Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Writing and Publishing

I have always loved to read. In fact, several years ago I was thumbing through my "baby book" and saw this entry:

What Karen likes: being read to
What Karen dislikes: going inside. 

Yep, that's me.

When my daughter started doing that separation thing most adolescent girls go through, I started writing as a way to deal with it. That was almost ten years ago. Do I have a published book to show for all the work I've done since then? No. Has it helped me cope? Yes.

The publishing world is a universe all unto itself it seems, but with the rising popularity of electronic publishing that universe is quickly finding itself shoved to the outskirts. Anybody can produce a manuscript, upload it to Amazon and viola, you're published. In theory. All the angst of pitching a story, writing query letters, getting rejection letters, finding an agent, finding a publishing house, editorial rewriting, etc all go by the wayside. Right?

You will still have to write a good story. You will still have to get professional editorial advice. You will have to come up with your own marketing plan. Books don't sell themselves.

It's going to be interesting in the next few years to see if the publishing industry can catch up to the electronic revolution.

As for me, I'll still be writing anyway.

2 comments:

  1. Good post, Karen. Especially the line: Books don't sell themselves. Many aspiring authors think the hard work is over once the book is written. Hons, that's just the beginning!

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  2. That was something I learned at the first writers convention I went to. Now, after actually meeting and getting to know published writers, I know how much work it is to market the book.

    You are so creative with the marketing of your Mace Bauer series and it looks like fun, but it's also a LOT of work.

    Isn't it about time for "Mama Sees Stars" to be hitting the shelves?

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