There's been a lot of chatter lately about the demise of 'traditional' publishing as more and more bookstore chains go under and 'big' publishers consolidate. Change of course is inevitable, and much of the talk of ebooks displacing print books appears to be coming true. But with change there is pain in restructuring, and some standards that many will bemoan as they disappear.
Big publishers as gatekeepers kept a lot of would-be authors from ever getting published. This may not necessarily have been a bad thing. Doing so helped ensure readers were provided with products they could be reasonable sure met minimum quality standards. This was done by creating an efficient machine run by professionally trained editors, cover artists, marketing and sales gurus, management and accounting staff, and technology experts to...
1) Choose and edit books to be engaging and well-written
2) Package books in enticing covers that matched their marketing venue
3) Develop and maintain marketing venues to attract and service readers looking for worthy books.
When Amazon and Smashwords and other services provided a quick and cheap and easy way to get books published, average-Joe authors suddenly gained direct access to make any book – no matter how innovative or terrible – almost instantly available to readers. This effectively eliminated the big publishers as gatekeepers ‘standing in the way’ of all the average-Joe wannabe authors out there.
However, distribution services like Amazon and Smashwords do not provide the publishing house production services of editing and cover art, nor do they provide any marketing beyond the basic web site product sales page with inherent category search. When it comes time for average-Joe author to figure out how he’s going to get his book professionally edited and formatted, and his cover professionally produced, he has two choices. He can either buy all the necessary software and learn how to do it all himself, or he can pony up a couple thousand dollars to pay others to do it. Which option will average-Joe author choose? For most people who want to get published, the do-it-yourself route (done right) looks like way more trouble than it’s worth and way more expensive that it’s worth. So most people will either throw up their hands and give up, or just pick the quick-easy-free way to get their book published, which involves no editing and just a rudimentary ‘freebie’ self-designed cover. To justify this, average-Joe author rationalizes that readers don’t really care about typos on every page, or whether the story makes sense, or whether it’s interesting, or whether the cover looks like a two-year-old did it with Crayons.
Once in the marketplace, average-Joe author’s book will have no respected reputation of a big publisher to stand behind it and promise the reader that it’s going to be worth the time and money to read. And not only will average-Joe author’s unknown-quality book be competing with way more books from other average-Joe authors, it will be competing for attention and money from a slowly shrinking readership that is shrinking due to other entertainment options (video games, TV, and other electronic distractions). Thus the average reader will be overwhelmed by a flood of books by unknown authors without any reputation whatsoever to promise that their books are worthy products.
Some self-published authors are enjoying success – an exception to the rule of self-publishing as a model in failure. Those frequently mentioned include J. A. Konrath, Amanda Hocking, and Ruth Ann Nordin, to name a few. These authors seem to have one or two things in common.
Konrath has had previous experience with a big publisher and a resulting author reputation to build on.
Hocking had one book published by a small indy publisher, and then apparently took the reigns with the rest of her books. She’s a prolific writer with several multi-book series. All her series feature similar short one-word catchy titles and color-coded generic cookie-cutter covers that are visually interesting but similar enough to ‘brand’ her series so that the title and cover instantly say ‘Amanda Hocking.’ Her assembly-line style theme and packaging to streamline her production process as well as make her books instantly recognizable is smart marketing.
Ruth Ann Nordin has nearly fifteen titles and uses purchased photos to create her covers. She may even have a service produce her covers. In the beginning, she probably spent more on her covers than she made in sales royalties, but at least she didn’t go the cheesy route and use crappy covers that screamed ‘amateur.’ She also has been blogging for quite a few years to promote her writing and to promote self-publishing. Now her investment in time and money appears to be paying off.
The point of all this is, getting published or going the self-published route both take a tremendous amount of time and effort. With one, you have to sell your work first, then wait a long time to get your work published. With the other, you have to publish your work, then wait a long time to sell it. Either way requires perseverance and a tremendous faith in the work. Anyone who is easily discouraged will give up before success is realized. Anyone who looks for the quick and easy solution without taking pride in their work to ensure it delivers in both packaging and content will fail because the product will be perceived as inferior. Anyone who thinks it will be a piece of cake becoming a successful author – and in this reference, ‘successful’ means selling more than 5,000 copies of a title – is in for a disappointment. Only the author who has good product and sticks with it to look for great ways to publicize and sell that work will see the kind of success the ‘exceptions to the rule’ appear to be now enjoying.
