Don’t Be A One-Book Pony

It seems that I keep hearing a lot of, “I wanted to get this book out there” or “I wanted people to read this book.” I see a lot of focus on THIS book rather than THIS career. And I think writers need to ask themselves what it is they really want. Do they want just the one book out there or do they want a longer-lasting series of books published? Because a career takes a lot of dedication. When I was trying to get published all those years ago, I wasn’t trying to publish the ONE book. I wrote book after book after book. And each agent that I acquired, left, fired—had a different book to peddle. I strove for that agent…and then the next, until one took hold, one who was less interested in one book and more interested in building that career.

So it troubles me when writers are quick to give up on getting an agent and leap into self-publishing, rather than doing the work of writing and writing and writing. Yes, it’s hard to get an agent. It should be. If that book isn’t speaking to agents, then write another one. It could be that that book that is so precious to you is a bit too precious. Yes, agents can be wrong and it’s harder for them to place a book with publishers that will make them any money, but agents have always been picky. They don’t want to represent anything that isn’t up to par any more than a publisher wants to publish it. They all have reputations to uphold. And so do you. I shiver when I think that my first effort out of the gate would have gotten published. Even though I had written stories for fun since I could hold a crayon, and wrote my first honest-to-goodness-novel when I was sixteen, I had no editors, no critique groups, no other readers to subject it to for criticism. And I wouldn’t have been ready to hear it anyway. Who wants to hear that maybe it’s a good idea to put that book aside and try another? And yet I’m willing to bet that there are many would-be writers out there who should do just that. Good grief, by the time I sold my first novel, VEIL OF LIES, I had written fifteen novels prior! And it was nominated for two industry awards.

So don’t be that guy that as soon as you type “The End” you are clicking that “Publish” button. TAKE THE ADVICE FROM THOSE WHO HAVE COME BEFORE. You’ll never have another chance to be a debut author, and that is a BIG DEAL.