There’s this thing I want to address in regards to writing (and part of my irritation yesterday but I’m not going to go into full details about that part because it was about 50+ emails of authors going back and forth about it and I’m tired).
For all future writers out there, I want you to know that it takes time to really see results for your writing. Different distributors pay out at different times, ect. You have to work hard to get your book out there and-
Actually no I’m going to stop that.
Here’s the thing that bugs me about some people in the writing circle.
I’m going to say that a lot of us already know that it takes time for your writing to really get anywhere. Not only do you have to write the thing, you have to promote the thing and get it noticed (whether you’re self publishing or going through a publisher). Even if you do go through a publisher, you and your publisher have to promote the thing, get it noticed, and get people interested enough to buy it. And even if you do that, it has to get reviews, so other people can become interested and buy it. But a lot of us already know that going in. We know it’s hard work and we sure as hell know that this is NOT a field you go into if you’re looking to make a quick buck. Nothing is quick about writing, or art, or anything creative. It takes time, and even if you do sell a lot, it takes time to see results.
What irritates me is the people in this circle who feel the need to have this “holier than though I’m just here to write” attitude. Those people who feel the need to remind you that this is hard work, that you need to keep pushing, and how that’s what they’re doing and you need to get on board.
Here’s the thing. We’re all doing that. I rely on my publisher to do their part, sure, but I do my part too. Business cards and giving (yes giving) the book away to reviewers, doing interviews, all of that stuff. And of course begging friends to not just read the book, but to leave a review, somewhere. Anywhere.
We might not go into writing expecting a crap ton of money, but there’s nothing wrong with expecting something. This is a career choice. This isn’t a hobby. If I were writing just because I love it so much, I’d keep up the fanfiction, I’d writing chapters of “Seeking the Storyteller” on an original fiction site and call it a day. I do love writing, dearly, but I also want to be successful in it. I want my work published and read by people. I want it to get big and successful. I want to be in a position where all I do is write. That’s it. And there’s nothing wrong with that. When you run into the “this is a business/it takes time/don’t do it for the money” folks it gets irritating, because, we’re all in the same boat. You’re promoting your book, I’m promoting my book. We all want to be successful, that’s why we went to a publisher, right? That’s why we even bothered to have the book edited, and have a cover made, and have a publisher put it out there, and have made author pages, and have gone to conventions, and have made business cards, and have been on Goodreads and Amazon and Barnes and Noble and just… we want our books to take off.
So stop acting like that’s not what you want with this “I live and breathe writing that’s all I want.” Because face it, that’s not all you want. Why even make it available for people to read if all you care about is the writing aspect? It’s because you want your book out there, you want reviews and opinions, you want it to sell, you want it to be successful. And you know what? There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be successful with something you love to do.
Writing rant that was part of my drama yesterday. I wanted to get coherent thoughts out there so I wrote this thing up this morning after sleeping and not being irritated anymore.
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