tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post6619774455426070682..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Creative career? Leave the ladder at home - Katherine RobertsKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-33403130194179588012015-10-21T20:38:59.159+01:002015-10-21T20:38:59.159+01:00Oh yes, Catherine's switchback sounds believab...Oh yes, Catherine's switchback sounds believable too! I am not sure I write for love either - I need to earn a living so am always very anxious about money. But I guess apart from that I write because I've always written and can't imagine not writing. And If I can make some sort of living from it for the next 15 years, I'll be happy.<br /><br />Yes Nick, 'publishable' definitely changes from year to year and editor to editor! I suppose the best way for an author to define it these days is: 'if this is published X way, will it have a chance of earning me Y amount?' (Y being whatever you need to stay alive while you write your next book.) Publishers probably ask a similar question, except in their case Y is a considerably larger amount!Katherine Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-74318112599259408312015-10-21T19:59:32.818+01:002015-10-21T19:59:32.818+01:00Oh I loved this post. It's such an accurate de...Oh I loved this post. It's such an accurate description of what happened to me, and the higher up the ladder you go, the greater the fall. Catherine - I'm really interested in what you said about agents, and would love to talk to you less publicly about this. The spirals image is lovely. I always thought of the process as: up, up and away, but it's not like that, is it? Enid Richemonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17218197995089241666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-40236328614763565462015-10-21T18:35:57.935+01:002015-10-21T18:35:57.935+01:00In a way, I agree with you. Spirals are better tha...In a way, I agree with you. Spirals are better than ladders which are precarious at best. But I really think a career as a writer is a switchback and perhaps that applies to pretty much every self employed sole trader - which is, after all, what we are. I agree with Nick too. Publishable is indeed a vague and slippery term, and once you reach a certain level of competence, really only ever means that your book fits into their current business strategy. I've had the experience of being one of three finalists for an award, being published and selling well - but the publisher wouldn't even look at the next book from me, because their strategy had changed in the intervening period and the kind of thing I was writing no longer fitted in. I have had various agents. One - the best one - died, one was good but only represented me for plays, the other three were not so good and in two of those cases worse than useless. I had thought of them all as 'lovely' at some point. But they weren't at all lovely. They were in hock to - and in awe of - the acquisitions editors they were approaching supposedly on my behalf. If my accountant or web designer had behaved like that, I would have fired them immediately, but because they had that magical 'literary agent' aura attached to them, I stayed for too long, hanging on in hopes of that promised 'jam tomorrow'. In retrospect, I wonder why on earth I did it! At the point where I decided to do without an agent, everything improved exponentially. Partly because I could self publish, thanks to Amazon. But I also think it was because I had genuinely started to think of myself as being 'in business' where before, I had only paid lip service to the concept. For sure I write for love, but since everyone else involved publishes for money, the writer has to take that on board as well. Now I ask the questions, take decisions for myself - make my own mistakes. Even making mistakes - and I do, all the time - is infinitely preferable to finding out that you've been let down by somebody you thought was meant to be on your side! Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-16683396401767382912015-10-21T11:38:01.913+01:002015-10-21T11:38:01.913+01:00The term 'publishable' is a vague and slip...The term 'publishable' is a vague and slippery one. It should never be confused with 'good'. Sometimes the categories overlap purely by accident.<br /><br />In all but exceptional cases, when a publisher wants to publish a book, they are saying one thing only: I believe this book can support our current business strategy. That's not quite the same thing as believing this book will itself make a profit - many don't - but what they are saying is that this author is expected to be profitable in the long term.<br /><br />If the early signs don't indicate this - maybe the first book doesn't sell quite enough, or the author writes too slowly to be commercial, or the trend that prompted the initial book deal passes by - then the author is often dropped. This may in no way reflect the quality of the author's subsequent work. <br /><br />When you're an aspiring author, you tell yourself, 'If only I can get good enough, I'll be published.' But being good is perhaps only half of it, perhaps even less. In some cases, it's not necessary at all. If you're really AMAZING, then it may be all you need, but few writers are at that level.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-53372715755870104562015-10-21T10:43:56.549+01:002015-10-21T10:43:56.549+01:00Loved this post, Katherine. I've often felt th...Loved this post, Katherine. I've often felt that a spiral or web image is more suited to any pursuit that is, in essence, creative. Unfortunately, and because we live in a world where linear thinking is more widespread, it can be hard to avoid seeing it as a straight line, or a ladder we have to climb up. But, and as you say, the idea of teetering at the top of a rickety old ladder doesn't really appeal that much!Mari Biellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14221256993468150226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-90792282394452174342015-10-21T10:24:30.253+01:002015-10-21T10:24:30.253+01:00Katherine, that really is the best account of a pr...Katherine, that really is the best account of a process I too have experienced,though mine started a quarter of a century before yours and ended round about when you were getting going! The unstable ladder which we mistakenly believe will bear our weight for ever is a perfect metaphor. So is the spiral. It expresses the feelings I have - more, I hope balanced, certainly more reflective and philosophical. Yes, I am free-floating now and I like it. I miss the discipline of contracts to be fulfilled, but I don't miss the stress fulfilling them could cause and I have probably become a little too leisurely for comfort, so projects important to me keep stalling when something else turns up. But it means I can still have ambitions in writing which are new and different and their fulfilment is on my terms, not theirs any more.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.com