As I followed the conversation thread, I could understand the frustration that my friend was feeling. I'm sure that all authors have felt it from time to time. It’s hard to know what sort of value we should place on the various types of work that we do. Should we equate everything to dollars? Exposure? What's the quantifiable value in each activity that a writer does?
I don’t think that there is an answer to this question that would satisfy every author out there, mainly because we’re dealing with the disparate worlds of business and art. There are benefits and blessings that come from doing what you love that are hard to define, let alone quantify. But in order for an author to share their work, there must be also a business plan, complete with tasks, budgets, and goals all designed to put books in the hands of eager readers. So where’s the balance?
I remember spending summers with my grandfather running trotlines in southeast Texas to try to catch enough fish for us to eat every night. It was all about consistent effort, trial and error, and lots of hooks in the water. We enjoyed the process, but we also knew that we needed real results. We also didn’t expect to catch enough fish to sell at market and buy more equipment. We kept our expectations reasonable, and measured success based on our efforts, not our daydreams.
Beyond that, there's something to be said for karma and good will. Sometimes you take a loss somewhere because you have faith that it’s the right thing to do, and hope that you will find success in the future. At the moment, I know that I'm doing much more free writing coaching work for disadvantaged high school students through the Educurious program than I am for paying clients, but there's a totally different reward system in that for me, and I'm happy.
For all you writers out there, remember that you're doing so many things right. I won't say not to get down, because you should have permission to have doubts occasionally. But don't let it paralyze you. Do what you love, and you'll find success, however you measure it.
I don’t think that there is an answer to this question that would satisfy every author out there, mainly because we’re dealing with the disparate worlds of business and art. There are benefits and blessings that come from doing what you love that are hard to define, let alone quantify. But in order for an author to share their work, there must be also a business plan, complete with tasks, budgets, and goals all designed to put books in the hands of eager readers. So where’s the balance?
I remember spending summers with my grandfather running trotlines in southeast Texas to try to catch enough fish for us to eat every night. It was all about consistent effort, trial and error, and lots of hooks in the water. We enjoyed the process, but we also knew that we needed real results. We also didn’t expect to catch enough fish to sell at market and buy more equipment. We kept our expectations reasonable, and measured success based on our efforts, not our daydreams.
Beyond that, there's something to be said for karma and good will. Sometimes you take a loss somewhere because you have faith that it’s the right thing to do, and hope that you will find success in the future. At the moment, I know that I'm doing much more free writing coaching work for disadvantaged high school students through the Educurious program than I am for paying clients, but there's a totally different reward system in that for me, and I'm happy.
For all you writers out there, remember that you're doing so many things right. I won't say not to get down, because you should have permission to have doubts occasionally. But don't let it paralyze you. Do what you love, and you'll find success, however you measure it.
Thank you, Lindsay. Great blog post. I've bookmarked this so I can read it whenever I need to remember that I'm doing so many things right.
ReplyDeleteMy husband often asks me how I stay so positive despite having received over agent rejections, having spent years developing my craft to the point where I feel I can share my work, etc. The answer is simple: I'm doing what I love. And that is one success metric that is easy to measure!
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