From my Mission Statement 2.0:
To create a body of novel length works that reaches a large number of young readers, to provide the greatest impact on young lives.
Agent + Book Deal = Writing Happiness
or
Book Deal + 30,000 copies sold = Writing Happiness
or
NYTimesBestsellerList + Hugo Award = Writing Happiness
What is your equation?
For me, it looks something like this:
WriteBook + PublishBook + SellBook + WriteMoreBooks + PublishMoreBooks = Writing Happiness
It may seem silly, but it is true. Would I like an agent? Yes, please. Would I like a three book deal with Penguin? Absolutely. Would I like to win a literary award? Um, actually I would be shocked if that happened. Would I like to be on the NYTimesBestsellerList? Sure. But my writing happiness doesn’t hinge on any of those things. As long as I’m writing and trying to publish, I’m good.
The experience of publishing with a small press has taught me several things:
1) The work gets a lot more intense once you’re under contract.
2) Publishing a book is a heckuva lot of work, and almost none of it involves writing.
3) I like writing. More than I like selling books or marketing books or doing book signings. I’m a writer because I like to write, and I want to spend most of my time doing that. I do enjoy all those other things as well, but they are not my primary goals. If you look at my mission statement, there is nothing about publishing in there – it’s all about reaching readers.
4) Having people read your book, especially the target audience, rocks my socks. Getting feedback from readers is priceless. I heard someone say that the writing process is not complete until someone reads the work. This came home to me in a profound way at a book club meeting just this week, where a roomful of people had read my book and wanted to talk about it. Some had purchased signed copies, some had checked it out from the library (which has two copies, and still one of the book club members had to wait; I was strangely excited to have my book on hold at the library!), but all had read it and had their own reactions. Being erudite people, they had excellent questions about cruise ships and the Navy and how did I know so much about boot camp, because a military friend of theirs said my descriptions were dead on. They talked about the choices and motivations of my characters as if they were real people. One had publishing experience, so her questions went deep into character development and writing process.
My writing experience was completed by sharing my book with that roomful of readers.
Maybe you will only reach writing happiness if you have the cachet and reach of publishing with a large press. Or maybe happiness will come when you hit the bestseller list, or have sold enough books to quit the day job. Or maybe you will find your writing happiness as soon as you have a published novel in your hands or on a brick-and-mortar shelf. This you have to define for yourself.
If only a large press will do, don’t chase publication with a small press. But if it’s important to you to get your book in the hands of readers, sooner rather than later, then starting with a small press might float some writerly happiness as you continue on your journey. Just know that publishing with a small press is unlikely to land you on the bestseller list. Or garner any awards. (I’m not saying it’s impossible, just unlikely.)
Simply holding my book in my hands is fantastic … and insufficient. Calling myself a published author feels wonderful … and doesn’t satisfy my need for readers. As my mission statement says, I want to reach readers – not only that but large numbers of readers. This means I will strive for publishing through a mainstream press, not for the cachet or the advances or the book tour, but because they have the ability to connect with the most readers. In the meantime, I will happily pursue publishing through small presses (not least my publisher for Life, Liberty, and Pursuit), because getting books into the hands of readers is what drives me. It may take time to reach that undefined large number of readers, but if I keep on the path of writing more books and publishing more books, eventually I will get there.
And most importantly, I will enjoy the path along the way.
Discover what makes you happy, then go for it with everything you’ve got. (It’s worked for me, most of my life.)
What is your equation for writing happiness?
I don't know where my pursuit of publication will lead me. But I try and enjoy every step. B/c from what I've learned with every step there are different problems and worries.
@Laura Agreed – there is no point at which the problems/worries disappear. In fact, I think it just gets more intense along the way.
Oh my gosh, I LOVE this post, Susan! Soooo true in every aspect, and some really great, solid examples here. I think starting out with a small publisher is a good choice for some writers. The more good books you have out there – no matter how they're published – the better your chance at landing something big later. And backlist is not to be underestimated. When you DO make it big, people are going to go buy all those other books you published other places. 🙂
Thanks for putting this up!
My equation is: WriteBook + PublishBook + SellBook + WriteMoreBooks + PublishMoreBooks = Writing Happiness
Look familiar? 😀
@Michelle That's an excellent point about backlist! So many people (including myself) read through an author, once they fall in love with them. I love that our paths (and equations!) are similar!
@Everyone Look for Michelle's young adult novella Cinders, available now!
Thanks for the shout out about Cinders, Susan! I might mention that it won't be available for too much longer. Few months. 🙂
If I can just get published and sell enough books to be allowed to write more … I can do without money, awards or accolades, but I'll take them!
@Michelle Then it gets tucked into the anthology, so get it while you can, folks!
@Matt Having enough success to justify writing more – I know exactly what you mean! But your justification before that success has to be enough to carry you forward – you're following a dream. And that's a powerful thing to model to the world, not least to those precious kids of yours.
That's an interesting question, because I have a lot of ambition for what I want to accomplish in terms of publishing and reaching readers. But I also try to keep that completely separate from my writing happiness. I write because I have stories to tell. First and foremost, I writer for me – it's my way of trying to understand and explore the world I've been given. And I want to write as well as I can – I want to satisfy my own sense of story. I want to push myself.
My writing happiness comes from this. Afterward, I can try and do this other thing called publishing. So I guess I have a writing happiness and a publishing happiness, and I'm pretty happy they're two different things.
