Don't quit your day job

NicoleMD · May 31, 2007

This question goes out to all the published authors out there (and those that will be or hope to be soon) who continue to work their “normal jobs”:

Do you promote your novels at work to your co-workers and such? I’d love to. We’ve got a company newsletter that announces this sort of thing all of the time, but the thought of my boss (and other co-workers that I’ve managed to fool into thinking I’m somewhat normal) reading my sex scenes kinda scares me. It’s not like they’re overly explicit or anything, but the whole book is “out there”...not WAY out there, but pretty much so for little, sweet Nicole, who spends her days being nice and polite in her little cubicle, tending to her TPS reports.

With parents and friends, you can dodge them until the embarrassment wears off, but these are people I spend 8 hours a day with. Any thoughts?
Nicole

veinglory · May 31, 2007

...Don't do it? I prefer my worlds uncollided.

SpookyWriter · May 31, 2007

veinglory said:
...Don't do it? I prefer my worlds uncollided.

Ditto! I wouldn't suggest it for the very same reasons. And because you never really know who will be insulted enough to raise a stink.

I believe in keeping my work at work and home at home.

kristie911 · May 31, 2007

Depends on your co-workers. I spend 12 hours a day with my co-workers (3 per shift) and we're quite good friends. I've had some of them beta for me and several of them are always asking me if I have something for them to read. They're some of my best "pushers" to keep writing and the best cheering section!

But if you're all not that close don't do it...keep work at work.

lfraser · May 31, 2007

I absolutely would not. Your writing is a window into your psyche, and there may be some stuff in there you don't want people to know about.

SpookyWriter · May 31, 2007

kristie911 said:
Depends on your co-workers. I spend 12 hours a day with my co-workers (3 per shift) and we're quite good friends. I've had some of them beta for me and several of them are always asking me if I have something for them to read. They're some of my best "pushers" to keep writing and the best cheering section!

I'd say you are very fortunate. I couldn't possibly do that in my line of work. I mentioned, in passing once, that I write and let it die after that because making "chit-chat" isn't why they pay me. Too bad, since I can be a funny guy sometimes.

Joe270 · May 31, 2007

I think it could open a can of worms.

My inlaws don't even know I write. It's just not worth the hassle.

There are a whole lot of people out there who really enjoy 'taking folks down a peg or two'. I wouldn't give them so much ammunition.

valeenc · May 31, 2007

I ended up regretting letting people I worked with in a "regular" job know that I was an actor/singer part time. I wound up being free entertainment at the company picnic with the (expletive deleted) karaoke machine. HATE!

I do NOT recommend it.

SpookyWriter · May 31, 2007

Joe270 said:
I think it could open a can of worms.

My inlaws don't even know I write. It's just not worth the hassle.

There are a whole lot of people out there who really enjoy 'taking folks down a peg or two'. I wouldn't give them so much ammunition.

So you've met my ex-wife?

janetbellinger · May 31, 2007

I havn't talked up my book to anyone since I left PA a year and a half ago. I wouldn't recommend doing a sales job on it to your co-workers, although I must say, it wouldn't be any worse than all the Avon catalogues etc that are always lying around the lunch room.

MidnightMuse · May 31, 2007

Bad things happen when worlds collide - no way would I do it, personally. For the same reasons I don't invite my coworkers into my house to go through my drawers and closets.

There's friendly, then there's too much.

justpat · May 31, 2007

The few sales you could get from co-workers won't be worth the headaches it could cause. Don't do it.

NicoleMD · May 31, 2007

MidnightMuse said:
Bad things happen when worlds collide - no way would I do it, personally. For the same reasons I don't invite my coworkers into my house to go through my drawers and closets.

There's friendly, then there's too much.

Ah, good point. So it'll be like having a dual identity. Maybe I'll even get to wear a cape! Ooohh...a writing cape!

Nicole

JoNightshade · May 31, 2007

I don't share my writing with my coworkers, I don't talk about it with my friends, and I barely even let my family read it-- only after something is absolutely, for sure finished or published in a magazine. The only place I talk about writing is here, on this board. Both friends and coworkers have tried to get me to talk about my writing, but I refuse-- rudely, if they push me.

Actually I find it reassuring that other people feel the same way about keeping it private. When you think about it, it's kind of odd-- it's an awesome profession if you can make money at it, and people are always interested when they find out you make a living with words. So why not talk about it?

I guess for me, writing is an expression of my innermost dreams and desires. Even if nobody else would "get it," in some Freudian way everything on the page is a kind of symbology for my inner psyche. I write about what I care most about, so someone else knowing about that means they have incredible leverage on me. And it's weird, very weird, when an acquaintance suddenly gets to find out the most personal things about you. It's like letting them see you naked!

And even if everyone else in the world was just like "Hey, nice story," I would still be terrified that someone would realize that (for example) my stories are an extension of my pathetic need for approval from a father who is not capable of granting it. It really is like vomiting your inner self. Constructively.

Oh noes! I've just exposed myself! ::Jo runs away and hides::

Will Lavender · May 31, 2007

I agree with most everyone on the thread.

