Not from me, but from Matt. Over on his blog he has posed a trio of "would you still write if..." questions he was asked at a convention.
He has invited comments before he reveals his own answers.
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4 comments:
I wrote Rachel DuPree simply for the challenge of seeing if I could write a novel. Publication was not a goal until I finished the fourth or fifth draft. So I guess I would continue writing even if I knew the second book (yes, still working on that) didn't have a chance to be published. Writing has become an obsession, and I can't leave it alone. If I weren't writing a novel, I'd be writing endless e-mails or churning out long posts on blogs.
Yes, yes, and depending on the circumstances, my confidence might take a knock, but not my enthusiasm.
Before we were published, we all wrote in the knowledge that most novels that get started probably don’t get finished and most novels that get finished don’t get into print. But that’s what you have to do. If I had to look for a new publisher now I guess it would be no different.
Of course, as David points out on Matt’s blog, the problem is that you will never be certain that the next book will or won’t be published – as things progress the odds change (hopefully in your favour most of the time) but even the most final rejection from your current publisher does not rule out acceptance elsewhere.
As for being published by a smaller publishing house, I am always proud to be able to say that I am published by Macmillan, but plenty of excellent books are published by less well known imprints. As long as you have a good editor and the publisher is giving you the support you need, small publishers are fine too. (My publisher in the US for example is great.)
Would I write for a small audience? (David’s revised question). Yes, I guess so – though I have only the vaguest idea how large my audience currently is. Would I write only for my own amusement? Probably not, but (see above) how would I ever know that was what I was doing?
Thanks, Ann, Faye and Len
I'll be posting my answers this afternoon on this but it has been interesting to see what everyone else thinks about it
(And big thanks to David for signposting from the MNW blog!)
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