In retrospect, yesterday’s post was a bad idea and very out of character. I had misgivings and hesitated before posting, but I ascribed those feelings to being “brave” and maybe even a bit “edgy” with my choice of topic.
Nope. Instead, it came across as a petulant, whinge-filled pity-fest served with a big side of “Buy my book and tell me it’s grand.”
Ew…and therefore…my apologies. That was not what I wanted to say, and that is not what I want this blog to be about.
Here’s what I want to say, instead.
People write books every day. A lot of those books–most of them, I’d wager–are flawed, ill-wrought, noisome, over-written turds of no literary merit what-so-ever.
Not all of those books are bad, though.
Some are good. Some are actually quite good. But even though that’s a fraction of a fraction, there are still more of those quite good books than there are slots on all the schedules of all the publishers in all the world. Ergo, most of those quite good books are not going to find a publisher.
It’s a fact. Publishing is a business, and each book is a risk. Publishers want a sure thing (or as close to it as they can get). They need to sell lots of books so they can publish more books.
Unraveling Time is a quite good book, but obviously it didn’t strike editors as a sure thing. Maybe it’s too literary for genre publishers, and too genre for literary publishers. In the end, the why doesn’t matter.
Writing is a crapshoot profession. You place your bets and put pen to paper and a year later the dice finally come to rest. Did you win? Did you lose?
With Unraveling Time, I lost my bets. It’s a really good book. I really like it and I’m proud as hell of it, but the dice came up midnight, so I lost. Sometimes it’s hard not to get depressed or bitter, but doing that serves no purpose. It’s best to just move on. I learned a lot writing Unraveling Time, and it shows.
Time to start a new book, and learn some more.
k
Kurt — Just read yesterday’s post, then saw this one and have to say that I didn’t find anything petulant or whiny about wanting to know why an excellent book isn’t attracting the hoped-for audience. I thought it was just what your title said it was: a very honest post. If we writers were honest, we’d publish something like your post — a pondering piece, one seeking some insight into a mystery everyone else seems to be solving except us.
Yes, if we were really honest, we’d admit that we want our books to be received with the same passion we’ve felt for them as we wrote them. If we were really honest, we’d admit our desire to grab every reader by the collar and demand to know what they thought — and if they didn’t love the book, we’d want to know why. Was it something we did? Or the perspective they brought to it — some experience or attitude — something completely outside the book that affected their reading of the book? If we were really honest, we’d admit that there’s no accounting for taste. We could have a perfect book, and it wouldn’t resonate with everyone. Odds are against it.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to grab our readers by the collar anyway.
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Sadly, if I’d sent this book around to the indie publishers now, it might have gotten a better reception. Seven years ago, the indie market was much smaller, as the POD and electronic mechanisms were not as robust as they are today. Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. –k
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I found your posting yesterday just fine. No worry there. And your post here, also fine and reasonable and you pointed out a very real truth about the publishing business. It’s a business. Sadly, for some of us, both readers and writers alike. I agree, “Unraveling Time” is a very good book. And it’s mine now, all mine! 🙂
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As long as your Kindle has power, that is!
k
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