Are Authors Obsolete? Writing tips for the 21st Century
As a Author and publisher, I have, for a while now, been shouting from the rooftops that the publishing industry is NOTHING like most new writers imagine it. They are stuck in the romantic version. Stuck in the golden age of publishing. The era of Hemmingway, Steinbeck and Faulkner.
They view
the book deal akin to winning the lottery. Once done, they will be whisked away
to a life of parties, gala events and tropical paradises. No longer will they
have to sweat rent, worry if the car’s mileage will exceed the lease agreement,
or pray that they can go just one more month without health insurance.
Yes! That’s
the good life they have been working so hard to achieve. The hours, days, weeks,
months, years dedicated to their craft, believing with all their heart that their next book, their VERY NEXT BOOK will
be the one that rockets them to that super-duper life they’ve always dreamed
of.
You have a
better chance of winning the lottery.
Amazingly
you would not believe the vehement reactions I receive when I tell authors
this. I present the facts, show the statistics, quote the agents and publishers
themselves. They respond as if I was trying to convince them that the deity
they worship and religion they belong to is a scam.
As a fellow
author, I’m just trying to help, trying to remove those rose-colored glasses.
And if you want a detailed explanation of the how, what, when, where and why,
give a look at Ewan Morrison’s piece.
Here’s the
link.
As for me,
do I believe that writing books as a profession is dead?
No, I don’t.
And it’s not because I have some romanticized version of the industry. As a
publisher myself. http://aripublishing.com
I know exactly what it’s like, the obstacles new authors face and how the
industry is changing.
Now here is
where we separate the ACTUAL writers from the poor artistic souls clinging to a
bygone era. If you are serious about becoming a full time novelist and having a
career writing books, then it’s time to “Lose your religion” so to speak and learn what you need to know to get a book deal in this new publishing paradigm. (By
the way, paradigm means model, I got so tired of seeing the word I had to look
it up)
The best
place to start is to get a copy of this book
It’s available as
an e book, audio book and will have a paperback version available in the next
few days. The e book version is under 5 bucks. The audio book under $7 and the
paperback under $10. If you want to see how to make those publishing dreams
come true, how to write a book agents and publishers want to read, and discover
how to GREATLY increase your chances of getting a book deal, then GET A COPY
AND TAKE ACTION!
If you’re drowning
in rejection letters, don’t understand why that book you put your heart and
soul into is being blown off, and can’t seem to get an agent or publisher to
take your work seriously…
Maybe it’s
because you’re not taking their work seriously.
Think of it
this way. Imagine you own a business. You’ve worked very, very hard to make your
business a success. The people who work for you have made lots of money and are
very happy being in your employ. They carefully follow your directives, do
everything possible to ensure every product released is top notch and actively
promote your business to everyone they come into contact with.
Then a stranger
shows up and says he’d like you to sell his product. He explains that he has
put a lot of work into it and is sure it will sell because it’s so good.
Sounds
interesting so you ask him why he thinks it will sell, how big is that product’s market,
how long has he been creating these products, has he sold similar products he’s
created, how quickly can another follow up product be produced, what is the
extent of his knowledge of your business? And what experience, if any, does he
have in public speaking, radio interviews, and being on television?
He again
explains, speaking slowly and distinctly, as if you are
somehow mentally challenged, that his product is very good and as a
professional, that should be obvious and
that he doesn’t know about that other stuff, like marketability, distribution, follow-ups,
etc.
You explain
that you are contacted by hundreds of people a day, all with products just as
good. But the people you do business with are only the ones who convince you
that they will work just as hard making your business a success as you will
work to make theirs a success.
He explains,
again slowly and distinctly, that he is the creative and artistic type and can’t
be bothered learning the nuts and bolts of the day to day business.
At this
point you cordially thank him for wasting your time and suggest he be careful and
not let the door hit him in the ass on his way out.
One final
note. You
can always become a difficult, abusive, self-absorbed, arrogant, drug and drink
addicted pain-in-the-ass AFTER you have sold millions of books, not before. So grab a copy of How
to Write, Publish & Market Your Novel into a Best Seller stop
dreaming of book publishing success and ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING TO MAKE THAT
HAPPEN.
Here’s the link:
