Thursday, December 2, 2010
Um...I Don't Know.
How many times have you heard, "When is your book gonna be finished?" Like...why haven't you printed it out and sold it already? Come on people, get to your computer, print out that masterpiece, grab some crayons and construction paper, color your little heart out, and get that thingy on the shelf already. If it could only be that easy (for me it could never be, I generally color outside the lines anyway). But do you ever find yourself trying to explain this whole lengthy, complicated, and draining process to the people around you, only to watch the light behind their eyes pack up shop into a miniature suitcase and pull the cord because they truly do not understand a single word you just said, nor do they even want to understand. They just want to see the book. Spare them the boring non-essentials. What-ev. I swear I'm just going to buy a little pocket tape recorder, record my answer and hit play every time someone asks me this question. It should be short. I'm thinking something along the lines of, Um...I don't know, or your guess is as good as mine, or my absolute favorite, the voices inside my head keep telling me to look to the east every evening at twilight while eating Cheetos ( no idea why this is important) and as I look to the east, a cloud will form before my eyes and take the shape of a book. When the book cloud flips open, I will know that it's time to submit. I bet that one will get the light back on. How about you? What do you say to this?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I have people impatient to read my books but they understand that publishing isn't so easy. I get a little annoyed when they pressure me about seeing it though.
ReplyDeleteI have found those who don't write believe the hardest part is completing a novel. Those of us who write know that's the easiest part, it gets much harder after that!
ReplyDeleteI have people ask status all the time, and I have to explain it's a long process. I always end with, "I'm still trying," like I have to explain myself to them!
ReplyDeleteTracy got it in one! The easy part is definitely writing the thing!
ReplyDeleteWell that's the truth of it. Tracy nailed it! Why can't we just hire people to fix the story when we're done. Oh, I forgot they're called copy-editors and I don't have one of those......YET! But I'm saving the change. I'm gonna get me one of those someday;)
ReplyDeleteAh, good question. Yeah, it's difficult for many people to understand the publishing industry. In fact, many writers don't even understand it - new ones, especially. I try to keep the explanation very simple and make it extremely clear that most of it is out of my control, requires a bunch of luck, and a lot of TIME. :)
ReplyDelete