# of partials/manuscripts requested: 1
genre of partials/manuscripts requested: fantasy (alternate history)
We interupt our regular broadcast to bring you this important announcement from the war-torn front.
Last week, combatants were randomly surveyed to discover why they wanted to put themselves at risk out in the field (i.e. become published). Many claimed that they felt their writing would not be fully realized until it was shared with others and that a work was not complete until it had been read. Therefore, the need to become not just a writer but a published author. They vowed not to be put off by the fact that the odds may be stacked against them. Brave, brave fighters. My sincere respect to each and every one.
However, given those same odds, it is possible, even likely, that many of those who make the attempt will not succeed, despite persistence and faith (perhaps even despite talent). So, today, we ask our worthy correspondents.... if you could have your future told and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would never be published*, what would you do? And for those of you who have been published at least once, if you knew your work would never again gain a contract, what would you do?
We now return you to our regular programming.
*For the purposes of this transmission, self-publishing is exempt from the question.
Page Summary
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- (Anonymous) : never published? [+1]
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- (Anonymous) : Being Published [+0]
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Admin
This work by Jennifer Jackson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Comments
You know... I don't think I COULD stop writing. I do know what I'd do; I'd just end up posting it all online, same as I used to with
fanfictionother non-derivative works. If I couldn't do that, then I'd probably just end up showing it to my loved ones...And I'd probably go back to get my Master's degree in music instead of putting that aside to write. But I wouldn't stop writing.
I'm sure I'd continue to write. I'm also pretty sure I wouldn't do it at the *rate* I have been, but I can't actually imagine ceasing to write.
'course, I'd have to get a *job*... :)
Lisa Iriarte
... it does mean I have a lot of rejections though. :)
I can thank MZB for my 8y SS break, BTW.
at the moment I'm not because if they laugh at me, or worse pity my attempts, I'll never get the courage up to submit anything ever, I'm waiting till after I can say 'hey I got a contract suck it!' and let them laugh at me then.
If I had no chance? let'em laugh won't matter anyhow :D
Become a plumber.
My focus would probably change somewhat. I wouldn't spend so much time going to conferences and looking for opportunities to network and meet publishing professionals. I'd step back and look at all my life choices, because right now so much of my energy goes into maximizing my writing time and doing whatever I can to increase my odds of getting published. But I wouldn't stop writing, because I feel like it's what I was meant to do.
And there's always the degree. Teaching, all that jazz.
For me, sending out my stories and trying to get published is as much a part of being a writer as the writing part. If I were to know without a doubt that I would never get published again... that would seriously bum me out. A whole aspect of me as a person would be ripped apart by rabid wolves and left for the maggots before being thrown into a tub of acid.
If the opportunity to see my definite future came along, I've always said that I wouldn't look.
I would probably not stop writing, but some of the fire would be out of it. Strangely enough, I don't need to be published. If my one short story is all that ever gets selected by an editor, then I'd still be okay. Because just the act of sending out my stuff and getting rejected is still being a writer. It's something to aim for. Writing is no fun unless it's shared, bonus if that sharing makes you a little money.
I would try doing something else that I can enjoy and perform in a competent manner. I'll keep my stories in my head, they look good and I don't have to waste time writing them, and I'll get on with my life.
If you had asked this question a decade ago, I'm sure I would have answered, "I'll write anyway." Now, I'm not so sure. I think I would continue to write the things I really, really enjoy.
I am in the awkward position I call "on the brink," which is to say I certainly write publishable quality work, and I have an agent (yes, a real agent). And yet as the first novel goes unsold, I feel pressure to write the second (unrelated) one. It isn't fun. I feel as if I ought to be progressing, but the next step of "progress" is the hardest one yet: getting an editor to buy my novel.
I rather miss the days when I didn't care, and all I had was hope and potential. If I knew for certain I would never be published, I can't decide if it would make me hang my guns up for good, or if it would be incredibly freeing. I suspect "freeing."
At the very least, I would try to remember how it felt when I was a kid, and I wrote without any awareness that people are read. The only audience I ever had was myself. That's a very hard mindspace to hold onto nowadays. I write slowly, and that makes it too easy to start speculating about which market, what editor, what other works does it compare to?
Um...um..how about life? How about reading and learning what makes great writing effective? Don't need to shell out tens of thousands of dollars to do that!What a scam. Keep those classrooms filled.
So. do you pay more attention to a submission if someone claims a degree, or does the work stand on its own?
Could you tell us what you think the odds are of being published for any new writer these days, assuming one is educated and competent? Thank you for asking the question. I would keep writing because I've already been published a great deal, but not in book-length work.And between that and my 4.0 in English Lit, I should have a good chance of being allowed into an MFA program. And then what? Someone would hire me as a " novelist " ? Jesus. Feel better now. Thank you.
Could make an interesting psychiatric case study...
I would likely stop writing. For me, being read is the larger part of the point. And while I could simply write stuff and self-pub or post online, I would be missing that outside editorial feedback that I know I need.
End up living in your basement/wine cellar. And make you read everything and try to sell it anyway,'cause the fortune-teller might have been wrong.... *goes back to work, now even more neurotic than usual*
I believe completely that if I am meant to be published and if God wants that for me, then no one can take it away. If I am not meant to have it, then there is something better for me out there. Either way, all is well with the world and I am content.
However, I have a peace about it, but I also have a strong faith that I was born to be a writer, and a published writer I will be. I don't believe God gives anyone a vision if it is impossible.