What I Don't Know
September 12, 2007
With a title like that, this blog entry could fill a library, but let's focus on writing.
1. I don't know how to intelligently evaluate return on investment re. book promotion versus sales.
2. I don't know how to convince the public to actually buy a book.
3. I don't know how to continue publishing novels. [Getting published was hard; staying published is harder. Sorry, it's the truth. I wish it wasn't.]
4. I don't know how people like Joe Konrath find the energy they put into book promotion. I include my friend Tobias Buckell in this category, too. [Toby does a ton, but Joe makes him look like a lazy slob].
5. I don't know why we think it's worthwhile to keep trying, just that apparently I think it is.
6. I don't have a clue what's going on in the head of my editor.
7. I'm not convinced I know what's going on in the head of my agent, either.
8. Some days, I'm not sure what's going on in my own head. Don't you hate that?
9. I don't know how to make a living writing fiction.
10. I don't actually know what my publisher's publicist has done. I'll keep assuming he's done stuff, but I don't actually know what it is he's done.
11. I don't know why some books get $100,000 advances and some get $1,000 advances. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for it.
12. At the book fair I spoke at Sunday, two separate people wanted to know why we had so much death and violence in our books (the panel was "Original Voices in Mysteries.") I don't know what panel these people thought they were listening to.
13. I don't know why so many people like and admire Oprah.
14. I don't know why so many readers apparently couldn't tell the difference between fiction and nonfiction when they bought Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code." [hint: it's FICTION!]
Well, I could go on, but I don't know what to write next.
Cheers,
Mark Terry
With a title like that, this blog entry could fill a library, but let's focus on writing.
1. I don't know how to intelligently evaluate return on investment re. book promotion versus sales.
2. I don't know how to convince the public to actually buy a book.
3. I don't know how to continue publishing novels. [Getting published was hard; staying published is harder. Sorry, it's the truth. I wish it wasn't.]
4. I don't know how people like Joe Konrath find the energy they put into book promotion. I include my friend Tobias Buckell in this category, too. [Toby does a ton, but Joe makes him look like a lazy slob].
5. I don't know why we think it's worthwhile to keep trying, just that apparently I think it is.
6. I don't have a clue what's going on in the head of my editor.
7. I'm not convinced I know what's going on in the head of my agent, either.
8. Some days, I'm not sure what's going on in my own head. Don't you hate that?
9. I don't know how to make a living writing fiction.
10. I don't actually know what my publisher's publicist has done. I'll keep assuming he's done stuff, but I don't actually know what it is he's done.
11. I don't know why some books get $100,000 advances and some get $1,000 advances. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for it.
12. At the book fair I spoke at Sunday, two separate people wanted to know why we had so much death and violence in our books (the panel was "Original Voices in Mysteries.") I don't know what panel these people thought they were listening to.
13. I don't know why so many people like and admire Oprah.
14. I don't know why so many readers apparently couldn't tell the difference between fiction and nonfiction when they bought Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code." [hint: it's FICTION!]
Well, I could go on, but I don't know what to write next.
Cheers,
Mark Terry
posted by Mark Terry at 6:33 AM
2 Comments:
LOL, I don't know why I like and admire Oprah. Perhaps because she's real, and she puts her raw self up there every day. There's a bravery in that. She struggles just like us, and she just keeps getting on with it.
Re: #4, I don't know, either. Yeesh. I can spend hours on the internet, and it seems like I only sold 1 book. That's like, fifty cents an hour after everyone else gets their cut.
I don't know what I can add to this.
I don't know why I thought that getting published would be the hard part and everything else would just follow.
I didn't know I wasn't the only person in the world who doesn't admire and like Oprah.
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