@Bryan I think a lot of people combine writing and publishing success, and it IS instructive to delineate the two. There's an amazing TED video (my post about it here) about what motivates people: 1)not money (above a certain minimum), 2) mastery, and 3) autonomy. I think you and I have already agreed that we are driven by mastery (and for me autonomy is non-negotiable). I definitely derive writing happiness from the process of writing itself … but there's a sense of incompleteness for me with writing alone. This is why the idea of "completing the writing process with readers" is so compelling to me, and where publishing comes in. But this is definitely different for different people – and I think for long-time writers such as yourself, who have known from a tender age that writing was integral to their beings, it is different. There's a sense of self that revolves around writing, that I haven't (being relatively young in craft) developed yet. A maturity in art. I hope to be there some day! 🙂
Such a well written post! I agree entirely–readers are the most important thing BY FAR.
@Beth Thanks! And you are going to have SO MANY readers SO SOON! I hope Amazon arranges to have my pre-order of AtU arrive on launch day!
@Everyone Look for Beth Revis's young adult novel Across the Universe, coming out 1.11.11 (such a cool date!).
Oh, Susan, I just want to see The Naughty Boy Factory in the hands of kids who smile when they read it. Yes, the other stuff would be wonderful. Duh! But right now, my dreams are far simpler. 🙂
@Shannon I know exactly what you mean! And I want Naughty Boy Factory out there too!
Wow- well now that you've laid it all out there– I'd agree with your formula! I thoguht just seeign my bound book would do it–but I guess I need readers too!
@Christina It's up to you to decide what drives you! Some people only want to hold their book in their hands and say, I did that. I have no judgement at all about what will satisfy you in your writing journey, because everyone is different. I just urge everyone to figure it out for themselves, because I like to see happy writers! 🙂
I think you nailed it – readers! I can't imagine how cool it would be to visit a book group who has read and is going to discuss your book!
Just the act of writing itself makes me so happy. There's nothing like feeling creative and productive at the same time! But adding readers to that equation – yup that's a whole new level of happiness.
@Margo Yup, readers=addicting, for sure. But I'm glad the writing makes you happy – I totes know what you mean! Happy Weekend! 🙂
I'm with you, Susan, but agent is also in my equation. 😉
I also agree with Margo. Writing and coming up with new stories is what makes me happy. And considering how hard it is to be published, that's always a good start.
Susan, you have a great equation! To me, it is about the writing (and research, as I love that part). As long as I am able to write, I will be happy, but I do understand marketing plays an important roll with publishing and not one I look forward to. lol
@Stina Yes, keeping them separate makes it easier as you go through the valleys! Even veteran published authors seem to come back to that, saying it's all about the writing for them. 🙂
@JL I love research too! One of the best parts of writing, learning about new stuff!! 🙂
I love this! My husband asked me the other day what I'll do if I never get published. The first thing that popped in my head– keep writing. It's the creation of a story, and characters, and an entire world that makes me happy. Whether or not the wide world ever gets to read it, I still get immense joy out of simply writing.
Wonderful post, Susan! I totally agree with your formula. I would have to add in school visits though. I can't imagine anything better than sharing my stories on school visits. 🙂
Yep, being able to write for a living–books. Just books (let me be specific!). And finding an audience who loves what I write would equal writing happiness for me. *sigh* :o) <3
@Shallee That's a great question to ask (and to know the answer to)! I asked my husband something similar early on, when I was deciding whether I could justify spending all this time writing. "What if I write for 5 years and never publish anything?" He said, "Can you think of anything you'd rather do with the next 5 years?" No – writing is my passion now.
@Sharon School visits are a wonderful way to connect with readers! One of the reasons I hope to have my MG book published – just so I can go to classrooms and talk to kids about it!
@LTM Finding your audience is a bit of magic – not just in finding them, but in the amazing feeling when you connect. You WILL get there!
Hi Susan: What a wonderful post- I can identify with it and your writer happiness equation so much. I published my debut book with an independent press here in Canada and they've been wonderful. If a press can get you good distribution and if the library market picks you up it can mean a decent (not huge) but a decent readership and hopefully some reviews. But, like you, the reader connection is a key component of that writer happiness equation. And even if I never attain the huge audiences that some authors develop, I do achieve satisfaction in the striving for it. And if you don't have something to strive for in life why bother?
Nelsa
Ah, TED Talks… I love those.
Yes, mastery is so key. The challenge of it – impossibility as a good thing. There's this old saying I like (and it involves space!), and always rings true to me: If you never shoot for the stars, you'll never land on the moon.
Aim high, and even if you fall short you may encounter something spectacular and life-changing.
Off to watch TED videos. 🙂
@woodwork Congrats on your book! And you, Bryan and I are in agreement – the pursuit, the striving, is part of what drives us! 🙂
@Everyone Check out Nelsa's young adult novel Illegally Blonde!
@Bryan I've been shooting for the stars for a very long time. 🙂 I'm doing some posts next week, one of which is about my NASA experiences. I hope you enjoy TED! 🙂
I'm still working out my Writing Happiness equation, I think. I have ideas, but they keep changing… heh.
@Steph Change is good (it means you're evolving in your understanding)! You're so involved in the social media, and that's changing so much, that has to have an impact too. I'm glad you're thinking about it, though! 🙂
This is a wonderful post. I love how you've been defining your mission statement this week and this is a great reminder that it's all about the writing.
@Sherrie I'm glad you liked it! 🙂 The "mission statement" goes well with the NASA post! LOL