I've talked about my book with people, but rarely do I talk about what the book's about or how I came to write it. And I never, ever, ever discuss a work in progress.

First, writing is interior, as JoNightshade says above; people tend to get bored when you discuss stuff that personal.

Second, I'm a firm believer in jinxing.

Southern_girl29 · May 31, 2007

I work with a bunch of writers at a newspaper, so many of them are writing a book. It does give us something to talk about. One of my co-workers, who is fairly young (my novel is YA), is one of my beta readers. He did an excellent job and gave me great insight. One of my other co-workers has a teenage daughter, and the daughter is going to read it when I finish making these rounds of changes.

However, if I worked anywhere else, I probably wouldn't share.

Anne Lyle · May 31, 2007

I'm in two minds about it. I use my maiden name at work still, and my married name for everything else including writing, so most people at work wouldn't know it was me even if they saw the book on the shelves at Borders. Only a couple of my colleagues know about my writing (because one of them has a fiancé who is a writer), but generally I prefer not to talk about it with non-writers.

On the other hand, I work on a post-grad campus and there are plenty of fellow geeks who would enjoy my book, so maybe once I'm published I'll let people know. One of my daydreams is that the girl at the campus bus stop who is always reading a fantasy novel will be reading mine one day

Niteowl · Jun 1, 2007

I guess I'll be the contrarian here. I've told the 4 co-workers who I'm close to about my writing. I even let them read it if they ask. I guess my opinion on this is two-fold :

1) Gotta have someone keep me honest about writing. Can't just stop writing without being beholden to some quizzical coworkers.

2) Thicken the skin. Trying to be more fearless with my writing, so I try and challenge that Oh So Sensitive Inner Writer all the time. Sometimes to a friendly game of bocci, other times to things more conducive to building character.

ccarver30 · Jun 1, 2007

No way would I give any of my coworkers my work!

CaroGirl · Jun 1, 2007

I wouldn't "give away" my books to anyone but my mother and my husband. Everyone else has to pay! If I got a novel published and had a launch party, there are some coworkers that I'd invite to attend. My novel is my work, not my diary. It's for the public to read and enjoy, and that would include friends and coworkers, if they wanted to read it. That would be up to them.

But I'm not working right now, anyway. Anyone know of a job opening? You know, one that pays actual money?

Cav Guy · Jun 1, 2007

I think it depends on two things: where you work and who you work with. I've been in jobs where I had no problem sharing things I wrote with people I worked with, and I've also had others where there's no way in hell I'd let them see anything I wrote. Like most things here I don't think there's a "one size fits all" answer.

Raphee · Jun 1, 2007

I have regretted talking about the fact that I am trying to write a novel.
a everyone wants to know what it is about; when even I am struggling to know the end.
b Even well minded friends have asked me when it'll be published. How do I explain a query letter to someone.

Once published, I'll make sure to tell the world.

wordmonkey · Jun 1, 2007

lfraser said:
I absolutely would not. Your writing is a window into your psyche, and there may be some stuff in there you don't want people to know about.

OK, this seems kinda strange to me. Now if it were a journal or diary, I could see that to be true. However, aren't you writing a book to SELL? To have PEOPLE READ IT?

The point of publishing your book is to have people read it. Do you think only people who like it will read it and tell you? Even if you get wildly successful you will have lots of people quite willing to tell you just how badly you suck.

And what if, surfing one night a co-worker stumbles on your book on Amazon. Or decides they could go to bed, watch a re-run of Baywatch Nights, jump off a large building, or google their co-workers. Your secret is out.

What then? They know! OH DEAR GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The HUMANITY! Your DIRTY DIRTY secret is out there! People know you...

...take a deep breath...

...you...

<Tremble>

<Gulp>

...you write!

Toughen up! Embrace your writing and your book. You gave birth to this, don't drop it at the bus station now it's all grown up, likes to wear black nail-polish and heavy eye-liner, lots of studs and buckles, and sports dubious piercings.

Your writing is NOT you.

You have achieved something great, don't be embarrassed about it.

But that's just me. If you wanna lock it away, go for it. Borders Books sells nice-looking journals starting at $3.99.

waylander · Jun 1, 2007

Absolutely I have shared my book with my co-workers. A good number of them have read it and enjoyed it. The fact that a bunch of well-educated people loved it keeps me confident that I'm not nuts trying to get someone to give me money for it.

Doug Johnson · Jun 1, 2007

To me, it depends on how good the book is. If it's on the shelf at Borders, why not? If it's self published, probably not, but that raises the question of why self publish a book and offer it for sale, if you don't believe in it enough to talk about it?

Asking your boss to plow through your first draft of your first novel, when you haven't written any fiction since high school, is probably not such a great idea.

Don't quit your day job

Onomatopotamus

volitare nequeo

Happy to be here

Bored and Frantic

Still Defiant!

Midnight Reading

QueryTracker

Onomatopotamus

has finally arrived

Everything is what it seems.

Fantastic historian

Nicole Castro

Living the dream

Living in the backstory

In debt to AW

ook

Who's going for a beer?