Showing posts with label getting published. Show all posts
Showing posts with label getting published. Show all posts
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Friday, June 18, 2010
The Unpardonable Sin - Boring Your Readers
There are many writing sins a fiction author can commit, but one of the most heinous is boring the reader.
We must assume no author does that intentionally, because the result is losing the reader’s attention. And with so many other activities vying for the reader’s time, no author wants to build into his story a good excuse for the reader to stop reading and never return to finish it.
Why?
Consider any author trying to get published. Who’s the first reader of his story (besides a couple friends or family members who will say, “Oh yeah, loved reading your story,” even though they may never have bothered to start it)? Who? An agent. An acquisitions editor. A first-reader going through a slush pile. Anybody who can say either, “This book is great, I think we need to publish it,” or “Ho-hum, another wannabe writer bites the dust.”
Now, let’s say an author does manage to get published (or self-published), even though his story lacks sparkle. What’s going to happen? Readers who read a dull story will kill the book’s sales potential – and possibly the future of other books written by the author.
Why?
Because everyone – critic, reviewer, and book consumer – is a reader. And one thing readers do is remember authors. They actively seek out additional books from those authors who thrill and delight them. And if they really like what they’ve read, they’ll recommend the author and his books to anyone who will listen. But those same readers will actively avoid books by authors who fail to deliver a good story, and will tell everyone who will listen to do likewise. That kind of bad recommendation can convince other readers who haven’t bought the book yet not to, thus killing the chance for additional sales, and sales of future books the author may write. What author in his right mind wants that?
Let’s assume the typical author is in his right mind and doesn’t want his book to end up being labeled as boring. What constitutes boring, and how can it be remedied? Here are a few of the main indicators:
POOR PACING. A story that drags along at a snails pace, with little happening to break the doldrums, becomes a chore to read – a chore that many readers will happily forego. Even if the story starts out well, if it has a ‘sagging middle’ or a ‘flat ending,’ it’s got a problem. There are many ways to fix problematic pacing. The best overall idea is to follow the ARC of the story with minor ups and downs – action followed by a short relief passage to lull the reader into a false sense of security, followed by a scene with even more danger or suspense. The overall arc of the story should build from the beginning, with the major premise or conflict presented at the ‘last possible moment’ in the story where it makes sense. Too much back-story up front will spoil the lead-in. The drama should heighten as the story progresses, with a major ‘black moment’ toward the end, where things look most dire. The final conflict should be appropriately difficult, so that the outcome is not clear. Then the resolution and conclusion should wrap up all loose ends quickly, with a nice summary or moral that satisfies the story’s needs as well as the reader’s.
POORLY APPLIED VOICE/STYLE. The author’s writing style may be tongue-in-cheek and take a long, meandering while to get to any point. This is not the best style for a suspense or action thriller – or for many books at all. In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, most readers don’t have the time or patience to indulge a self-centered writer who’s in love with his own words and refuses to edit out convoluted sentence structure or every unnecessarily detailed nuance of arriving at a conclusion. As a courtesy to the reader, the author should get to the point in a reasonable amount of time, and make the journey toward that point amusing, suspenseful, or otherwise enjoyable for the reader.
INFO-DUMPING. Info-dumping can disguise itself in many forms. The most common and popular are:
1) Pages and pages of narrative exposition detailing the background information of the story or characters that the author simply must tell the reader. This is the unskilled or lazy writer’s way of getting all that background stuff out of the way, so that he can then get on with the story.
2) “As you know, Bob,” or detailing story specifics in dialog between two characters, so that the reader can ‘overhear’ the information and become privy to it. Of particular concern is when one character summarizes information for another character – especially information the other character already knows.
3) Story intrusions where the author stops the story to narrate to the reader an important bit of background information about the story line, history, or some character trait or past exploit. Much better is to weave this information seamlessly into the story at appropriate intervals when the information would logically come up in the story. There are many others, some seemingly well-disguised and hard to pinpoint, but these are some of the most common.
