Hey guys,
Music to write by: “Dirty Frank“ by Pearl Jam
Last week, the Washington Post published an article about Josh Bell, considered by many to be one of the best violinists in the world. They had him busk in a local mall for 45 minutes (total walk-by traffic: 1097 people). He made a grand total of $34.
What does this mean for us writers? Well, the article argues that our perception of an expert’s skill is largely based on hearsay. Get a big enough name and people will believe you are good simply because everyone else believes it. This is one reason why you read deeply flawed stories by big name authors in your favorite magazines, but you never seem to get your babies within spitting distance of Slush Pile A (the other reason is that Big Names Sell Magazines).
Now, before you jump all over me, yes, the pros are good. Many of my favourite authors are pros. But what can you do to up your chances? Get in front of editors as much as possible. If Gordon Van Gelder keeps seeing your name in the slush he’ll begin to remember it. Sooner or later, you’ll start to get personal rejections, then eventually, possibly, an acceptance (*this exact anecdote was told by James C Glass at a panel at NorWesCon).
Building your image is key. That’s why it’s so important to get published in the small presses. Every time you do, your name gets in front of a few more sets of eyes, more people remember you, and your rep gets a little bigger.
It helps if you have a great name like Cat Rambo (It’s a pen name right, Cat? Right? No one’s born with such a cool name, are they?). Pen names are great, but this author likes the idea of seeing his real name on the shelves at Indigo.
What else can you do? Ask Christopher Heath. All of his stories start with “Azieran” (ie. Azieran: Distilling the Essence, in Sails & Sorcery). Azieran is odd enough that you remember it and by proxy you remember Christopher Heath. KD Wentworth does the same thing with her Hallah Iron-Thighs short fiction. A neat trick, and one you should consider if you’re into writing series.
Until next time!
14 Comments(+Add)
$34 in 45 mins that pathetic,
Its true most people in our fair city know who Douglas Coupland i don’t find him to be a very good writer but his name keeps getting shoved down my throat over and over. I have read two of his books, Life after god and Jpod because people keep giving them too me (i have 3 copies of JPOD)
but its had the reverse effect on me… because so many people keep telling me to read it i’m starting not to like him because of it. i hate being told what to do, i would rather be told what they like and let my self choose to read it or not.
True, but if a singer managed to fill a hockey stadium for instance, you’d assume they were better than the guy busking for change outside, wouldn’t you?
In fact, I’ll go you one further, and say that if you were in that crowd and everyone was going nuts, but you thought the music was crap, you might think that you are the one with bad taste, not the crowd. It’s the “people are sheep” syndrome.
Hi Jordan,
This writing business does seem to have its hidden catches. I mean, most writers like to write, obviously, but many don’t often write believing they are signing onto a marketing career either, which they are if they want to make it “big.”
Just a fact of life. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, so you have to squeak to get noticed, even if your writing is miles ahead of the current best seller.
Hi Rick! Thanks for stopping by.
I have to admit, this is a bit of a problem. I sometimes wonder how much beautiful writing is ignored because the author is socially awkward.
But it’s worse than that. I recently read that authors that aren’t physically attractive have a harder time of it than better looking writers. I mean, writing is about your soul, not your physical exterior! But then again, it wouldn’t hurt the field to lose 20 lbs (myself included).
(per comment, dropping by to say hi)
I also see, in addition to being ToC buddies, we’re also fellow WordPress users. Gotta love good ol’ Ocadia 1.1.
-JM
Thanks Jonathan! I’m not really a fan of Ocadia. I’m thinking of changing it to “Simply Green”.
I hope you enjoy the site and I look forward to reading your piece in Black Sails!
Hey, Jordan! Cool site, and I’ve added you to my links o’er at Wordperfect Alchemist. Thanks for reading!
I do think being recognizable in some way is important…I’m kinda hoping that two middle initials (that’s “T. M.” as in “trade mark”, ma’am) will give me a boost
. Sometimes I think I should change my name to Isaiah Romanov or Solomon Black, though.
Thanks for the link, Sean!
I think :”Tiger Dawn” would be a memorable name. Plays off the “Tiger Woods” sports figure and actually >feels< like it should have meaning (but doesn’t).
Anyone else have a cool idea for a pen name?
Hi Jordan,
Nice site.
Name recognition is important in this racket. Developing a series character is one way to get that recognition (at least I hope so). My Jack Brand character has appeared in four stories in Ray Gun Revival and the good folks there are still willing to take some more. If I’m lucky, I hope more and more readers will get familiar with Brand and his Space-Western world. End of plug.
On the marketing issue, I think it’s unfortunate that today writers not only have to write, they have to be part of the sales force. A certain amount of meeting the public is good, but its getting out of control. The sales depts. of the majro publishers are basically dictating what’s getting published in the first place. Editors take second place in the decision making. Marketing is the major and sometimes the only concern in deciding what does and doesn’t get published. This trend is forcing writer to turn out some pretty awful trash. And then they’ve got to spend weeks, if not months, on the road promoting the stuff. With big publishing in the hands of a few congolomerates, the outlook for the future is really pretty grim.
John
That’s one good thing about the small press and the internet publishing explosion—there are a lot of good markets that will take things the big guys wouldn’t touch.
Hi John!
Thanks for dropping in. For the readers, John writes the Jack Brand stories that have been appearing in Raygun Revival, one of this author’s favorite zines. His latest can be found here.
There is hope for great writing though. Most publishers have a few “prestige writers” like China Mieville that they keep around so that they can say, “see, not everything we publish is trash”.
Hey Jordan!
From now on, for my Pankea stories, I need to remember “that neat little trick” Chris uses. I kept wondering why he did that.
Totally. I’ve never really had “the knack” for writing series pieces. I’ve found them to be too limiting for my writing style. Often in my stories the main character gets absolutely wrecked, or the world is about to end, or some other nonsense, which makes the story unsuitable for a sequel.
I’m not a fan of writing two distinct stories and just “saying” they are in the same world either as I don’t have a world developed. Christopher Heath, as I understand it, has put a huge amount of time into world building, and that’s time I just don’t have at the moment.
As far as name recognition… I’m lucky to have a name like JENS RUSHING. I love my name. JENS RUSHING.
LOL!!!! Well played, my friend, well played!