It sounds so simple.
You get an idea. Write it down. Expand it. Edit it. Rewrite it. Edit it some more. After weeks of work you deem it ready for the critic.
You nervously ask your mother to read the perfect copy and critique it. And, surprise! She loves it! It’s the best darn writing she’s ever read.
With her exuberant admiration ringing in your ears you pop the manuscript in an envelope and send it to a publisher. He receives it with open arms and grateful heart. Quickly the publisher writes up a contract with a 6-figure advance. He doesn’t want to risk losing this book, this masterpiece he has waited his whole life for. As you read the contract you realize that the spots dotted here and there are actual tear marks—the publisher’s tears of joy and gratitude.
Shortly the beautifully bound book graces bookshelves around the world. It is facing out so that shoppers everywhere can behold the beautiful cover—the cover that draws the reader closer and entices him to pick it up. Drawn in, heart, mind and soul, the reader cannot but purchase the book, love it and recommend it to all his friends. He is so enthralled that he refuses to lend it to anyone for fear of damage to his beloved book.
Sales soar. Royalties come pouring in. Oprah’s producer puts your phone number on speed dial. You humbly build a 5,000 square foot home with an office befitting the success of your book. Subsequent books bring in larger and larger advances. Your popularity builds. And yet, each interviewer, from every television and radio station across the land, comments on your startling humility amongst the arrogance of your manor’s staff.
That is how it works, right? It’s like a dream. It happens as if by magic.
For the real story please come and visit often. Both regular contributors and guests will enlighten all of us as they reveal the real story of the publishing industry.
Posted by Denise Budd Rumble
3 Comments
October 31, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I love the sense of humour, Denise. Such a good dream I was teary-eyed myself
November 23, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Wow, that’s *exactly* what happened to me!!!
…except for, you know, everything after the part about my mom loving it, that is.
December 4, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Excellent stuff, ladies!
I don’t know how you do it … how you accomplish as much as you do. But please keep up the good work.
Future Tense is informative, a tad quirky and spicy, and that lends to its inspiration.
Peter