The 3 Biggest Mistakes When Trying to Publish Your Backlog of Papers

In this episode, I share information on the upcoming Navigate cohort, my 12-week writing and publishing program for academics who are ready to finally move their backlog of papers toward submission, without burnout.

If you’ve been telling yourself that you just need more time, more motivation, or fewer collaborators to publish consistently, this episode challenges those assumptions. I walk you through the single biggest mindset shift that unlocks publication progress, the most common mistakes academics make when trying to “fix” their writing problems, and what actually works instead.

Then, I share how the tools and skills you will learn in Navigate provide a clearer framework for designing a more intentional academic career and sustainable writing practice. Learn how publication pipelines, decision-making, and sustainable writing practices fit together, especially for scholars juggling leadership roles, caregiving, and increasing demands on their time.

Listen to discover how to stop reacting to your academic workload and start designing an academic career that supports your research, your mission, your writing, and your well-being.

The Biggest Mindset Shift Holding You Back From Publishing

Many academics believe their lack of publications stems from something being “wrong” with them, like procrastination, poor focus, saying yes too often, or a lack of motivation. 

The real issue isn’t a personality flaw. It’s that your research and professional responsibilities have outpaced your project and time management systems. As you become more effective and visible in your field, demands on your time increase. The problem is that most scholars are never taught how to manage these challenges.

The good news? This is a solvable skills gap, not a personal failure.

The Three Biggest Mistakes Academics Make With Their Backlog

#1 Believing You “Just Need More Time.”

Pushing writing time to semester breaks, sabbaticals, or weekends often backfires. Without strong decision-making and sustainable writing practices, having more time to write simply leads to exhaustion, not publications.

#2 Blaming Collaborators or Students

Even when collaborators slow things down, stalled solo projects reveal a deeper issue: the need for stronger leadership, systems, and clarity around writing projects.

#3 Waiting for a Future Milestone

Tenure, promotion, or the end of an admin role doesn’t automatically fix writing challenges. Progress only happens when you intentionally develop new skills and take agency over your career design.

How Navigate Supports Sustainable Writing and Publishing

Navigate is a 12-week writing and publishing program designed for professors and full-time researchers at any career stage who have already published and want to do so more consistently.

The curriculum focuses on three interconnected areas:

1. Publication Pipeline & Project Management – Learn how to map your backlog, diagnose stuck projects, predict timelines, and create a realistic one-year publication roadmap.
2. Academic Mission & Alignment – Develop a clear academic mission statement and use it as a decision-making tool to reduce overload, say no strategically, and create space for writing.
3. Sustainable Writing Practice – Build a resilient, relationship-based writing practice that allows you to put writing down—and return to it—without losing momentum.

Throughout the program, participants apply what they’re learning to a “low-hanging fruit” project, with the goal of submitting it by the end of the 12 weeks.

Program Format at a Glance:

• 12-week program with weekly modules released on Mondays
• Live Zoom sessions every Friday at noon Eastern
• Calls alternate between group coaching and co-writing sessions
• Content delivered via video, downloadable materials, and a private podcast feed
• Designed to balance structure and flexibility for busy academics

Who Navigate Is (and Isn’t) For

Navigate is for:

• Professors and full-time researchers at any career stage
• Scholars with multiple papers in various stages of completion
• Academics seeking sustainable systems, not productivity hacks

Navigate is not for:

• Graduate students
• Scholars who have never published a peer-reviewed article
• Those looking exclusively for a book-writing program

Navigate is an application-only program. The process includes a short online application, a brief self-assessment benchmark, and an optional 15-minute clarity call. Learn more and apply at scholarsvoice.org/navigate

“You need to become the designer of your career. This is a very agentic, proactive approach. I’ve coached hundreds of people. Everybody thinks tenure changes everything until they get tenure and realize it really changes nothing. What I mean is, if you’re having trouble holding your writing time pre-tenure, getting tenure does not solve that problem. Writing and project management skills solve that problem.”

“I teach you exactly how to have a resilient writing practice. I don’t think that people need to be resilient, but I do think your writing practice can be resilient. The resilience in your writing practice means that you can intentionally put it down and pick it up and unintentionally put it down, because emergencies happen, and then very confidently pick it back up.”

We’re receiving applications for our next cohort of Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap®. Check out the program details and start your application process here.

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION:

1. Our 12-week Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap® program helps tenure-track womxn and nonbinary professors to publish their backlog of papers so that their voice can have the impact they know is possible. Apply here!
2. Cathy’s book, Making Time to Write: How to Resist the Patriarchy and Take Control of Your Academic Career Through Writing is available in print! Learn how to build your career around your writing practice while shattering the myths of writing every day, accountability, and motivation, doing mindset work that’s going to reshape your writing,and changing academic culture one womxn and nonbinary professor at a time. Get your print copy today or order it for a friend here!
3. If you would like to hear more from Cathy for free, please subscribe to the weekly newsletter, In the Pipeline, at scholarsvoice.org. It’s a newsletter that she personally writes that goes out once a week with writing and publication tips, strategies, inspiration, book reviews and more.

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