When it comes to this whole writing business, I do two things - I write novels, and I blog. However, I've recently begun to wonder just how much my lack of actually publishing something has affected my credibility with the folks who come here(or even the ones who don't).
It's no secret that I've written a few books. I continue to do so, and I have plans for future works to I can try and make a go at this on a professional level. Most people that claim they want to be writers can't get beyond the "grand idea" stage, so I've gotten further down this road than a lot of folks. Still, my lack of being on the current market could, conceivably, make my credibility suspect with the audience of this blog.
It's relatively easy in the modern age to produce a novel for the general public and put into practice the dream one espouses. After a while, the general public begins to wonder just why they're taking advice from an author who doesn't have a product on the market for them to peruse. Would you believe in a football coach who never played a down, or in a chef who never produced a meal for you to taste?
This had me wondering recently just how serious people will take this blog. I thought that maybe I got started too early in the process and started this thing up long before I'd be ready to put a product on the market. Perhaps, I thought, I should've waited until that day a while from now when I could show I had a book scheduled for imminent release.
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I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't. Those that won't take what I'm offering aren't worth the effort anyway. I put my stuff out there, and people can evaluate whether it makes sense to them. If so, I hope they incorporate it. If not, they'll ignore it.
I also know that I'll actually publish one day. Why not now, you ask? There are two reasons - the first is that I want to focus on selling novels when I first publish, and I don't want to be worried about writing another novel so I can maintain momentum. By having an inventory of books ready to go, I can release one every six months for the first couple of years and bypass the pressure of new deadlines, lest I slip into irrelevancy. That'll free me up to focus on the business side of this without feeling that I'm neglecting work. The second reason is a function of geography - I currently live in Hawaii, and that makes it difficult to do all I want to in regards to my work. However, I will be leaving Hawaii in roughly two years, at which point geography becomes less problematic.
Maybe I'm just being cautious, but the market will be there when I finally debut. Besides, the space has given me excellent breathing room to save money up that I can use to jump start what I'm planning. If my calculations are correct - channeling a little Doctor Emmit Brown there - then I should have roughly $10,000 to start once I'm ready to push this into high gear.
Additionally, blogging helps me hone my own writing skills in a format that I'm not always comfortable with. Therefore, even if no one reads it or takes seriously what I have to say, I'm practicing the craft and getting better, which is an end unto itself. And isn't getting better one of the reasons we all spend so much time writing anyway?
It's no secret that I've written a few books. I continue to do so, and I have plans for future works to I can try and make a go at this on a professional level. Most people that claim they want to be writers can't get beyond the "grand idea" stage, so I've gotten further down this road than a lot of folks. Still, my lack of being on the current market could, conceivably, make my credibility suspect with the audience of this blog.
It's relatively easy in the modern age to produce a novel for the general public and put into practice the dream one espouses. After a while, the general public begins to wonder just why they're taking advice from an author who doesn't have a product on the market for them to peruse. Would you believe in a football coach who never played a down, or in a chef who never produced a meal for you to taste?
This had me wondering recently just how serious people will take this blog. I thought that maybe I got started too early in the process and started this thing up long before I'd be ready to put a product on the market. Perhaps, I thought, I should've waited until that day a while from now when I could show I had a book scheduled for imminent release.
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(All businesses have to be ready to serve their customers more than dreams)
That was when the tiny little voice in the back of my head started asking me if that credibility mattered in the context I was imagining. I wasn't claiming to have invented the longer lasting light bulb or that my car could run on both gasoline and water. I was giving out writing advice, mostly to people with the same hopes I have, and they'd either embrace it or they wouldn't. It wasn't like I was a teacher, sitting on high and dispensing philosophy to the masses. No, I was engaging in what was essentially mutual collaboration with others at probably the same stage of this business I was. Some are ahead of me(have been published), and some are behind me(still working on that first novel), but no one had yet come to me and said, "You asshat - why should we listen to you?" Even if that happened, would I care?I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't. Those that won't take what I'm offering aren't worth the effort anyway. I put my stuff out there, and people can evaluate whether it makes sense to them. If so, I hope they incorporate it. If not, they'll ignore it.
I also know that I'll actually publish one day. Why not now, you ask? There are two reasons - the first is that I want to focus on selling novels when I first publish, and I don't want to be worried about writing another novel so I can maintain momentum. By having an inventory of books ready to go, I can release one every six months for the first couple of years and bypass the pressure of new deadlines, lest I slip into irrelevancy. That'll free me up to focus on the business side of this without feeling that I'm neglecting work. The second reason is a function of geography - I currently live in Hawaii, and that makes it difficult to do all I want to in regards to my work. However, I will be leaving Hawaii in roughly two years, at which point geography becomes less problematic.
Maybe I'm just being cautious, but the market will be there when I finally debut. Besides, the space has given me excellent breathing room to save money up that I can use to jump start what I'm planning. If my calculations are correct - channeling a little Doctor Emmit Brown there - then I should have roughly $10,000 to start once I'm ready to push this into high gear.
Additionally, blogging helps me hone my own writing skills in a format that I'm not always comfortable with. Therefore, even if no one reads it or takes seriously what I have to say, I'm practicing the craft and getting better, which is an end unto itself. And isn't getting better one of the reasons we all spend so much time writing anyway?
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