HO-HUM CHAPTER OR SCENE ENDINGS. Having your character fall asleep, happy and content, may seem like a good way to end a chapter, but what it actually does is give the reader a stopping point to put the story aside. A much better approach is to end the scene or chapter with a ‘cliffhanger’ that will make the reader want to keep on reading to find out what happens next. A ‘cliffhanger’ puts characters in an untenable position, like facing the villain holding a gun on them, or a speeding car out of control, approaching – a cliff! Will the characters in the car find some way to stop it, or manage to jump out just in time, before the car goes over the edge and crashes in a fiery ball at the bottom of the ravine below? The reader will have to go on to the next chapter to find out! Even if a story does not have scene after scene of breathtaking action, ‘cliffhangers’ can be built in using emotional drama. Like when Suzy’s mother tells her during morning coffee all the minor details of her day yesterday, then – oh, by the way, she happened to see Suzy’s husband with another woman at a restaurant. The unexpected revelation will certainly surprise Suzy and, if the author has laid the groundwork properly in the scene, will surprise the reader too. Ending the chapter there will nearly guarantee the reader will continue reading the next chapter. Result? Not boring.
If you’re having trouble deciding whether your story is boring, the best thing to do is have an impartial reader (not a friend or family member) read it. Here’s where a writing friend or critique group comes in handy. Honest feedback is essential, especially when you aren’t sure how your story stands. It’s better to get more than one person to read your story or a passage you think may be problematic. If the consensus is that it lacks something, your next task is to figure out what and how to fix it. Armed with some basics about what to look for, you’ll be better prepared to fix it properly.
This may sound like a lot of work, but if writing were easy, everyone would be doing it. Wait ... practically everyone is doing it – so it’s even more important for you to write well, to write exceptionally, to stand out from the pack so your story sparkles and tantalizes ... screams to potential readers, “Read me! You won’t be sorry, you’ll be thrilled and entertained, and you’ll love every minute you spend between my covers!”
And that, writing friends, is not boring! It’s getting you closer to your goal of being a successful author.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Are you and your book ready for publishing?
Many writers want to be published authors but simply aren’t ready.
The reasons are many, but very few newbie writers recognize them. The main reason a writer isn’t ready for publishing is he/she hasn’t put forth the necessary effort to learn the basics that good writing requires – an understanding of grammar and story structure, and the skill to make writing interesting. While just about anyone can string some sentences together to tell a tale, whether it’s something the typical reader will want to spend time reading is another question altogether. Learning and honing these skills takes time and effort – two things in short supply for the impatient newbie writer.
The upsurge of self-publishing in recent years has fueled this impatience, and subsidy or vanity publishers have helped make self-publishing appear to be the grand answer for anyone who thinks he has something worthwhile to say and wants to see it in print.
Self-publishing feeds the desires of newbie writers who rush to see their work in print without first taking the very necessary steps to properly edit and package their books to garner the respect and attention of readers. What can often result is a poorly designed book riddled with laughable errors and saddled with a rudimentary or even embarrassing cover. The opposite can also result – the eager author shells out thousands of dollars to a subsidy publisher, hoping to get a decent cover design and competent editing. Oftentimes those hopes go unrealized, and the book is overpriced out of the normal reader buying market.
So how is the typical newbie writer supposed to figure out when his/her book is ready for publishing? A first step generally taken by most authors serious about attaining publishing status is to get an impartial independent opinion of their book’s publishability. A legitimate and trusted writing critique group can provide valuable insight regarding first-reader reactions to a book. If the writer can’t stand the heat from a writing group, then submission to a publisher or agent is out of the question. So getting one’s feet wet by testing the waters of a local or online writer group is nearly essential. Don’t go by the opinions of friends and family as most of these folks will tell what they think the writer wants to hear rather than what they really think.
Once the author has received sufficient feedback to get a feel for what test readers and fellow authors think of the book – and assuming the feedback is favorable – the submission process to a legitimate publisher or agent is the best trial by fire method for determining whether a book is ready for publishing.
The important thing to remember is that rejection of one’s work from for-profit professionals such as agents and publishers may not be based on the perceived worth or quality of the writing, but more on the projected marketability of the work. And each publisher or agent’s opinion can be based on a variety of factors the author may never be aware of – for instance, another book that is similar is already in the publishing process, or the submission load at that particular time is too high and there’s no one available to properly review the book the writer submits for consideration.
