The Secret Handshake

[pbray]

Friday afternoon at Wiscon featured the midlist writers' gathering, and about a dozen of us got together to compare notes. After listening to various writers share their stories, I was hit by the realization that many of us had fallen into the secret handshake trap.

As published authors we've all encountered unpublished writers who are searching for the mystical key to getting published. They don't want to hear about writing a good story, researching the markets, or the importance of professional presentation when it comes time to submit their work to agents and editors. These individuals want to hear that there's a shortcut--that the reason I sold my first book is because I'm personal friends with the spouse of an editor, was once trapped in an elevator with an agent, went to cons and bought drinks for a famous writer who then agreed to send my manuscript to their editor, etc. They're convinced that there's a secret handshake out there, and if I won't tell it to them, they'll simply go on to pester another writer.

As midlist authors, all of us in the room had avoided falling into that trap. We'd figured out that there was no easy path to success. But many of us having fallen into the very next trap--thinking that there's some magic shortcut for getting out of the midlist into bestselling/lead author status.

We seek out successful authors and listen to their stories. We beat ourselves up for not doing more to drive sales. Should I have a spiffy website like AuthorA? Are postcards enough or do I need nifty marketing giveaways like AuthorB? Is it okay if I only do two local signings or should I spend the family vacation money hitting every bookstore on the east coast?

That's not to say that marketing and self-promotion is wasted. It can be valuable, and to the extent that the author enjoys doing this, it's a good thing. But if we're driving ourselves crazy trying to figure out why all our promotional efforts haven't been enough to break out of the midlist, then it's time to take a deep breath and remember that we're not actually in control. Luck, timing, and publisher support are at least as important as anything that I can do as an individual author. The time and mental energy wasted trying to find the one true key to achieving bestseller status is energy that might be better spent writing another great book.

And hey, there's nothing wrong with the midlist. Some of my best friends are midlisters :-)

Comments

Re: Thanks --

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Precisely. Write great books, so you'll be ready when the factors outside your control align in your direction.