Author Insight: The Business of Publishing

Has there ever been a time when you were ready to quit or thought you weren’t cut out for this business? What brought you back?

"All the time. Nearly monthly these days. I don't know what brings me back. I'm just compelled to write and equally compelled to send what I write to my agent and try and get it published. It's simply biologic with me." - K. Ryer Breese, author of Future Imperfect. 

"I get bouts where I’m riddled with self-doubt. I get all worked up and stressed out thinking my editor will one day call me and say ‘it was all a bit of a joke, a social experiment to see how a normal minion would react to getting a publishing deal.’ When I get those moments I think it would be easier to go back to the carefree life of no pressure, no worrying about reviews, or people judging you. But then something awesome happens, I get some great news from my agent, or I read a brilliant review and my faith is restored." - Leigh Fallon, author of The Carrier of the Mark. 

"Holy cow, yes! During the query game, I wanted to quit daily. Sometimes, even now, I think I’m not cut out for publishing. It’s so stressful at times. I often wonder why I chose something so intense as writing as my hobby, and how hard it is to learn to knit." - Elana Johnson, author of Possession. 

"I spent most of 2010 wanting to quit. I felt like a failure because my first two books hadn't sold as well as I hoped and my publisher turned down my option book. My work-in-progress was a constant battle, beginning, middle and end, nothing was working. I can't pinpoint a specific thing that brought me back, my love of story just would not let go. Writing feels like the only thing I know how to do." - Stephanie Kuehnert, author of Ballads of Suburbia. 

"No. If I wasn’t delusional, I wouldn’t have assumed I could sell a book." - Marta Acosta, author of  Haunted Honeymoon.

"I’ve been sending out my work since I was fifteen years old (stubborn Capricorn, what can I say?) so I could wallpaper my studio with rejections letters. The last time I gave up, I had myself a good cry then I sat down and sent more query letters out an hour later. That was the day I found my agent." - Alyxandra Harvey, author of Haunting Violet.

"Meeting the reality of the publishing world, where not everything is bright and shiny like an episode of Castle and often moves with the speed of tectonic plates can be dispiriting. Fortunately, I met tons of great people going through the same exact things on Verla Kay, the Tenners, & the Elevensies. These people and my beloved critique partners are what kept me going and keep me going." - Dawn Metcalf, author of Luminous. 

"Ha!  Pretty much every day when I was writing my first book I’d wake up and think that I was a crazy woman.  Who the heck was ever going to read it anyway?  What kept me going was my innate block-headedness.  I was born stubborn, I think.  I decided to write a book and I wasn’t going to stop until I finished it, no matter how much I doubted myself." - Josephine Angelini, author of Starcrossed. 

"While I was writing Eona and Eona, I would occasionally freak out about money and announce I HAD to get a full-time job. My husband would always say, 'You put something new into the world and that is far more important than money.' Then he would wreck the sweet moment by adding, 'You wouldn’t last six months, anyway.' Which, alas, is true." - Alison Goodman, author of Eona. 

"I’ve thought about quitting a million times. Doesn’t everybody? But I never did – never will. Ever. I want it too much. I love it too much." - Trinity Faegen, author of The Mephisto Covenant.

 

"I think every author has his or her moments when he or she wants to quit but the thing with me is that it really is a part of who I am. The one time I tried to quit it was about two hours before I was back at my computer and scribbling in notebooks. Mike pointed it out and I admitted that I don’t think I could ever quit." - Emma Michaels, author of The Thirteenth Chime.

 "Sadly, yes. At the very start of my pursuing a writing career I finished my first book and entered two contests. When I got the first results back they were mediocre and I thought, "Guess I wasn't meant to be a writer." The thing that brought me back was the other contest. It was much bigger and far more prestigious and I was a finalist. With the exact same manuscript." - Tera Lynn Childs, author of Sweet Venom. 

 "No. There were times when I thought I would never get published, but I always knew I would keep trying. This is what I've wanted to do since I was a kid." - Leah Cypess, author of Nightspell. 

Stop by Thursday to find out if the rest of the authors have ever wanted to walk away from the publishing business.

<< Previous