Getting in on the ground floor…
In my old day-job, the projects where I was most comfortable were those where I got in on the ground floor. In other words, I was in it from the start, analyzing the data available and initiating its theoretical explanation.
I couldn’t do that with writing. I’d decided long ago to postpone my storytelling in order to put food on the table for my family, just like my father had done before me with his painting. Few people can make a decent living in arts and crafts, and my parents had taught me financial responsiblility. All this “follow your dream” stuff is nonsense. You can’t forget about your dreams, but you can postpone them while you take care of your loved ones.
People who get in on the ground floor still might have a tough time at first, but trailblazing has its satisfactions if not rewards. The old mares and stallions in the Big Five’s stables, their current “sure bets” in the race to successful novels, didn’t have much competition when they started. Emphasis should be on the word “old,” meaning they’ve been publishing solid, marketable stuff for years. One author, James Patterson, even invented an assemblyline approach to publishing.
But I think even Patterson had a few rejections at first. Tom Clancy and J. K. Rowling also had a hard time in the beginning. I bet none of them can beat my record, though. Not getting in on the ground floor led to over 1000 rejections from agents and publishers as I tried to go the traditional route. I was the “Cancer-Stick Man” from X-Files without that cancer stick. No one had heard of me, no one believed in me, and probably no one wanted to hear from me again.
Thank God for self-publishing and traditionally publishing via small presses. For all who just want to spin a good yarn or two, they take away that advantage all those old mares and stallions have by having started on the ground floor. The odds are still stacked against us—from authors, bookstores, and critics (the dreaded ABC’s of the publishing establishment) shunning us, to disparaging remarks against indie books and those from small presses that we always hear or read about. But we’re still writing, putting our stories out there for all to read. Maybe we just changed that ground floor to some higher level with a ceiling determined by uninformed and prejudicial opinions, but we’re writing and publishing. They can try to take that away from us, but they won’t succeed.
I’ve had many debates with readers who prefer Big Five books. During one, the person said to me, “Give me an example of a successful indie author.” My answer. “I’ll give you two: Andy Weir and Hugh Howey.” The person had never heard of them. So I said, “They wrote The Martian and Wool.” He’d only heard of the first book because of the Matt Damon movie and had no idea The Martian had started as a downloadable PDF on Andy’s website! I told him to check out those books on Amazon, and while he was at it, to look at all the ebooks that are $5 or less—nearly all of them are indies or from small presses, because the Big Five rips readers off with their high prices; and many of them are solid, entertaining reads, so many that I can’t keep up with even those in my genres!
It’s a new age in publishing, a wonderful age for readers, where the supply of good books and good authors is greater than it’s ever been. Every author has a chance to publish her/his stories and reach some readers now. Many, including myself, can’t make a living doing it, but at least we can do it. That’s much better than the alternative.
The old mares and stallions will soon pass on to heavenly pastures (or somewhere else); others will take their place. Where will these “new voices” come from? Anywhere and everywhere, from the very few who are in the stables already, to indie authors and those writing for small presses.
That all assumes there are still readers left to peruse their fiction offerings. If you’re a reader, support your favorite authors and find new ones, reading and reviewing their books. From their ranks will come the new storytelling giants.
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In libris libertas!
