Betty's back, and rambling...
Is ignorance bliss? What if I had known how the larger firms market books? What if I had known the relationship of the acquisition editor to the book and how those editors I mailed to must look beyond the pure editing process, and must consider if the book is good for their firm--the firm's list. What if I had known about publishing salespeople and marketers--those who sell books to bookstore chains--whose operating guide is how do we get more books like the bestsellers of last season? What recent bestsellers can we compare this book to?
What if I had been aware that the publishing industry, which produces in excess of 50,000 new titles annually and seems to imitate the role of the motion picture industry with the perpetual quest for the blockbusters that have failed? An industry that will publish any inane personality with a smidgen of celebrity, seeming not to understand they are publishing hardcover magazines. Would I have written the same book? It's difficult to know.
Did the foggy bottom of the publishing industry cause me to choose the path of least resistance, and by choosing the path of least resistance (Publish America), how much did that influence the writing? Did I give my best? Did Publish America publish my best effort? (I'm reminded of the sage who suddenly became aware that sinners wrote the Bible: how else would they know.).
Looking back, I now see that the book was not the best it could have been, not if I had sought outside scrutiny, research and advice. I came up against the barrier of good writing and chose not to break it. I took the path of least resistance, chose not to break from my comfortable circle, and did not write for the ages, but for a specific date in someone's cornfield. Maybe next time.
Maybe it's the sinus headache that's jabbing the left side of my brain, but this post (I snipped it) kind of went in circles. Is Carl saying he realizes he took the easy route? Is he regretting his decision to not do the homework?
I really want someone to tell me what this means, 'cause my head hurts too much to think about it.
Then we get this in reply..
Betty the question is not "Why are we here?" It is: "How did we ever get published?"....
The better question is "why are you so badly published?" How did PA get its claws into you? That's always my question, because I find the answers fascinating. I was misled, they answered first and no one else would take the book are the three I usually see, but I'm always interested.
Take your brilliant analysis about the process of publishing and getting published (the "line of least resistance" as you put it) and also think of it this way. A writer bangs his head for months and years trying in vain to get his manuscript read, looked at or responded to. All most writers gets is a card that says: "Sorry your work is not what we are looking for..." Or..."Sorry our agency does not have time to read your work. We are fully subscribed."
Oh, you mean he does what every other writer in the business does? He submits and submits and either gets an agent or publisher OR figures out he needs to write a better book? NO way!
And on it on it goes, until you get a letter from this new, outrageous publisher, Publish America, " We love your work. It needs to be published."
You and everyone else who submitted that day until the quota is filled.
And there you are, a published author along side the biggest and most powerful publishers in the world.
I don't even know what to say about this. There are no words. Maybe Jim has some.
Writing is a roll of the dice, to say the least.
Now this is right on the money. It IS a subjective business - and YOU have to understand that when you submit. Maybe you caught the editor on a bad day, or they weren't particularly in tune with your work. So you send again and again until you do find someone who does like it.
I'm pretty tired of this attitude that someone's written a book, for fun maybe, and decided that the rest of it is too much work, that they want it NOW. It really irritates me, because I take the business seriously. I did the homework, I got the critiques, I did the rewrites, I sent the submissions and collected the rejection slips. I listen when agents give me feedback, even when they say no because they just didn't love it. I've read submissions I just don't love, even though they're well written. Get off your butts and do it right, or go home. Maybe I'm being an 'elitist snob' - at this point I don't much care.
If your work isn't up to snuff, a) work on it until it is, using all the channels available to find out how to make it better, b) write a better book (which most writers do anyway) or c) decide you don't have what it takes to be a writer and just write for your own amusement. Nothing wrong with that. Don't blame the agents and publishers because your book isn't what they think will sell. That's their business and their business is to know what will sell. To MAKE MONEY by selling BOOKS. That's the reality, get over it.
PA is NOT giving anyone a chance, only taking them away.
You, Betty, and all of us at Publish America have come up with 7s and 11s on the first roll. Take it as far as you can and enjoy the "line of least resistance"...My thoughts on this nice day...
More like aces and eights in cards - deadman's hand.
If I'm being too snarky, someone stop me, but this sense of entitlement to have your words published because you've put them on a page is tiresome. And the two or three authors who continually beat the 'publishers and agents don't get my work' horse are annoying.
I have sympathy for every PA author who was taken, believing they were the real deal. I will do everything I personally can to help those who want it.
My sympathy for those who make excuses is wearing thin.