Sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss the things you thrive on and the people who make them important to you. It can be a life change, an employment flip, a mood swing or just a loss of ambition/interest. Then you blink and realize that a very important part of your life has gone MIA. In my case, it’s the dramatic changes in the publishing that have me reluctant to commit to the keyboard. Which brings me to today’s topic:
Is there anything you'd like to see changed, added, and/or rearranged about the book publishing industry?
Hmmmm. Let me think. How about everything! Can we just get a do over?!
When I read industry posts, talk to old friends from back in the day and to the editors that helped me craft a very lucrative career, it’s like hollering down a hallway filled with ghosts. Where are the fabulous agents who clamored to make you the next Nora? Where are the editors who gushed over your prose then picked at it to perfection? Where are the readers who hung on our every word and begged for the next release date to hurry? When I look around at this new foreign landscape of failing/closing houses in the bulldozer path of self-publishing, pick up bestselling titles that show no sign of being edited, and store shelves limited to a few big names and a lot more books that aren’t anything I would ever read, I wonder what will happen to those of us looking for/producing professional novels.
Anyone who types a sentence can be an author is like saying anyone can be a brain surgeon (well not quite the same!). One has to put in the time to make the climb! Throwing together 400 unedited pages and dumping them on unsuspecting book lovers just because you can is not the industry I know and love. What happened to self-editing? To writers’ groups who helped one another succeed? To pride and polishing before unleashing books upon the unsuspecting (especially at today’s prices!)?
Kudos to those authors who take the time to produce quality books, who self-edit then run their pages through a trained editor to give readers a great read. Even after 80+ titles, I don’t trust myself to polish my pages without a professional reader/editor (and even they can make mistakes!).
What we so proudly do is a business and should be respected as such. That starts at our keyboards, with our words. And I can’t wait to read more of yours!!
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. The awesome co-hosts for the July 1st posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Cathrina Constantine, and Jacqui Murray!
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Twitter hashtag is #IWSG
Welcome back!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine putting out anything that hasn't been professionally edited.
Anonymously Esther O'Neill, East of the Sun, and STILL without a signal, No suirprise that Google doesn't get this.- could never pass their security texts.
ReplyDeleteBrilliantly said.... My late mentor the WWII codebreaker recognised what I'd strayed into. . The only ingredient she couldn't inject was marketin g skill - arguably the hardest part of indie publishing
Right?! I see too much of it, start a new book only to quit after a few pages because the writing isn't stellar. We're living in a day of quantity not quality.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. That first paragraph--"Where are..."--was powerful.
ReplyDeleteLike Jacqui, your first paragraph really resonated with me.
ReplyDeleteSo true and so well written!
ReplyDeleteThrough Dancing Lemur Press, I have tried hard to produce quality books. Wish more small publishers did the same.
ReplyDeleteDiane, I think you've done a wonderful job of publishing quality books. I've read quite a few from DLM, and I can't recall spotting an error. I also learned a lot by having you as an editor. You're someone who does a lot of heavy lifting for your authors.
DeleteIt's good to see you again, Nancy! I so agree with everything you have written. Happy creating in July!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with your post--all of it. I'm still waffling about whether to self-publish, in part because I know how hard it will be to stand out in such a crowded field. Also, and this will sound really snobby, but I'm going to say it anyway, I cringe at the idea of being lumped in with AI slop and people who slap their unedited drafts up on Amazon and call it a day. But the road to trad publication is so, so steep. You can bust your butt for a decade and still be at the bottom of that hill.
ReplyDeleteBTW I'm so happy to see you back in the IWSG blog hop! I've missed your posts.