Monday Motivation

[James Marinero]

I'm not big on submissions and querying (I think I've written 20 in my life). I can't take rejection. I know that many of you on here have piles of R letters.

Then, writing this made me think about all those inventors and engineers who were told "it will never work" - e.g. Frank Whittle, the jet engine; "We don't need to reinvent the vacuum cleaner" - e.g James Dyson. Writers are like inventors, but musicians compose in a more constrained world - there are a limited number of notes and octaves that a human being can hear, as Burt Bacharach said last week.

Writers have so many words and combinations, like an infinite monkey cage (!) The agents and publishers often get it wrong. I saw these pics and thought of the interminable trial of submission. So, here's a motivational pic for those who have the strength to persevere:

 

[Paul Whybrow]

The unique problem that selling writing has, is that it takes an effort to engage with what's been created. This doesn't happen with other types of art—photography, painting, sculpture, acting, woodcarving, music, working with textiles—all of which can be assessed in a moment.

The same judgement call applies to most inventions, where a person swiftly decides if an idea is daft or goes, 'Why has nobody thought of that before?" The success of engineering developments can take years of use to determine the feasibility and reliability of a product, be it a bridge, car or power tool.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

The unique problem that selling writing has, is that it takes an effort to engage with what's been created. This doesn't happen with other types of art—photography, painting, sculpture, acting, woodcarving, music, working with textiles—all of which can be assessed in a moment.

Funny you should say this. Back when I was teaching interpretive writing, we used an equation to show students the relationship between how much work a reader had to do and how long they'd spend reading your panel/brochure/whatever. For interpretive writing, you have to be able to get your message across in three seconds, because that's how long the average reader will spend looking at your panel. I think it's probably the same for marketing a book--you've got to hook your reader (and convince them to buy your book) in three second or less.

 

[James Marinero]

The unique problem that selling writing has, is that it takes an effort to engage with what's been created. This doesn't happen with other types of art—photography, painting, sculpture, acting, woodcarving, music, working with textiles—all of which can be assessed in a moment.

And yet agents/publishers (there are honourable exceptions) can make an assessment in [fill in timescale less than 5 minutes].

Someone somewhere (Litopia?) said they'd overheard two people in a library discussing choosing a book and one said 'I choose a book by its cover'. Images can be powerful in book sales (as @Robinne Weiss points out). Music and video too, but less so than the immediate impact of a still image. That is of course before we mention viral videos...

 

[Richard Sutton]

Sorry I've been out of touch for a spell. Re: rejection letters. I still have 'em all in a bulging folder. Must be more than fifty of 'em. Took me a long time to figure it out. Nobody's gonna make enough from fifteen percent of my sales to afford dinner. Plus, realizing that my stories aren't all that unique and my ideas are also pretty mundane finally took up residence, which is not to say that I don't expect to delight and surprise myself with new work as long as my fingers work... but I won't be subbing any more. until that brilliant spark lights up in my head... maybe next week? Maybe next year?