Why do some people get publishd and most people don't? It doesn't seem fair to me. It's not about literary talent. It's about how you agree with what someone says. But then again, if you are going to give in, why say anything? No place for the truth
Life is a popularity contest, it starts early and continues until you get old enough to tell the judges you don't give a dam. Until then the quality of your life is determined by how high you score on others criteria, it's junior high school forever.
Because most people who write don't have telnt. Yes, it is about talent. Whether or not the writer is able to capture the reader's attention, convey what he has to say in a manner that makes the reader want to read on. There's a lot that goes into effective writing -- the reason they have university classes and degrees in various aspects of the craft and the art.
Everyone thinks he or she can write because the know English. When a publisher gets manuscripts, some as many as 100 or more a day, within the first few paras they know if they want to read anymore, if the author can sell.
Writing is not a 'popularity contests' except when it comes to the writers who convey what they have to say so artfully that readers rush out to buy their books. Then the become popular with their publishers, too.
Some people write like they are still in junior high. And for them, it will be 'junior high forever..' Except the only grades they get will be the rejection letters.
What I was trying to convey to tj only referred to his comment on the fairness of it all. How many times have you seen people with far less talent, dedication and ability move ahead, not based on their work but on how popular they are. That was my point, we have seen it from junior high school and forward. It has always been that way and it appears it always will. What you say about publishers I am sure is correct, some people write and continue to live in junior high
And how do you explain the latest craze with the Vampire books? Suddenly this author rose from being an unknown to the latest craze with the teen crowds and even adults? What made her writings so special??
couple years ago I went to a class called 'Writing To Publish'. That same semester I approached the owner/editor of a small newspaper in the small town(Ocala, Florida)and ot ffered to give the newspaper a travel article every week for a free advertisement for the travel agency I worked for. This was how I was able to get my articles published. They were short articles with one photo but it gave me so much joy to do this each week. I have retired from the travel business so now I just write articles about anything I feel passionate about. If you want to have articles published you can try www.divinecaroline.com I am published there, just short articles, under Normajo Thompson Spence. You may find the website encouraging.
I don't agree with the thoughts at the start of this thread. Maybe if you're writing political or religious stuff, there's a chance you'd be dismissed without real consideration for your work. Of course, such dismissal would maybe be guaranteed IF you were trying to get someone from an opposing camp to give you consideration. There's scant tolerance afforded opposing views on most popular political blogs. But ANYTHING that's written well has an audience waiting for it. If you get your work in front of the right pair of eyes, and it's any good - you're gonna get noticed. The other way is if you're ALREADY famous and you write your first book (Think Sarah Palin). Then folks are gonna rush out and buy your offering JUST to see if they can glean any juiciness from it's pages.
Which aspiring writers do you know of who were an instant "sensation" from their very earliest works? I rest my case.
I kind of went two ways in that opening thread Talent vs. political opinion. Thank you Arcade for pointing that out to me. I write, but I spend much more time reading. I was just thinking about it because some of the best books I've ever read were first personally published because no reputable house would pick up the work on their own. I have a personal library of over 800 books I've bought over the past couple of years. I buy them and read them while I'm getting a tan or if it's raining I read them or I'm on an airplane or my satellite dish is running reruns or I can't sleep. Point is, I read a lot. And the other point is, how can books that got neglected by major publishers do so well when the author pays to publicise them himself and does so well? Personally, just glad I like to buy books
Books get neglected by major publishers because they have specific slots to fill and they have hundreds of mss go through the slush pile every day...read by readers who may not recognize talent. There are one hundred and one reasons for books, even good books, not to get published and most of them have to do with what's going to make the publisher the most money. If the teenage vampire book is going to make a ton of money and the literary coming of age novel won't, they'll go with the vampires. In either case, good writing comes first, after that, it's a marketing thing, and who you know or who your agent is, ...as well as a good dose of luck being in the right place at the right time with the right story. It also doesn't hurt if the writer gets out there to do some networking. Rare is the instant success story...even if it's a first book. And, add to all that, most of what people write is either bad writing or just plain boring. Just my 2 cents. :-)
I'm glad you read a lot tjbr...and buy books. :-) I do, too...usually more than I have time to read.
I just read this book "The Informant" by Kurt Eichenwald which has gotten made into a movie starring Matt Damom. Usually, I wish the movie was as good as the book but in this case I know the movie can only be better than the book. This guy got recommended for a Pulitzer but I didn't see anything besides blind reporting, not a hint of a metaphor before page 400 in a book that is 566 pages. It was boring....Dan Brown, well, I won't eat or sleep until I finish one of his books. I'm afraid to buy his new one because this is my tanning season and I'm still a bit white from 6 months of rain for a sunburn. I have to read some boring stuff for a few weeks before I get up to Dan Brown. RomWrtrGirl, The one thing I dreads these days is not having a book to take me on an adventure when everything else in my life seems so every day. I have so many books; they are going to take me forever to read especially when I find a good one and want to read it again.
