I’m sure most of us have wondered from time to time why we bother trying to get published.  Aren’t we just setting ourselves up for disappointment?  Aren’t we spending hours and hours writing for nothing?

I’ll admit, there have been moments of weakness when I have asked myself those very questions.  Wouldn’t it just be easier to put my writing tools away and do something with a more immediate return and less chance of failure?  Almost as soon as I ask myself something silly like that, I realize how foolish a thought it is.  I don’t write because I expect to make lots of money and gain buckets of glory.  Sure that would be nice but it isn’t my reason for creating stories.  I write because I enjoy doing it.

So let’s start with an easier question.  Should I or should I not try to get published?  To answer this question you need to look deep within yourself and see how important being published actually is.  For me, I want to see the books on the shelves and go to the signings and share my experiences.  It is very important to me.  I guess that means I should try to get published.

This leads to a related question.  How long should I try to get published?  I think the answer here is “as long as it takes”.  You might want to periodically re-evaluate the importance of getting published.  If the importance changes (goes down), then you can decide whether you’ll keep working or not.

OK, we’ve asked ourselves whether we want to be published or not.  If the answer is we do want to get published, then we must write.  Without written work, you can’t get published, right?  However, if you answered a big “NO” to getting published, you need to once again look within yourself.  How important is writing to you?  Is it part of your life or just something you think you have to do?

If it’s part of your life, you won’t be able to give it up.  That’s the boat I’m in.  I’ve got to write.  I start feeling anxious if I haven’t written anything for a while.  On the other hand, if you just think it’s something you have to do and you hate doing it, maybe you should give yourself a break.  Set a time limit and look at yourself when the time has expired.  If you find your life is still everything you want it to be without putting words on paper, maybe you should find something else to do and enjoy.

If you have decided that writing really isn’t for you, you needn’t read any further.  If you are on the other side of the fence, read on.  I’ve got a couple more things to say.

First of all, expect your writing to get better the more you do it.  It’s like anything in this world, the more you practice, the better you get, so write as much as you can.  Also, if you have aspirations to get published, don’t be afraid to ask for advice and critiques about what you’ve done.

Secondly, send your work out.  Send it out often and don’t be afraid of rejection because you will get rejected.  Keep writing and send your new work out too.  Most authors will tell you that they did not become overnight successes.  If you need inspiration, look to people like Scott Sigler and Mur Lafferty.  They didn’t take no for an answer.  When they didn’t get the responses they wanted, they found other means to build audiences.  It took them some time, but they both are either published or getting published soon.

That’s the way I’m going to treat this.  I’m not published yet, but I will be.  I’ve written four books and I will have three of them doing the publisher rounds by this fall.  One is already out at a publisher.  I will get published eventually and so will you if you want it badly enough.

Have a good week!

I wanted to take a few moments today to talk about my current work-in-progress… or maybe I should say, my former work-in-progress since I finished the first draft on Saturday with a final count of 29, 514 words.

I’m not foolish enough to think that it’s done, not by a long shot, but the goal of writing it is done.  It took me a month longer than I had planned but I’m very happy with the results.  My daughter, who is also a first reader on the book, read it yesterday and said she loved it.  While she might be biased, she rarely says anything like that unless she means it.  She also peppered the document with many helpful comments.

Will this be the story that finally gets published?  I don’t know and I won’t until the deed is done, but I can say that I took the comments from one publisher (who read my “Mik Murdoch” novel) and took them to heart in this book.  The story is much more focused, character-driven and, I believe better balanced than” Mik Murdoch” currently is.

I’m hoping to get a few more people critiquing the book before I start sending it out, but I won’t be waiting long.  My plan is and always has been to get the book submission-ready and in the mail before the end of August.

So what’s next?  I thought about that long and hard yesterday and came to a decision.  I have four books written and at various stages of readiness.  One of those four is a sequel, so it will be sitting until the first book in that series is picked up.  That means three books to worry about.

“Mik Murdoch” is currently out at a publisher, so nothing new is needed at the moment.  ”The Goddess Renewed” needs some rewriting before I can send it out and this latest book is going through the first-reader process.

So, should I start writing my next book or should I get the three books ready and in circulation?  I’ve decided to bite the bullet and do the editing/rewriting that needs to be done.  I figure that I’ll have that much better a chance to get something under contract.  When the books are ready to send out, I’ll get them doing the rounds and do the necessary edits to some of the short-stories I’ve written.  Then, and only then, will I start working on my next book (likely in time for Nano).

So, next step will be the rewriting of “The Goddess Renewed”.  That should take no more than a month to complete but, this being summer, may take two months.  I’ll also be getting the current book’s edits done too.