# Suddenly unsure that I even want to be published...



## Logan Myrddin (Aug 9, 2011)

So, I got to thinking about it, and I realized:  If I publish something and people like it enough, they (the publisher/readers) are going to want me to write more.  Now, I wrote a whole book once because I wrote a short story for a class and everyone wanted to know the rest (long story) but I'm wary of being tied down.  Once I publish, what's really going to be expected of me?  I write multiple genres of prose, I write poetry as well and I'm also an artist, so I've got a lot of things I want to do, but I'm afraid if I ever become even moderately successful in any of them, the others will suffer.  I don't even know what I'm doing with some of it.

What exactly will be expected of me if I get published?  I mean, I don't have to submit my work to begin with, but what good is a work of fiction or art if no one ever reads or sees it?  It's like a tree falling in the woods with no one around.  I'm not exactly worried about making money here, but I will be graduating college soon and then I'll have to make a living.  That is going to cut time out of my creative life.

Looking for some advice, evidently...


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## Winston (Aug 10, 2011)

I have already decided that _when _I become a commercially successful writer, I will know how to say NO.

If I get any pressure from my agent or publisher, I'll tell them to go suck '72 Dodge Dart muffler.  While it's running.

They need us.  I am not a greedy man.  Nor do I crave the praise of people that I don't know.  If being successful gives me more time to write, that's great.  If I decide to spend my time doing something else, I will.  I will never be one of these authors that process books like one of Upton Sinclair's meat packers canning rancid beef on a filthy assembly line.

I'm thinking I'd like to emulate Henry David Thoreau or J.D. Salinger.
Write.  But most importantly, live.


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## Logan Myrddin (Aug 10, 2011)

Thanks.  That's actually very encouraging.  I mostly write fantasy, but I don't want to write novel after novel like so many of the authors in the genre do.  I'd rather be like Tolkien or Lewis, I mean, what better to aspire to, right?  I do my own thing, but... I just worry.  Can you be off the market that long and still be successful?

I don't want to be famous.  I don't want the praise of others or money.  I want my work to be enjoyed if it's good enough to be enjoyed.  Ultimately, if I could be like Billy Joel in "Piano Man", for readers "to forget about life for a while" (those who need to, I was one of them) that would be the best thing ever.  My work is art, no matter what form of medium.  I don't matter, the work does.  That's always how I've looked at it.

And yet I'm sitting here worrying about myself... Maybe that's the point.  I never have.  I've just gunned straight down the line towards being capable without wondering what I was going to do with it once I got there.  And now I see that people are going to expect things of me if I achieve any kind of success.  I want freedom.  My work needs freedom. 

So, yeah, it'd be great to be able to tell the editors to go suck a lemon if they want more than what I have at the time.   I just didn't think you could do that and still get published.


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## Bloggsworth (Aug 10, 2011)

Why don't you start a new trend? There are thousands of writers out there paying people to publish their books, why don't you put a new slant on the vanity publishing business - Find a publisher and pay him *not to* publish your work; I'm sure that would be even more popular than paying them to publish, after all, look at the reduction in overheads.


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## JosephB (Aug 10, 2011)

Heh. We should all have such problems. 

I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself. Why don't you just get published first and then worry about it?


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## Logan Myrddin (Aug 10, 2011)

If I wait till I get published we've missed the whole point!

Though I am still probably getting ahead of myself...

I don't think it's vain to expect to get published.  If you have dedicated yourself to writing, learned the craft and art, put in as many hours and years as it takes to get good enough, as long as you're persistent, you'll get published.  You don't have the ability for no reason.  I mean, Fitzgerald had to get "The Great Gatsby" rejected somewhere around twenty times before it got published.  Not that I'm Fitzgerald.

My question isn't about what to do when I become published, but what to do if I do become published.


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## JosephB (Aug 10, 2011)

Logan Myrddin said:


> I mean, Fitzgerald had to get "The Great Gatsby" rejected somewhere around twenty times before it got published.  Not that I'm Fitzgerald.



