All I wanted to do was write a book. It seemed a simple enough task. I would sit in coffee shops, my muse by my side, and be flooded by inspiration. After about a year, I would have a publishable manuscript, and be ready to field offers from Random House and Simon & Shuster. A national speaking tour would be arranged for me and I would dazzle large book-buying crowds with my clever quips and insights.
One year has stretched to two years, and I’ve learned there’s much more to writing a book than writing a book. The author gets involved with, and often pays for, all aspects of a book which are outside the writing process: substantive editing, line editing, copy editing, proofreading, formatting, layout, typeface, book design, and cover design. While that’s happening, the author must promote their own work through their website, dedicated Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram (and whatever they invent next), and constant blogging. Agents and traditional publishers are not lining up to sign first-time authors, who must scramble to find someone, anyone, to read their work. After about 200 rejections from agents and publishers, most authors explore other publishing options: e-books, Amazon, vanity presses, print-on-demand books, hybrid publishers. And the only people setting up media events and talks in book shops are the authors themselves.
If an author manages to grow a following and actually starts to sell some books, the traditional publishers begin sniffing around, and maybe offer a contract. Which is weird since once the author has established their ability to sell their book without any help, why would they give up part of their profits to be endorsed by a traditional publisher?
Over the past year, much of the time I should have been writing my book has been devoted to learning about the publishing process and “creating my social media platform and personal brand” (as if I knew what that was six months ago). I originally thought all I had to do was write, and everything else would take care of itself. As my book nears completion, at least the writing part, most writers tell me that marketing is more work than writing a book – and I can also look forward to lots of rejection and frustration. For little money. It’s been a very sobering education. Knowing what I know now, why in the world would I ever attempt to write a book? Wouldn’t it be much easier to continue as a lawyer, doing what I know how to do, be well paid for it, and slide into a comfortable retirement in a few years? But that’s the crucial point – I’m only part way through my struggles with my first book, and I know in the deep, dark belly of my soul that the writer’s life is the life for me. It’s fun and challenging every day. I don’t doubt for one minute my choice, and I rejoice in my decision to discard my old, ill-suited profession and embrace this artsy world of creativity and uncertainty.