It’s also important for the newbie author to realize that not every writer gets a superior publishing contract with one of the big traditional publishers. Sometimes smaller independent publishers are a better choice. The writer’s most important job after finishing and polishing the work is to research and submit to publishers or agents that seem to be a ‘good fit.’
Self-publishing can seem like a quick, inexpensive, and easy alternative to the work of researching, submitting, waiting, and possibly being rejected by publishers or agents. But make no mistake in believing it is easy – if the book is to have the look and feel of a professionally published book, the author must either hire professionals to do the prepress work, or personally be up to the challenge.
And then there’s the marketing aspect. Self-publishing requires the author to be sales rep and distributor and promotion king all at the same time. While it’s true that most authors, even best-selling authors, must take part in promotion activities, those with name recognition already are way ahead of the game. Stop and think about it a moment. Who will buy your book if no one knows it exists? It will be your job as the author to make readers aware of you and your book. Are you ready for that? If not, then think again about considering yourself ready for publishing.
The reasons are many, but very few newbie writers recognize them. The main reason a writer isn’t ready for publishing is he/she hasn’t put forth the necessary effort to learn the basics that good writing requires – an understanding of grammar and story structure, and the skill to make writing interesting. While just about anyone can string some sentences together to tell a tale, whether it’s something the typical reader will want to spend time reading is another question altogether. Learning and honing these skills takes time and effort – two things in short supply for the impatient newbie writer.
The upsurge of self-publishing in recent years has fueled this impatience, and subsidy or vanity publishers have helped make self-publishing appear to be the grand answer for anyone who thinks he has something worthwhile to say and wants to see it in print.
Self-publishing feeds the desires of newbie writers who rush to see their work in print without first taking the very necessary steps to properly edit and package their books to garner the respect and attention of readers. What can often result is a poorly designed book riddled with laughable errors and saddled with a rudimentary or even embarrassing cover. The opposite can also result – the eager author shells out thousands of dollars to a subsidy publisher, hoping to get a decent cover design and competent editing. Oftentimes those hopes go unrealized, and the book is overpriced out of the normal reader buying market.
So how is the typical newbie writer supposed to figure out when his/her book is ready for publishing? A first step generally taken by most authors serious about attaining publishing status is to get an impartial independent opinion of their book’s publishability. A legitimate and trusted writing critique group can provide valuable insight regarding first-reader reactions to a book. If the writer can’t stand the heat from a writing group, then submission to a publisher or agent is out of the question. So getting one’s feet wet by testing the waters of a local or online writer group is nearly essential. Don’t go by the opinions of friends and family as most of these folks will tell what they think the writer wants to hear rather than what they really think.
Once the author has received sufficient feedback to get a feel for what test readers and fellow authors think of the book – and assuming the feedback is favorable – the submission process to a legitimate publisher or agent is the best trial by fire method for determining whether a book is ready for publishing.
The important thing to remember is that rejection of one’s work from for-profit professionals such as agents and publishers may not be based on the perceived worth or quality of the writing, but more on the projected marketability of the work. And each publisher or agent’s opinion can be based on a variety of factors the author may never be aware of – for instance, another book that is similar is already in the publishing process, or the submission load at that particular time is too high and there’s no one available to properly review the book the writer submits for consideration.
It’s also important for the newbie author to realize that not every writer gets a superior publishing contract with one of the big traditional publishers. Sometimes smaller independent publishers are a better choice. The writer’s most important job after finishing and polishing the work is to research and submit to publishers or agents that seem to be a ‘good fit.’
Self-publishing can seem like a quick, inexpensive, and easy alternative to the work of researching, submitting, waiting, and possibly being rejected by publishers or agents. But make no mistake in believing it is easy – if the book is to have the look and feel of a professionally published book, the author must either hire professionals to do the prepress work, or personally be up to the challenge.
And then there’s the marketing aspect. Self-publishing requires the author to be sales rep and distributor and promotion king all at the same time. While it’s true that most authors, even best-selling authors, must take part in promotion activities, those with name recognition already are way ahead of the game. Stop and think about it a moment. Who will buy your book if no one knows it exists? It will be your job as the author to make readers aware of you and your book. Are you ready for that? If not, then think again about considering yourself ready for publishing.
