up signing with a fantastic new agent at an amazing agency (shout out to Kira, she really is the best) and I am so ecstatic to have her as the champion of my work. But though querying again had a happy ending, this was a really hard time for me where I felt a lot of doubt about my value as a writer. Which brings me to lesson two.
2. Trust that what’s meant for you will wait for you. When I found myself agentless, I did not have a polished manuscript to query. My first book died a somewhat slow and quiet death on sub, and the novel I wanted to query this second time hadn’t been read by anyone before. Now, I was antsy and eager to get back out there, to minimize the amount of time between agents as much as possible. But I also didn’t want to rush the process too much and risk sending out a half-baked manuscript. I spent one month editing and polishing, exchanging chapters with my beta reader who read as fast as she could for me so that I could make edits (shout out to Crystal, you are a rockstar). I had a few curious agents reaching out over Twitter and I was so stressed that they’d somehow lose interest if I didn’t finish fast enough (spoiler alert: they were more than happy to wait for my manuscript; two of my offers, including the one I accepted, came from agents who had messaged me after seeing my pitch on Twitter). My point in telling you all this is that just like you have to trust that sometimes things move backward before sprinting forward, you also have to trust the timing. Trust that what’s yours is yours, and that the good things will wait for you. Art isn’t a process that can be rushed (I’ll table this rant for another day), and so the rest days are just as important as the writing days. Trust that you know what you and your art need. Time is a valuable commodity; don’t be afraid to gift yourself the time you need to create. No one knows your writing like you do. This is also why number three is so important.
3. Write the weird shit that makes you happy. Looking back, I can see that my first novel was very safe. I love that novel dearly and it by no means was bad, but I can see more clearly now that it wasn’t the book of my heart. Not like the book I queried this year. This novel, the weird, twisted, feminist novel of my heart full of eldritch beasts and body horror and sacrificial purity-obsessed cults is 100% me. I could not be prouder of it. I could not be more terrified to put it out there into the world. I joke that though I write fiction, I’ve been more truthful in my stories than anywhere else, and this couldn’t be truer for this book. I know only I could have written this and so it is even more thrilling to know that the weird book I was so scared to put out there has been so well received by those who’ve read it. Please, don’t be scared to write that book idea you can’t shake. Your readers are out there. Not everyone will love it, but the ones who do will be that much more special to you. It makes it all the more meaningful.

So there you have it! Three lessons from 2025. I hope there’s some value in them for any other aspiring writers out there.

And now for the fun part: three things I’m looking forward to in 2026!

1. Hello, editors! 👀 I won’t say too much more about this one (because sub, shhhh) but let’s just say I am very excited to have others read this book—and maybe even fall in love with it.
2. Expanding my writing community. I’ve been neglecting my networking a little this year. It could’ve been due to the stress of querying again or just the general craziness of raising three kids while trying to find time to write, but my goal for 2026 is to find a consistent routine for my social media and website. And to meet more of you amazing authors! I miss you all.
3. Write the next thing. I have this terrible habit of becoming paralyzed until I find the “perfect idea”. So in 2026 I am attempting to finally kick that habit and just write. I give myself full permission to write whatever weird, wacky, and wonderful new idea won’t leave my brain alone. I can’t wait.

I am wishing you all a happy holiday as you round out 2025, and looking forward to all the good things to come in 2026! I hope it’s the best year yet.