The Publishing Industry Is Against Us...
I heard that quite a lot, even before I became published: Publishers are unfriendly to first-time authors. There's certainly a lot of frustration and anger and disappointment that go with that statement, and I can understand these emotions. But valid emotions don't mean "truth."
Nobody says getting published is easy. In fact, nothing in the world is just "easy" -- we all have to work hard. If something is truly easy, it's either not worth our time or we'll probably die bored doing it. But creative people like writers want something more than steady paychecks (if we want such things, there are plenty of other jobs out there). We want appreciation, and not just any appreciation. We want to be revered, admired, and loved for what we do, by strangers, and hopefully a lot of strangers. The trouble is, we all think we have what it takes to "make it."
There is no secret except work hard. It is possible. In the past two years I have met enough first-time authors (including myself) to believe that if you have it, they will come. But not everyone can be a published writer, just as not everyone can be an astronaut. You've got to have talent and discipline and hard work, and nothing is guaranteed and no one owes us anything. Publishing, after all, is a business. If you have the goods, you will sell. It's really that simple.
Nobody says getting published is easy. In fact, nothing in the world is just "easy" -- we all have to work hard. If something is truly easy, it's either not worth our time or we'll probably die bored doing it. But creative people like writers want something more than steady paychecks (if we want such things, there are plenty of other jobs out there). We want appreciation, and not just any appreciation. We want to be revered, admired, and loved for what we do, by strangers, and hopefully a lot of strangers. The trouble is, we all think we have what it takes to "make it."
There is no secret except work hard. It is possible. In the past two years I have met enough first-time authors (including myself) to believe that if you have it, they will come. But not everyone can be a published writer, just as not everyone can be an astronaut. You've got to have talent and discipline and hard work, and nothing is guaranteed and no one owes us anything. Publishing, after all, is a business. If you have the goods, you will sell. It's really that simple.
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