Could be wrong, but that was his third novel and I'm pretty sure it was with the same publisher as the first two. I think his popularity was waning, so maybe they weren't so enthusiastic about it. He'd also been a popular short story writer for a good while -- and appeared consistently in the top magazines -- The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire etc. I'm a big fan -- just got a collection of all his short stories, although I've read all of them many times.



Logan Myrddin said:


> My question isn't about what to do when I become published, but what to do if I do become published.



Heh. Sorry -- I'm not seeing the distinction here.


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## ankles (Aug 10, 2011)

What will be expected of you?

Well, you'll be expected to meet deadlines. However, you'll find that most agents and editors will ask how often you can deliver a manuscript. At least that's been my experience.


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## Logan Myrddin (Aug 11, 2011)

Uh, now that I think about it, you're right.  There is no distinction.  Silly me.
And sorry if I got the info wrong, it's been a while since I've read that bit of information on Fitzgerald.

If editors asked what kind of deadline I could meet and were at least halfway reasonable, I could do that.


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## Bloggsworth (Aug 11, 2011)

Perhaps the publishers will offer you a diamond as big as the Ritz....


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## JosephB (Aug 11, 2011)

Probably my least favorite...


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## Logan Myrddin (Aug 13, 2011)

Bloggsworth said:


> Perhaps the publishers will offer you a diamond as big as the Ritz....




Nice warm welcome to the community.  First thread and all.

Like I care what they pay me.  You don't go into writing for money.


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## KarlR (Aug 13, 2011)

Welcome to the community, Logan!  I think the point the guys are trying to make is that it is terribly difficult to get the attention of any publishing house these days.  Quite honestly, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John would have a hell of a time getting published today.  So your quandary might just be a little cart-in-front-of-the-horse.  Sift through the historical threads on the site.  I'm sure you'll find many, many similar discussions.

Don't take it personally.  You are a welcome addition to the Forum.  Who knows?  Perhaps we'll ALL get the chance to say 'I knew him when....'


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## Jk1 (Aug 13, 2011)

Think the thing is that most publishers or agents want to represent a solid product, not just one book or story but _you, _the writer as a product. Not necessarily a franchise, just someone with a shelf-life who can produce a cohesive body of work. So of course there will be expectations and agreed deadlines and if you want to just turn something in every few years when you feel like it or when your many commitments allow, you should maybe consider another line of work. But yeah, it's far too early to worry about any of that. Get something published first. Philosophise later.


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## daven85 (Nov 10, 2011)

As a few have said.

An agent or a publisher is after someone who isn't going to give them just one book every three or more years. They want someone who can push out books rather quickly. While YOU may not be in it for the money they are.

My experience is that generally they want to get a bunch of books by you out right away so you become a Brand. Then you can slow down and get a book out on your schedule.

Take Australian Author Matthew Reilly, when he first got noticed after self-publishing he released a few books within a year of each other and built up a huge fan-base and got on the Australian Best Seller lists. Now that he has that he choices to publish a book one every two years. His publishers don't mind because each of his books generally make the best seller lists.

Personally with that attitude I don't believe you would get published easily, they would want to know how long until you get release your second book and third book. Not trying to attack you, just letting you know what I have found out there.


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## chongjasmine (Nov 20, 2011)

As a reader, someone who read the song of ice and fire, and want to know more of the story. I think that if you really publish your work, you must be committed to at least finish your story. I do not think it is fair to your reader if you publish a book of a trilogy and then decide not to publish the other two books of your work because you just have other things you want to do in life.


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## Dylan (Jan 8, 2012)

chongjasmine said:


> I do not think it is fair to your reader if you publish a book of a trilogy and then decide not to publish the other two books of your work because you just have other things you want to do in life.




Wait... What?

The readers don't own the Author's life, just because they want to see more of his books..What if the Author wants to raise a family, become the president, or find the cure for cancer? I mean seriously..

