Good argument. When an author comes to me for help with their book, one of the first questions I ask is about their aim for it. Find an agent or publisher? Self-publish? Simply make the best book possible for their own satisfaction? Also I ask whose work has influenced them. Writers of big series? Writers of finely crafted weird little cross-genre novels? They all need different kinds of guidance. 'Write to market' is great advice for some writers, a prison sentence for others.
Oh, and I think I've worn most of those hats at one time or another.
The problem is that unless these blogs existed, I would never have learned the hard facts around publishing. I have just started out and have written my first novel. I never for a moment thought the kiss of death for a debut was 135k words.... I am not worried, and I have started to write the sequel. Perhaps you like me did not study the subject before putting pen to paper, but the cold reality came afterwards. So I would also add that I loved every moment of the research and the writing, but have learned a great deal... My third novel is now well underway... I know a bit more of the rules and will not take a silent pass to heart and will keep a closer eye on the word count.
My point is not that the rules of publishing don't exist, or that people shouldn't tell you about them. It's that they may not apply to you, so you don't need to take them to heart unless you're aiming for their specific market. What's essential if you're trying to pitch a literary agent or publisher isn't necessarily relevant if you're self-publishing genre fanfic for a small audience of loyal fans.
Yes you are absolutely right, a steep learning curve indeed. The blogs, as you correctly identify are often misleading and irrelevant to the majority of the readers. This is exactly the rabbit holes that one can easily go down without finding the frame in which they sit. I think this also goes for agencies too and agents too in my experience to date.
It's the same in all creative industries, I think. I recently got a book on how to write audio dramas. It should have been called "How to write audio dramas that you can pitch to the following networks." It would have been extremely valuable information if that's what I'd actually wanted to do, whereas my intention is to write things that I can turn into podcasts on zero budget.
Movies work the same way: writing for Hollywood is nothing like writing for an indie YouTube channel.
Here’s to the amateurs, doing it for the love of it !!!!
Good argument. When an author comes to me for help with their book, one of the first questions I ask is about their aim for it. Find an agent or publisher? Self-publish? Simply make the best book possible for their own satisfaction? Also I ask whose work has influenced them. Writers of big series? Writers of finely crafted weird little cross-genre novels? They all need different kinds of guidance. 'Write to market' is great advice for some writers, a prison sentence for others.
Oh, and I think I've worn most of those hats at one time or another.
The problem is that unless these blogs existed, I would never have learned the hard facts around publishing. I have just started out and have written my first novel. I never for a moment thought the kiss of death for a debut was 135k words.... I am not worried, and I have started to write the sequel. Perhaps you like me did not study the subject before putting pen to paper, but the cold reality came afterwards. So I would also add that I loved every moment of the research and the writing, but have learned a great deal... My third novel is now well underway... I know a bit more of the rules and will not take a silent pass to heart and will keep a closer eye on the word count.
My point is not that the rules of publishing don't exist, or that people shouldn't tell you about them. It's that they may not apply to you, so you don't need to take them to heart unless you're aiming for their specific market. What's essential if you're trying to pitch a literary agent or publisher isn't necessarily relevant if you're self-publishing genre fanfic for a small audience of loyal fans.
Yes you are absolutely right, a steep learning curve indeed. The blogs, as you correctly identify are often misleading and irrelevant to the majority of the readers. This is exactly the rabbit holes that one can easily go down without finding the frame in which they sit. I think this also goes for agencies too and agents too in my experience to date.
Exactly.
It's the same in all creative industries, I think. I recently got a book on how to write audio dramas. It should have been called "How to write audio dramas that you can pitch to the following networks." It would have been extremely valuable information if that's what I'd actually wanted to do, whereas my intention is to write things that I can turn into podcasts on zero budget.
Movies work the same way: writing for Hollywood is nothing like writing for an indie YouTube channel.