That's right, I no longer have a bottom lip - I've chewed it off, shared it with the dog, grappled to get it back, re-affixed it, chomped down on it again...and so it goes on.
You may well be suffering the same disfigurement if you’ve been following the heated debate around Traditional Publishing v Self-publishing or Legacy contracts v Agency contracts (personally, I’d settle for a contract whatever its name).
Hell, from what I recently read, those established ‘mid-listers’ (I’d give my upper lip to be one of them) could be under threat too. Some blame Amazon, a lot blame the ‘Big 6’ (a scary bunch who you really do not want to piss off).
Frankly I blame GMC and those MRUs played their part too. (Premise, Concept and Theme stayed on the side lines, Scenes arrived late and High-Concept was kept back in English class and so missed the Conflict).
Lost yet? That’s my point. Writing introduces you not just to a whole new vocabulary but a whole new world of war and you’ve got to flog the blogs to make sure you stay on top of things.
Or is it a ruse to keep upstart Newbies out? Who knows? Who cares?
Best advice I can give – don’t take sides, smile at absolutely everyone and never confess to not knowing what the hell is going on (because you are in fine company).
Want to know how to recognise a newbie writer? No bottom lip, that’s the dead giveaway…oh, and the overuse of brackets as demonstrated in this post.
And to think I just wanted to write…
Ah, for me its nails. After the last fortnight, I have none.
ReplyDeleteLong story short, I'm going against the grain of what it means to be a writer and taking a huge gamble (which means I'm considering turning down a contract). Seriously. No BS.
I'm not even insane, or at least not clinically diagnosed! More news soon, but for now I have a lot of soul serching to do. Being a writer is hard!
Aimee - go with your instincts. Very tricksy route, the road to being published. Skip those damn potholes and just enjoy. Who needs nails, they only get in the way of typing.
ReplyDeleteI need nails, else I hit all the wrong keys lol.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link to the blog post I was telling you about:
http://www.entangledinromance.com/2012/03/13/a-modern-day-fairy-tale-by-jennifer-probst/
P.S. To follow them, or any blog, just copy the link, go to your dashboard and scroll right to the bottom. There's a button called "add". Just click it, paste the link in and hit "follow". Gives you an option to follow publicly or not then hit "ok". Simples :o)
When you follow blogs, their recent posts come up on your reading list at your dashboard. Its a good way to catch things like pitches and other info.