Monday, October 19, 2009
A note for all the authors trying to get published
Hello fellow authors...
If you thought finishing your first novel was the hardest thing you would ever do, think again. If you thought editing your finished novel to make it publish-ready was the hardest thing you'd ever do, think again. If you thought getting your publish-ready novel accepted by a big agent or publisher was the hardest thing you'd ever do ... maybe you're right.
Getting only rejections? News flash - All the rejections you've been getting may be due NOT to the fact that your book sucks, but due to some small nuances of marketing you may not even be aware of. Here are some tips from the BEEN THERE, DONE THAT file.
1. You have to present yourself as a professional. Keep your query letter short and sweet and to the point. Add a lot of humor if your book style warrants it. Be a real person but don't be real annoying. Don't send candy, don't write your letter on scented or colored stationery. Keep it clean and professional, and for heaven's sake, spellcheck and grammar-check and address it to the right person whose name you have spelled correctly. Believe it or not, if you don't do the necessary legwork to find out who to write your query letter to, it will be thrown into the slush pile, perhaps never to be heard from again.
2. Follow all the little niggling details of submission set forth by your target recipients, no matter how senseless they may seem. Don't give your recipients any excuse to deep-six your query submission. Don't skimp on this.
3. Don't mail-merge your letters and send out a bunch of shotgun queries that all sound alike, because chances are you will send the letter addressed to one place to the wrong place, or you might send the same letter to two divisions of the same publishing company and actually get your two letters compared side-by-side (with a snicker added for insult) - assuming of course anyone actually reads it. If rumor is to be believed, all queries are logged, so that a record is kept for future reference.
4. Personalize your letters and put your heart and soul into them. And make sure your sample chapters and synopsis are as error free and engaging as possible. Engaging as in INTERESTING. If the opening line of your first chapter does not GRAB the person reading it, your query packet will be deep-sixed. Why? Because, as harsh as it sounds, if your very first sentence doesn't grab the agent or editor or assistant or first reader (whoever), then that person will assume that the real readers out there in Consumerland won't be HOOKED by your story either. One actual real-live reader who buys and reads lots and lots of books in different genres admitted that if the first sentence doesn't grab him, he puts the book back on the shelf. So by golly, make your book INTERESTING enough that the reader doesn't feel like setting it aside and moving on. (And of course, it naturally follows that the second sentence, and the third, and so on, will be just as engaging to keep the reader reading. In short, your book has to be interesting to your target audience.)
5. TARGET AUDIENCE???? What, pray tell, is that? Oh, here is where we must repeat aloud that dreaded M-word ... MARKETING. Yes, you MUST know who would want to buy and read your book. It is YOUR job, as the author, to tell the prospective publisher or agent where your book fits in the greater scheme of all things literary. If you do not have a handle on this, if you do not know a book like yours that is already popular, (but of course yours has a completely different twist that will make it unique!!!), then how can you possibly convince the reader of your query letter that you have indeed done your research to make sure there is an existing market for your book. Without an existing market, you have to demonstrate that one does exist but has not been tapped yet. Think how many thousands of FICTION books are published each year (the number is staggering) and you get some ghost of an idea how dang difficult it is to market a book and reach your target readership.
6. Which brings me to the final point of this long drawn out message... It doesn't matter whether you can write well. All that matters is whether you can sell well. That, my author friends, is called THE BOTTOM LINE, something every one of us is terribly guilty of ignoring. Agents are in business to sell books to publishers so they can earn a commission off those sales. That is their primary, perhaps only purpose for existing. Publishers are in business to sell books and turn a profit from those sales. That is the ONLY reason they are in business. If they do not make money, they do not stay in business.
So THAT is what really matters. Whether your book is great and all your friends love it means absolutley nothing. If your query letter doesn't convince the business entity you are trying to get to publish your book, then you won't get published. Writing is the easy part. Selling yourself as a marketable commodity - and yes, YOU are the commodity, not just your book - should be your one goal in life if you want to be published. Your book is just window dressing. YOU are the investment that will produce the writing that sells, and then go on to produce more writing that sells more books.
Put your business hat on, and rewrite your query letter with that in mind. Oh, and don't forget to make your writing interesting and error free and a joy to read. Because that's what readers want - assuming they ever get to the point to be able to look over your book with a buying eye. They don't give a flip about the business of writing, because that's your job. And the job rarely if ever pays well. Sometimes it doesn't pay at all.
