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Now, before I get going, don't worry - this isn't going to be some bleeding heart blog berating my situation in life. I get to spend all day making stuff up and at the end of the day (hopefully) get paid for it. I am very lucky. But the point Roz raises is an interesting and relevant one.
You should also remember that I am a professional. I'm not going to name names or besmirch reputations, but I am going to share a couple of my own experiences with you...
Like the time the blurb on the back of a book of mine gave away the big reveal twist ending that came in the last chapter - a blurb I didn't get to see for myself until the book was already published. (Which really didn't help make the reviews any more favourable.)
Or the time a book came out with startling similarities to one of mine, which popular opinion said wasn't as well-written as mine, but whose author had a better deal than me and went on to sell a lot more copies than me and make a lot more cash. (Not that I'm bitter, or anything.)
Or the occasion when an editor who had rejected my novel tried to persuade another writer to submit something - and talked of begging another author to do the same - right in front of me. (That was considerate.)
The thing about all of the above is that they weren't career-ending catastrophes. I've got over these hiccups and moved on. There's plenty I'm very proud of, but I still feel - or at least hope - that my best is yet to come. And when it comes I'll have the nouse to make sure I reap the rewards of whatever level of success it achieves.
Until next time...
PS - Of course there are some publishers/agents/editors I'm still waiting to hear back from, more than two years after I sent them something to ponder over...
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1 comment:
I have similar stories. I suspect every writer who has been around a bit has them too... My "favourite" is the novel proposal that got "lost" for two years. When it was found, I was told by the editor, "If I'd seen this a year ago, I'd have commissioned it. Now we're doing something else..."
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