Returning from a conference: wonderful people, great
presenters, good news and bad news.
While at conference last week, it was such a joy to meet so
many wonderful participants. I learned I need to smile more when I first
arrive, otherwise I have a scary face! Yikes! Well, here’s the scoop on that. I
am petrified when I’m in a new circumstance. So I people watch for a while
until I fell comfy. Then I don’t stop smiling, OR talking. But I need to learn
to smile while I’m doing the “getting comfy” bit.
Second, I met a few new industry individuals, wonderful
folks with plenty to share.
The good news is they are always looking for wonderful new
voices and are anxious to look at new authors.
The bad news is, while they are open to newbies, there are
getting to be fewer and fewer established houses handling fiction. I learned of
another house dropping the fiction line while I was there. And that is so
discouraging.
So what does all of this mean to new authors? It means
there has never been a time when your writing needs to be tighter, filled with
more punch, and ready to go. It means you can’t expect the publishing house to
do the work for you. It means…you MUST know your craft like never before.
Is that something to make you sit back and lament your
career choice? NO! It is a wake up call. You should be learning and doing what
you should have been doing all along—writing a strong novel and writing it
well.
7 comments:
Very excellent advice, Linda!
And thank for being candid about your smile when you first arrive at conferences. I too must make myself smile, otherwise I look like I will cry (at least that's what I used to be told until I've been arriving since with that smile in place).
Are there less fiction buyers? Or are the other houses saturating the market with more titles?
My guess, and this is purely guess work, is that the market is being saturated with self-pub. And while some is horrible, and I mean really horrible, some are very GOOD in many instances. For those already struggling, I'm (guessing again) it just eats into what they are able to produce. All conjecture at this point, but we have to face the reality that the industry of today has a completely diff face from yesterday's.
I have a scary non-smile face, too. I look angry or sad and I'm not much of a smiler in the first place. You have no idea how many times I've been told to smile in my lifetime and I hate it when people say that. My reply is, "I'm smiling on the inside!"
You ladies don't know the half of it - think of having a big white mustache that makes you look serious even when you are trying to smile. Oh well, it is what it is.
Never thought of that, Terry! Whoosh!
Nice to see both the female and male side of this experience. I have the opposite problem. I am usually found with a smile on my face, even in serious situations.
Can I help it that I'm a happy person?
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