Now, why was it again that you thought you wanted to be an author????
:-)
-Penumbra Publishing
If you thought finishing your first novel was the hardest thing you would ever do, think again. If you thought editing your finished novel to make it publish-ready was the hardest thing you'd ever do, think again. If you thought getting your publish-ready novel accepted by a big agent or publisher was the hardest thing you'd ever do ... maybe you're right.
Getting only rejections? News flash - All the rejections you've been getting may be due NOT to the fact that your book sucks, but due to some small nuances of marketing you may not even be aware of. Here are some tips from the BEEN THERE, DONE THAT file.
1. You have to present yourself as a professional. Keep your query letter short and sweet and to the point. Add a lot of humor if your book style warrants it. Be a real person but don't be real annoying. Don't send candy, don't write your letter on scented or colored stationery. Keep it clean and professional, and for heaven's sake, spellcheck and grammar-check and address it to the right person whose name you have spelled correctly. Believe it or not, if you don't do the necessary legwork to find out who to write your query letter to, it will be thrown into the slush pile, perhaps never to be heard from again.
2. Follow all the little niggling details of submission set forth by your target recipients, no matter how senseless they may seem. Don't give your recipients any excuse to deep-six your query submission. Don't skimp on this.
3. Don't mail-merge your letters and send out a bunch of shotgun queries that all sound alike, because chances are you will send the letter addressed to one place to the wrong place, or you might send the same letter to two divisions of the same publishing company and actually get your two letters compared side-by-side (with a snicker added for insult) - assuming of course anyone actually reads it. If rumor is to be believed, all queries are logged, so that a record is kept for future reference.
4. Personalize your letters and put your heart and soul into them. And make sure your sample chapters and synopsis are as error free and engaging as possible. Engaging as in INTERESTING. If the opening line of your first chapter does not GRAB the person reading it, your query packet will be deep-sixed. Why? Because, as harsh as it sounds, if your very first sentence doesn't grab the agent or editor or assistant or first reader (whoever), then that person will assume that the real readers out there in Consumerland won't be HOOKED by your story either. One actual real-live reader who buys and reads lots and lots of books in different genres admitted that if the first sentence doesn't grab him, he puts the book back on the shelf. So by golly, make your book INTERESTING enough that the reader doesn't feel like setting it aside and moving on. (And of course, it naturally follows that the second sentence, and the third, and so on, will be just as engaging to keep the reader reading. In short, your book has to be interesting to your target audience.)
5. TARGET AUDIENCE???? What, pray tell, is that? Oh, here is where we must repeat aloud that dreaded M-word ... MARKETING. Yes, you MUST know who would want to buy and read your book. It is YOUR job, as the author, to tell the prospective publisher or agent where your book fits in the greater scheme of all things literary. If you do not have a handle on this, if you do not know a book like yours that is already popular, (but of course yours has a completely different twist that will make it unique!!!), then how can you possibly convince the reader of your query letter that you have indeed done your research to make sure there is an existing market for your book. Without an existing market, you have to demonstrate that one does exist but has not been tapped yet. Think how many thousands of FICTION books are published each year (the number is staggering) and you get some ghost of an idea how dang difficult it is to market a book and reach your target readership.
6. Which brings me to the final point of this long drawn out message... It doesn't matter whether you can write well. All that matters is whether you can sell well. That, my author friends, is called THE BOTTOM LINE, something every one of us is terribly guilty of ignoring. Agents are in business to sell books to publishers so they can earn a commission off those sales. That is their primary, perhaps only purpose for existing. Publishers are in business to sell books and turn a profit from those sales. That is the ONLY reason they are in business. If they do not make money, they do not stay in business.
So THAT is what really matters. Whether your book is great and all your friends love it means absolutley nothing. If your query letter doesn't convince the business entity you are trying to get to publish your book, then you won't get published. Writing is the easy part. Selling yourself as a marketable commodity - and yes, YOU are the commodity, not just your book - should be your one goal in life if you want to be published. Your book is just window dressing. YOU are the investment that will produce the writing that sells, and then go on to produce more writing that sells more books.
