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Thirteen Things
By Nancy Lindquist | July 26, 2007
Thirteen Things That Surprise Me About Being a Published Author:
Becoming published is a wonderful feeling. This week book number for, okay, short story number one, comes out on Friday and it’s one of my best works. “Ladies! Meet Red Hot Alaskan Men” is part of Samhain Publishing’s, Mid Summer Night’s Steam” series and I’m very honored to be a part of it. The editor on the project is evil, but it’s a great story, because of her. I am very proud of this story, as I am of all my stories, but some things about being a published author surprised me.
1. I thought I would be rich.
I thought all authors were rich. In reality only 12% manage to eek out a living at writing. That’s among PUBLISHED authors. That was a bit of a shock.
2. I thought that it would be easy to get other books published.
Turns out I’ve had all my rejection letters since I’ve been published. There have not been many of them, but two publishers I’ve badly wanted to crack have turned me down cold. Both sent me the indignity of the pre-done form letter. Both broke my heart, but gave me resolve to try again.
3. You are actually expected to market your own book!
I’ve had other authors tell me, in a snotty tone, that if I had gotten published with a big, New York house that I would not have to do any marketing. None of those authors were published by big, New York houses. Reality check. You have to market your own book. I just pulled down a proposal to author a Chicken Soup Book (piles and piles of paperwork there) and they ask what your marketing strategy is. Everyone expects you to market your stuff. Unless you’re Stephen King.
4. The kids are not impressed. You’d think being a published author would make them at least squeal. Nothing.
5. Some of your friends and family expect you to ship them all the copies of your book, for free.
Some of them have no intention of getting it themselves and expect you to buy it for them. I would think this was a factor of being a member of my family, but I’ve heard other authors state this too.
6. You have to be good at many things.
Writing, becoming published (an art unto itself), marketing. It’s a lot. Not horrible, but it can be a bit of a shock.
7. Some people will adore you, just for being published.
I had a woman follow me around on a cruise telling me how wonderful I was. She’d not read my work, in fact she would be appalled, but she thought I was some sort of mini celebrity. At first, it was flattering. It got a tad intrusive when she came up to me at dinner and wanted photos. I didn’t get to eat. If this woman had been an actual fan, maybe I would be a bit more flattered, but it felt uncomfortable.
8. You never get tired of the thrill of holding your book in your hand.
9. No matter how good you think your work is, you are always surprised and pleased when people love it.
I’ve kept every piece of fan mail I’ve ever recieved. Always will. I love them. When it sucks to be me, I re-read them. They offer me a validation that I find refreshing.
10. You will still shake when a letter comes in from a Publisher about whether or not they’re going to take your work.
11. Writing is hard work.
The first couple of stories came to me easily. Now I worry about my characters all sounding too much alike and whether the romance is real enough.
12. You never stop second guessing yourself.
Just when you think you’ve fixed one thing about your writing, another crops up and you’re re-writing like a madwoman. There is a learning curve in writing, but it’s a subjective thing and it’s hard to perfect something that’s subjective.
13. People will always sniff and point out someone who is more famous, a better writer, etc. when they find out what you do.
I get the negative comments about being e-published and about writing romance and about writing erotic romance. The sniffs and sniggers. Not everyone certainly,. Not even a five percent thing, but some people will try hard to put you in your place. Even if you’re already well aware of your flaws. Never apologise. If you’re published, YOU’RE PUBLISHED and to demean that is wrong. Never let anyone make you feel like your work is, “not quite good enough.” It was good enough to be published.
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July 26th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Every one of those is so true, Nancy. Very thoughtful list.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Well, congrats anyway on being published. I admire your hard work and know that any and all success is hard earned. I’ve never published anything but I have written a lot. It’s a mixture of uncontrolled compulsion to do so and horror at the huge odds against writing something good, much less publishable and successful.
Best of luck to you.
Just be honest to the family members. “Yes, I’m a published author, but I don’t have any more money than you do to buy books and send them to everyone I know. I’d love for you to read my book, but you’ll have to go to buy your own copy until I reach Steven King’s sales levels. I’m sure you understand, don’t you?”
P.S. Yes, Florida does sort of have seasons. Hot and not-so-hot. Fall is not so hot and the sunsets really are better in Nov/Dec/Jan.
July 26th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Absolutely terrific list, Nancy. My first book isn’t out and I can relate to several items. #1 made me wince. Now, how can I get in that 12%? And do I hear you on the marketing. I can’t believe how much there is to keep up with and there are times I feel like I’m drowning with all the list groups and forums. Then there’s finding time to get the next ms out. I’m very nervous. What if the next one doesn’t sell or the one after that? I don’t want to be a one-book wonder.
But like you put at the end. I’m proud of myself for getting this far and that keeps me going when the times get rough.