It will come as no news to those struggling to get books published these days that times are especially tough right now. An author friend who finally got an agent last year and is trying to sell what I don't doubt is a well-written novel has struggled through 26, that's right, 26, rejections from publishers since then. For starters, the market is saturated, as more and more people want to write books, even if they are neither readers nor experts nor experienced "writers," even in terms of understanding Grammar and style. AI and self-publishing both support these kinds of authors and they are creating challenges for those more practiced in the field who need to generate interest in and sell their work too. Another big problem is that marketability has taken the place of originality in terms of what publishers now seek. How likeable are you as a writer? How likeable is your style? These are questions that would have made most, if not all authors from the past with any ...
Someone I hold very dear recently wrote to me about her refusal to go by the cultural standard in America where one must pretend always to be successful, that one's life and work are in great shape and failure nowhere in sight. Failure is intrinsic to human life and we tend to forget that in a competitive society. My friend's statement prompted me to question my own ideas of what success is. To what standards do I hold myself? Who selected them? What does it mean to succeed in life? Are the values of our culture, my values? What do I consider success to be? As a writer, I've long grown accustomed to rejections from journals. It's part of the writing process which writers have to learn to take in stride. I've developed a pretty good sense of equanimity about that by now, taking into consideration a journal's timing, themes, taste, preferences, how many editors are reviewing my work. There are multiple factors to consider and sometimes it seems like a literary acc...
I finally did the thing I've been told I should have done long ago, which is probably why I didn't do it. I have an author's website . Most of my books are available through it, and I have to admit, Tertulia did a pretty neat job putting it together for me, although, of course, authors still have to do some work. It's $9.99/month, if you pay monthly--I opted for that--and $7.99 if you pay yearly, which means 20-percent off, I think. (Let me never be the one who pays more cheaply for anything!) You get two weeks free at the start if you are undecided. I really thought I could bypass the presumed pomposity of an "author's website" by keeping everything on this blog, but the wave of writerly opinion says otherwise. So I'm going with the flow. We'll see if it makes a difference regarding sales. Who knows. My new website is via a domain that is mine for a year, procured through Stripe . Price for that was $15/yearly. Am I wrong to think the whole auth...
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