I guess if the Author has already indicated that there will be a series of books, than maybe he owes his publisher something, but I don't see how he would owe the reader's anything unless specifically indicating it to be a trilogy, such as (Book 1 of 3, The Beginning of a Trilogy, 2 more on the way: Song of Ice and Fire)


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## Walkio (Jan 9, 2012)

Your agent, if you get one, is only interested in selling your books. It's the only way they make money. Also, don't you enjoy writing? Or are you just talking about disliking the pressure of deadlines?


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## philistine (Jan 9, 2012)

Couple of things come to mind when I read that:

If one were to become published through a work they had conceived, then felt pressed into publishing another one in the same universe (often, a novel and it's development, style, appeal and other such things will suggest whether or not a sequel is possible), it makes me wonder, 'what were their motives to begin with?'

Secondly, this is jumping the gun just ever so slightly, though it's a perfectly acceptable though nonetheless. I think everyone has thought about this at some point, at last in between the bouts of head-in-the-clouds fame (and fortune).

Thirdly, and somewhat off-topic, though slightly related at the same time: many painters and artists of all kinds, once tied to a gallery, are shanghaied into producing a range of works, sometimes several of them, just to satisfy gallery revenues, long-standing artist images, movements, etc. One reason why I have a growing contempt for such bodies.


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## Chirios (Jan 9, 2012)

Logan Myrddin said:


> So, I got to thinking about it, and I realized:  If I publish something and people like it enough, they (the publisher/readers) are going to want me to write more.  Now, I wrote a whole book once because I wrote a short story for a class and everyone wanted to know the rest (long story) but I'm wary of being tied down.  Once I publish, what's really going to be expected of me?  I write multiple genres of prose, I write poetry as well and I'm also an artist, so I've got a lot of things I want to do, but I'm afraid if I ever become even moderately successful in any of them, the others will suffer.  I don't even know what I'm doing with some of it.
> 
> What exactly will be expected of me if I get published?  I mean, I don't have to submit my work to begin with, but what good is a work of fiction or art if no one ever reads or sees it?  It's like a tree falling in the woods with no one around.  I'm not exactly worried about making money here, but I will be graduating college soon and then I'll have to make a living.  That is going to cut time out of my creative life.
> 
> Looking for some advice, evidently...



Yes, quite reasonably tbh. But there's a way around it: write stand alone stories. If you don't want to be pressured into writing the next book in the series, make sure that each of your books are self contained, that way you won't be forced to come up with ideas for something that you're sick of, and you'll only write when you want to. As for the short story/ poem/ haiku thing, well, let's say you're well liked for a book you publish. There's nothing stopping you from following that up with a book of poems, and relying on your "brand name" to carry your poem book sales. 

If however, you start writing a series and then stop writing it because you can't be arsed to continue it, people will turn away from you because they won't be buying what they want.


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## Dylan (Jan 9, 2012)

Logan Myrddin said:


> So, I got to thinking about it, and I realized:  If I publish something and people like it enough, they (the publisher/readers) are going to want me to write more.  Now, I wrote a whole book once because I wrote a short story for a class and everyone wanted to know the rest (long story) but I'm wary of being tied down.  Once I publish, what's really going to be expected of me?  I write multiple genres of prose, I write poetry as well and I'm also an artist, so I've got a lot of things I want to do, but I'm afraid if I ever become even moderately successful in any of them, the others will suffer.  I don't even know what I'm doing with some of it.
> 
> What exactly will be expected of me if I get published?  I mean, I don't have to submit my work to begin with, but what good is a work of fiction or art if no one ever reads or sees it?  It's like a tree falling in the woods with no one around.  I'm not exactly worried about making money here, but I will be graduating college soon and then I'll have to make a living.  That is going to cut time out of my creative life.
> 
> Looking for some advice, evidently...




Better to publish one thing and never publish again, than to never publish at all right?


It sounds to me like you are scared of succeeding.. I mean AFTER you have succeeded you can always just decide from there what you're going to do. Unless you sign a contract, its your decision..


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