- Joined
- Oct 30, 2007
- Messages
- 1,330
- Reaction score
- 61
All of us on these forums have one thing in common - we have stories to tell and want to see them so others can read them.
Why is it so damned hard to do?
The bottom line, in my opinion, is simple - Money $$$$$$.
We are outsiders -- unproven commodities. We are trying to get into a society made up of editors, agents and publishers who all attended the same schools and know each other and do not have the imagination to create stories for themselves. Their job is to take what others create and make money -- for themselves as much as anybody.
We can look at the Best Seller Lists and easily see who gets published -- much of their writing poorly done -- in print because of Who They Are and not what they've written. An insurance salesman and a single mother get lucky and make the right connections, giving us Tom Clancey and J.K. Rowling (so there IS hope!).
So, if we wish to get published, our goal after creating the work, is to somehow sell it to a noncreative mind that sees it solely as a source of income. That is something most of us simply do not know how to do.
Sadly, it is not so much what we write that counts but who we are that decides whether or not we make it into print.
That does not mean that our writing skills are not important. But, let's be honest. How many people get credit for writing when it's really a Ghost Writer or Editor that does the work to make it presentable to the public? And yes, as Ousiders, if we don't write "perfectly", they aren't going to bother with us.
There is hope as I indicated above. The secret is to hone our craft and write up to their expectations and do our best to sell our work.
So, hang in there and sooner or later, we'll make the grade. All it takes is getting one foot in the door.
Why is it so damned hard to do?
The bottom line, in my opinion, is simple - Money $$$$$$.
We are outsiders -- unproven commodities. We are trying to get into a society made up of editors, agents and publishers who all attended the same schools and know each other and do not have the imagination to create stories for themselves. Their job is to take what others create and make money -- for themselves as much as anybody.
We can look at the Best Seller Lists and easily see who gets published -- much of their writing poorly done -- in print because of Who They Are and not what they've written. An insurance salesman and a single mother get lucky and make the right connections, giving us Tom Clancey and J.K. Rowling (so there IS hope!).
So, if we wish to get published, our goal after creating the work, is to somehow sell it to a noncreative mind that sees it solely as a source of income. That is something most of us simply do not know how to do.
Sadly, it is not so much what we write that counts but who we are that decides whether or not we make it into print.
That does not mean that our writing skills are not important. But, let's be honest. How many people get credit for writing when it's really a Ghost Writer or Editor that does the work to make it presentable to the public? And yes, as Ousiders, if we don't write "perfectly", they aren't going to bother with us.
There is hope as I indicated above. The secret is to hone our craft and write up to their expectations and do our best to sell our work.
So, hang in there and sooner or later, we'll make the grade. All it takes is getting one foot in the door.
