Hope and Possibility
Day 25 of 31: 200 Words-A-Day Challenge
The rules for this challenge are simple. If you need the prompt below my micro-essay, use it. If not, still write. JUST WRITE....as many words as you need to.
Then post what you write into the comments below or via Notes. If you missed previous prompts, check out the directory (which will be updated again as soon as the challenge is over in 6 days).
Hope and Possibility
The few remaining remnants of the golden era in which publishing houses and their editors actually nurtured writers have been wiped away. Forever.
Recently, Penguin Random House offered big buyouts to employees (called “company-wide Voluntary Separation Offers”). Among those who accepted are the last of publishing’s most prominent (and older) editors. Layoffs of other employees followed. Several other publishing houses are doing similar.
I began writing at a time when authors who wanted to be traditionally published believed it was possible. Sure, the process—write the book; query agents; find an agent; wait while the agent finds a publisher; (maybe) get an advance; work with the publisher to edit; wait while publisher designs cover and creates promo and distribution plans; go on book tour; collect royalties—took years. But there was hope.
Over time that hope diminished. Then self-publishing came along and revived possibility for many authors. The time to get the book from the writer’s mind into the reader’s hands was significantly reduced. But it was still a process; it came with a steep learning curve. At least the control and decisions the traditional publishers took away from writers were now back in authors’ hands. But so were expenses.
For me, neither tradpub nor the self-pub route ever felt like a good fit. Because I love to write, I continued to work on my novel but pushed away considerations of how to publish once it was done. In retrospect, not knowing how I was going to get the story into readers’ hands may be one reason—the (?) reason—it went unfinished for so long.
Your Prompt / Day 25 of 31
Hope and possibility can provide both inspiration and motivation. Lack of these can feel devastating. Has there ever been a time when you had hope about something and then the “rug was pulled from beneath you,” hope taken away? Conversely, has there been something in your life with very little hope or possibility tied to it, but then something shifted to provide you with unexpected options and optimism?
Every time I consider trad publishing, milliseconds later I remember why I am committed to self-publishing. Or, better, indie publishing. I plan to operate Marsh Hawk Media under my old LLC - Marsh Hawk Studio. Between them, I can have a brand that will support my writing, my visual art (if I can ever get back in the studio) and publishing my mother's work. We're left with all the hard part, why should we give away any of the earnings? I would consider outside contracts for publishers/agents where translation or film rights were involved. But those are pretty obscure possibilities.
I happens that, my own WIP has taken so long, the Web did not exist at the beginning, never mind self-publishing. So, maybe that is part of the Providential timing for us. We're now in the right place at the right time, as long as we can get the WIPs done and keep up with the changes.