Drawing A Blank

May 19, 2008

Over on the BookEnds blog there's a post talking about the positive aspects of the publishing business. Jessica Faust has noted that there's plenty of negativity to go around, much of it justified, so she wanted to put a smiley face on things. She cited some of the things she liked about the business and asked readers to list theirs. When I checked, there weren't any.

And I thought about posting something and honestly, I drew a blank.

My mind turned to my nonfiction writing, where there are many positive things, but I just couldn't think of anything positive to say this morning about fiction publishing. I just stared at the computer screen, my mind blank. It wasn't filled with negative things, it was just... blank.

So help me out, people. What are some positive things about fiction publishing? There must be some.

Okay, okay. It's 5 hours or so later. Maybe I just needed some caffeine, a workout and food.

Occasionally I get "fan" mail. That's pretty cool.

Generally speaking, the people I've met in the business have been great. I feel like sometimes we all deal with each other as if we're potentially explosive materials, but the people in publishing, various self-centered agendas aside, are pretty cool people.

I like the work itself. (I.e. Writing). I even like editing and rewriting.

I like holding a book in my hand.

I like seeing my book on a bookstore or library shelf.

I like being invited to do talks. (Far more than I actually like doing them, but it's nice to be invited).

I like advance checks and royalty checks.

I like feeling like a writer, talking to agents, editors, movie producers.

I like seeing the cover art for the first time (usually).

I like holding the books in my hands.

I like that movie people seem to like my work more than publishing people, though neither party is in any particular hurry to put their money where their mouths are.

Cheers,

Mark Terry