Put your business hat on, and rewrite your query letter with that in mind. Oh, and don't forget to make your writing interesting and error free and a joy to read. Because that's what readers want - assuming they ever get to the point to be able to look over your book with a buying eye. They don't give a flip about the business of writing, because that's your job. And the job rarely if ever pays well. Sometimes it doesn't pay at all.
Now, why was it again that you thought you wanted to be an author????
:-)
-Penumbra Publishing
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Part-Time Writers ... Don't hate your day job
I've spent years stealing hours from my life trying to finish books and get them published and noticed and read. All the while I've resented anything or anyone who stood in my way of accomplishing that. The biggest 'offender' for me is the dreaded 'day job.'
Anyone who writes part-time or writes secretively so as not to be found out and thrust into the unwelcome limelight will know what I mean. You go through this day-job drudgery day after day, year after year, and it begins to wear on your psyche like a ball and chain slowing you down, dragging you down. The hours you spend cooped up in a small windowless office or packing crap you don't care about on an assembly line seem like wasted time sucked from your life by a faceless, thankless corporate monster that is sucking the very life energy from you.
All those hours wasted that could be spent doing what you love - writing.
Well, after years of harboring this resentment in a 'bite the hand that feeds you' attitude, I've finally come to terms with reality. First, I'm not every going to make enough money at any job I'm qualified for that will allow me to exceed my spending needs to the extent that I will become independently wealthy and be able to quit working. Heck, I may not even be able to afford retirement in this economy!
Meanwhile I've been putting my writing career on hold, thinking all those familiar thoughts everyone dreams of with wistful 'if only I could...' reminiscing. Those thoughts go something like this...
"If only I could write THE book that I know is inside me, that I know big publishers will fight to grab, that I know will make me a household name in the writing world and shoot me to bestseller stardom."
"If only I could work like a fiend for maybe five years and save a boatload of money, I could quit my stupid day job and write full-time."
"If only my family would let me have the 'alone' time I need, I could finish my books and get them published."
Yes, I could go on and on, and all those "if only" phrases would keep sounding like I'm blaming something else, someone else, for my own indecisiveness and failure to achieve my dreams. But I've decided to stop blamestorming and simply accept reality...
Yes, family obligations do take time and effort away from writing. But at least I have family. There are some who don't. I know what it's like to feel all alone, and it is not fun. So I am dedicated to cherishing the time I have to spend with family and friends.
Yes, I love to write, and yes it takes me a long time to complete a novel, but I find the time somehow to do it. I may not keep house like June Cleaver, but at least I am finding a little time to realize my dream. I can ignore the dust on the coffee table to get another chapter done. In a hundred years, who's going to care whether I dusted my furniture every week or just once a year? I certainly won't.
Yes, I've submitted to larger publishers, and no I have not had any of my manuscripts accepted. But I HAVE been able to get published, and I am learning to be satisfied with that. Just finally getting my books IN PRINT is a HUGE THRILL for me. I know if I do the necessary footwork, those books will be read by others. It may take a while, but I'm committed to seeing it through.
I have stopped looking at other authors and wondering why I can't be successful like them. And I have stopped looking at my day job as a curse I'd like to be rid of. The truth is, maybe all those other 'successful' authors are struggling too. Maybe they put on a better happy face than I do, and accept family and work obligations more graciously than I have learned to. OK, so maybe that makes them better at the little things in life than I am. But does that mean I have to give up and quit trying?
NO!!! And neither should you!
As long as I'm breathing, I will continue to become a better writer and a better person. It's a tall order, but I know my first step toward success is to become a POSITIVE THINKER. I CAN do this. It may take me longer than someone else, it may take me several attempts. But I CAN do it.
And what about my cursed day job? Hey, without that stupid job, I wouldn't have extra money to pay for fun things like going to conferences where I can meet readers and other writers and spend quality time getting to know new and interesting people. And more importantly it helps pay for food and a roof over my head. So hate it? Nah ... I have simply learned to accept it for what it is, a necessary evil that is populated with interesting people. That's right. Right here, under my nose, are real live folks I can use as fodder for character traits. I have become quite an amateur psychologist, worming motivation from the interactions I observe that can then be translated directly to the books I write. And anyway, without that personal interaction everyday, who knows what kind of weirdo hermit I would become?
