What Do I Tell Aspiring Writers?


When people find out that I write, they often ask for advice. What they want to hear is that I love their idea for a book, that I'm going to IMMEDIATELY tell my agent about it, and I can guarantee they're going to make a ton of money.

None of those things is likely.

I might or might not love your idea for a book. I'm one person, and what I think really (I mean REALLY) doesn't matter.

I no longer have an agent, but even if I did, my recommendation would mean little except she might take a look. Agents judge on what they like and what they can sell (The second is more important, but the first part makes them more invested in the project.)

And if you sell a book, your chances of making the money you'd like are pretty small. Most of us are happy with very little. (Experts say most authors make less than $1000/year and most books sell less than 100 copies.)

My advice? IF none of the above dampens your enthusiasm for writing, you're a writer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cats and Crimes Release Day (Applause, Applause)

Image
 The new book, Cats and Crimes, releases today in e-book and print formats at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple, and anywhere else I can think of. Here's the cover, because I'm sure I haven't shared it ever before now. (Sarcasm) BUY IT HERE Here's another review, in case you're still thinking about it: Cats and Crimes is the latest murder mystery by Maggie Pill. Enter “crazy cat lady” Lorilee Riley. She’s a retired social services worker, with eight special cats, who finds more than she bargained for in her bed of flowers one morning: a corpse. Reluctant to get involved at first, Lorilee starts to get interested in solving the unfortunate young woman’s death when the lead detective snoops around her yard at 03:00 the following day. While trying to solve the murder, Lorilee becomes friends with the androgynous Jess and endeavors to get Jess out of the unfortunate predicament they’ve found themselves in. Ultimately, their investigation leads them straight into the mu
Read more

Freebie Cats and Crimes

Image
 There's less than a week left to get Cats and Crimes as a free e-book from Bookfunnel either here: https://books.bookfunnel.com/cozymysteryseptember/viw7z3gxs5 or here: https://books.bookfunnel.com/cleancozybooks/vqudav7vmv The way Bookfunnel works is that readers are offered free e-books of a certain genre, bundled together to suit the reader's taste. I signed up for two cozy mystery giveaways this month. Clicking on the link will get you a list of free cozies you can choose from. Cats and Crimes is the first of the Cats & Crimes Mysteries, and the second, Raining Cats and Cats , is available for purchase all over the place. https://books2read.com/u/mK7JAV   They're both also in audio from Amazon (Audible). If you'd like a code for a freebie on either, I have them, in hopes (of course), that you'll submit a review somewhere when you're finished listening. Oddly, the fourth book of the series is banging around in my head, but not the third. Not sure what I&
Read more

Another Writer Bites the Dust

Image
I spoke with a woman the other day about what we were reading. She told me about a book she'd bought because the author is local. "The story wasn't bad," she said, "but I don't think he had an editor. I had to force myself to finish because there were so many mistakes." I'm guessing she will never buy another book by that author. Mistakes happen. In the book I'm reading at the moment, a big-publisher, hardcover offering I bought in a bookstore, the author says that the rescue workers needed a place to "lie" the wounded woman down. That hurt my English teacher heart, but for the most part, we can expect publishing-house books to be well-edited. Self-pubbed authors are often the worst. They don't hire an editor because they think they're "pretty good with grammar," or they have a relative or friend who is. It's not the way to go. You love your writing, and your momma (cousin, sister, whoever) loves you. An editor nee
Read more