I know next to nothing about American football, but that doesn’t stop me from nicking a phrase and re-purposing it here to describe where I am in life, which in my mind is third & goal.
YES, LET'S: FINISH our BOOKs and publish them, e.g. move them out in the world any way we can. Such a creative problem-solving challenge for us non-famous non-influencers. Have you caught wind of the efforts to urge Substack to offer a physical book publishing option?
Kristin, well I do know football. Played it, coached it, watched it forever. There is another fitting phrase in the game often used. Going for it. On fourth down, a team decides to try for the first down (and get a fresh set of downs), instead of losing possession of the ball and kicking it away to the other team. The announcer states, "They're going for it." You've gone for it and made the first down multiple times in your life. I have no reason to doubt that getting your written work published will end any differently. - Jim
Ah the "book deal" Kristin. My favorite! You can write the next War and Peace (don't) but you can write the next War and Peace and you will be ignored. This is because the industry has assigned gatekeepers, also known as agents. As with any gatekeeper, the agent prioritizes. First come their own stable of writers, who are always pushing the next manuscript. Then come celebrities, an obvious target. Then social media stars, then industry insiders, including agents themselves (!). Then news pros, then academics, then friends and relatives (hey, the agent isn't immune to social pressure).
Notice one group is missing. You and me. Not only doesn't the agent care about us, they don't read our queries. Why would they? The priority groups produce, I'm guessing, a hundred times more books than the industry can publish. Why even engage with a mob of semi-hysterical amateurs, whose work is probably lousy anyway?
Of course, this doesn't include you and me, Kristin. But they don'y know that : ) BTW good luck. I am on the writer's side, always. But being on the writer's side means telling the truth, always.
I'm pretty clear traditional publishing is a pipe dream, Richard, which is why I included Catherine's quote about the horses.
With only a few exceptions, I'm quite puzzled and underwhelmed by what is being published these days, much of it barely readable and certainly not the best writing I've seen. I just 'finished' a new book, published in May, that came highly touted and was extremely disappointed by it. When I say 'finished,' I mean I skimmed it looking for anything I might like about it. But as you point out, the writer has been published before and so there you have it.
I don't trust "the suits" to make any kind of visionary decisions. They only seem to be interested in replicating what's worked in the past.
Having a book published may mean doing it myself. I've actually researched how to start an imprint, mainly because I want to maintain control of the project.
YES, LET'S: FINISH our BOOKs and publish them, e.g. move them out in the world any way we can. Such a creative problem-solving challenge for us non-famous non-influencers. Have you caught wind of the efforts to urge Substack to offer a physical book publishing option?
No, really?! That sounds intriguing!
Btw, I like that: we're NFNI's 😊 Thanks for re-stacking, Christine!
NFNI 😂 yup! At least we can say we didn’t sell our souls 🤷♀️
I can't imagine publishers won't want your books!
I wish you were a publisher, Leslie! ❤️❤️❤️
Kristin, well I do know football. Played it, coached it, watched it forever. There is another fitting phrase in the game often used. Going for it. On fourth down, a team decides to try for the first down (and get a fresh set of downs), instead of losing possession of the ball and kicking it away to the other team. The announcer states, "They're going for it." You've gone for it and made the first down multiple times in your life. I have no reason to doubt that getting your written work published will end any differently. - Jim
❤️❤️❤️
Ah the "book deal" Kristin. My favorite! You can write the next War and Peace (don't) but you can write the next War and Peace and you will be ignored. This is because the industry has assigned gatekeepers, also known as agents. As with any gatekeeper, the agent prioritizes. First come their own stable of writers, who are always pushing the next manuscript. Then come celebrities, an obvious target. Then social media stars, then industry insiders, including agents themselves (!). Then news pros, then academics, then friends and relatives (hey, the agent isn't immune to social pressure).
Notice one group is missing. You and me. Not only doesn't the agent care about us, they don't read our queries. Why would they? The priority groups produce, I'm guessing, a hundred times more books than the industry can publish. Why even engage with a mob of semi-hysterical amateurs, whose work is probably lousy anyway?
Of course, this doesn't include you and me, Kristin. But they don'y know that : ) BTW good luck. I am on the writer's side, always. But being on the writer's side means telling the truth, always.
I'm pretty clear traditional publishing is a pipe dream, Richard, which is why I included Catherine's quote about the horses.
With only a few exceptions, I'm quite puzzled and underwhelmed by what is being published these days, much of it barely readable and certainly not the best writing I've seen. I just 'finished' a new book, published in May, that came highly touted and was extremely disappointed by it. When I say 'finished,' I mean I skimmed it looking for anything I might like about it. But as you point out, the writer has been published before and so there you have it.
I don't trust "the suits" to make any kind of visionary decisions. They only seem to be interested in replicating what's worked in the past.
Having a book published may mean doing it myself. I've actually researched how to start an imprint, mainly because I want to maintain control of the project.
Stay in touch Kristin! I think we're in the same boat. Everything you said I agree with.
I feel like we're a team in this endeavor, thank you Richard!