So writers, don't hate your day job. Embrace it and use it for whatever writing fodder it's worth. Your coworkers are idiots? Embrace the fact and use them for characters in your next book. Meanwhile, be glad you have a steady paycheck, because in the world of the writer, your next paycheck may only be as good as your next book.
Keep working, keep writing. And be happy with whatever you're doing.
Anyone who writes part-time or writes secretively so as not to be found out and thrust into the unwelcome limelight will know what I mean. You go through this day-job drudgery day after day, year after year, and it begins to wear on your psyche like a ball and chain slowing you down, dragging you down. The hours you spend cooped up in a small windowless office or packing crap you don't care about on an assembly line seem like wasted time sucked from your life by a faceless, thankless corporate monster that is sucking the very life energy from you.
All those hours wasted that could be spent doing what you love - writing.
Well, after years of harboring this resentment in a 'bite the hand that feeds you' attitude, I've finally come to terms with reality. First, I'm not every going to make enough money at any job I'm qualified for that will allow me to exceed my spending needs to the extent that I will become independently wealthy and be able to quit working. Heck, I may not even be able to afford retirement in this economy!
Meanwhile I've been putting my writing career on hold, thinking all those familiar thoughts everyone dreams of with wistful 'if only I could...' reminiscing. Those thoughts go something like this...
"If only I could write THE book that I know is inside me, that I know big publishers will fight to grab, that I know will make me a household name in the writing world and shoot me to bestseller stardom."
"If only I could work like a fiend for maybe five years and save a boatload of money, I could quit my stupid day job and write full-time."
"If only my family would let me have the 'alone' time I need, I could finish my books and get them published."
Yes, I could go on and on, and all those "if only" phrases would keep sounding like I'm blaming something else, someone else, for my own indecisiveness and failure to achieve my dreams. But I've decided to stop blamestorming and simply accept reality...
Yes, family obligations do take time and effort away from writing. But at least I have family. There are some who don't. I know what it's like to feel all alone, and it is not fun. So I am dedicated to cherishing the time I have to spend with family and friends.
Yes, I love to write, and yes it takes me a long time to complete a novel, but I find the time somehow to do it. I may not keep house like June Cleaver, but at least I am finding a little time to realize my dream. I can ignore the dust on the coffee table to get another chapter done. In a hundred years, who's going to care whether I dusted my furniture every week or just once a year? I certainly won't.
Yes, I've submitted to larger publishers, and no I have not had any of my manuscripts accepted. But I HAVE been able to get published, and I am learning to be satisfied with that. Just finally getting my books IN PRINT is a HUGE THRILL for me. I know if I do the necessary footwork, those books will be read by others. It may take a while, but I'm committed to seeing it through.
I have stopped looking at other authors and wondering why I can't be successful like them. And I have stopped looking at my day job as a curse I'd like to be rid of. The truth is, maybe all those other 'successful' authors are struggling too. Maybe they put on a better happy face than I do, and accept family and work obligations more graciously than I have learned to. OK, so maybe that makes them better at the little things in life than I am. But does that mean I have to give up and quit trying?
NO!!! And neither should you!
As long as I'm breathing, I will continue to become a better writer and a better person. It's a tall order, but I know my first step toward success is to become a POSITIVE THINKER. I CAN do this. It may take me longer than someone else, it may take me several attempts. But I CAN do it.
And what about my cursed day job? Hey, without that stupid job, I wouldn't have extra money to pay for fun things like going to conferences where I can meet readers and other writers and spend quality time getting to know new and interesting people. And more importantly it helps pay for food and a roof over my head. So hate it? Nah ... I have simply learned to accept it for what it is, a necessary evil that is populated with interesting people. That's right. Right here, under my nose, are real live folks I can use as fodder for character traits. I have become quite an amateur psychologist, worming motivation from the interactions I observe that can then be translated directly to the books I write. And anyway, without that personal interaction everyday, who knows what kind of weirdo hermit I would become?
So writers, don't hate your day job. Embrace it and use it for whatever writing fodder it's worth. Your coworkers are idiots? Embrace the fact and use them for characters in your next book. Meanwhile, be glad you have a steady paycheck, because in the world of the writer, your next paycheck may only be as good as your next book.
Keep working, keep writing. And be happy with whatever you're doing.
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