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Post by Becca Mills on Sept 17, 2016 17:23:37 GMT -5
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Post by Becca Mills on Sept 17, 2016 23:27:08 GMT -5
Read it. I wish I could pat her on the hand and tell her that her book is probably still selling 30 copies a day (based on rankings), and that some royalties will probably show up eventually. Though who knows how big her advance was? Sad. Publishing sucketh.
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Post by Rinelle Grey on Sept 18, 2016 1:03:29 GMT -5
I'm with you Becca. I wish I could tell her that there is a way. People do pay me to write. I've already sold over 100 preorders of my latest book (within 24 hours of uploading it actually). And while that won't pay a bill on its own, it does help motivate me to write. It also helps me see the direct result between what I do (writing), and the money I make. But the saddest part is, if you suggested to her that she could do better self publishing, she probably wouldn't listen.  |
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Post by ameliasmith on Sept 18, 2016 6:04:53 GMT -5
Becca Mills, if her advance was in the 6-figure range, which I'm guessing it was based on other things in the article, and she's only sold 12k copies, then it could be a long time before she starts getting royalties. A long time as in probably never. If it was such a high advance, though, what did she do with the money?!?!? Anyhow, there were a bunch of things that jumped out at me about this article and made me want to hit the author over the head with a clue-by-four, as they used to call it here. 1. "I have a terminal degree from the most prestigious writing school in the country," This probably gave her all sorts of hangups about her writing that hacks like us don't have to sweat about as much. 2. "When I was around my working class colleagues I was ashamed to say I wanted to be a writer, and when I was around writers or artists I was ashamed to say I was a waiter." WTF is wrong with her??? Don't a good subset working class people everywhere have artistic aspirations, or at least hobbies? Aren't there broke artists everywhere working in restaurants, even outside of LA? I know there are here. 3. Highlighted quote at the top: "I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO WRITE SINCE THE MOMENT I STARTED THINKING I COULD OR SHOULD BE MAKING MONEY AS A WRITER." Yeah, I hear a lot about this. Mind games. Listen to some podcasts about separating your creative life from your financial life. It's an ongoing struggle for a lot of people but some people manage it. Overall, I got the sense that she's lousy at managing money and that she's asking too much, financially, of her writing career in the Iowa Writers' Workshop style. She really could get a part-time job, depending on what age her kids are and how needy they are (I found, here, that there was no way I could get a part-time job which would justify the expense of child care etc. when the kids were younger). Finally, I googled her and found her book on Goodreads. www.goodreads.com/book/show/20171005-love-me-back It doesn't get great ratings and the premise doesn't appeal to me at all. If I were there in person I'd advise her to re-invent herself as a writer and just write something for fun to publish under a pen name.
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Post by Suzy on Sept 19, 2016 8:19:22 GMT -5
I find it hard to understand how she expected to hit the big time with her very first book? She got it published but now she has to write another and another and... That's how it works, that's how you build up a readership.
Very few authors make huge amounts, or even small amounts, with their first book.
And of course, if she self published she'd have to work hard but the rewards are hugely satisfying.
Gaahh... I just want to smack her and tell her to grow up.
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Post by Daniel on Sept 19, 2016 9:04:27 GMT -5
That article was basically a whole lot of whining that we've all seen before. Reality didn't live up to her expectations, and now she has to work hard again to earn her next ticket in the publishing lottery. TFB.
Around my house, we call this behavior "railing against reality." She needs to stop staring at her past, put on her big girl panties, and try again.
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Post by scdaffron on Sept 19, 2016 9:08:36 GMT -5
made me want to hit the author over the head with a clue-by-four, as they used to call it here. ^^This. And what Suzy said. The author needs to work on being a grown up. What a whine fest. If you want to write, there are innumerable ways to get paid to write. (I've been doing it for DECADES.) The big complaint about how "oh poor me, I can't write now" falls particularly flat. Suck. It. Up. If you really want to write, go write something. Sheesh. |
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Post by carlos on Sept 19, 2016 11:08:56 GMT -5
Ha... a bit of kvetching, to be sure, but was it really slappable? I took it as a somewhat rueful self realization (and instructional) piece--directed to the eighteen year old readers of Marie Claire--a warning about unrealistic expectations. She didn't say that she had a right to make money from her writing, but rather that she couldn't write once she had the (apparently) false notion that writing lady's fiction was a way to pay bills, as opposed to a vocation. Not much worse than our daily complaints about word count and visiting relatives--except, of course, that Marie Claire paid her for it.
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Post by Miss Terri Novelle on Sept 19, 2016 13:41:53 GMT -5
Pity party, table for one?
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Post by Daniel on Sept 19, 2016 16:36:49 GMT -5
Ha... a bit of kvetching, to be sure, but was it really slappable? I took it as a somewhat rueful self realization (and instructional) piece--directed to the eighteen year old readers of Marie Claire--a warning about unrealistic expectations. She didn't say that she had a right to make money from her writing, but rather that she couldn't write once she had the (apparently) false notion that writing lady's fiction was a way to pay bills, as opposed to a vocation. Not much worse than our daily complaints about word count and visiting relatives--except, of course, that Marie Claire paid her for it. She practically threw in the towel because her first book didn't break out. I'm sorry, but that's slappable. I will give her credit for her last line: "The reality is that somehow you have money, and somehow you write." It shows that all the introspection preceding that line did have one positive outcome: she got her expectations adjusted. But it still seemed like an awful lot of sour grapes for someone who won an opportunity that thousands of writers dream of. Writers write. Getting paid for what you write is nice, and getting paid a lot for what you write is wonderful, but books are written on spec with no guarantee of earnings. That's the way it is. That's the way it's always been. That's also why advances work the way they do and why most books don't earn royalties beyond the advance. The solution? Quit whining and write another book! |
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Post by carlos on Sept 19, 2016 18:45:56 GMT -5
Hmm... well, maybe. We have to consider that the piece was 'curated'. The Marie Claire editors bought it. They must have thought it said something worthwhile. I have no idea what their readership amounts to, but I didn't see it as whining so much as a cautionary tale.
Lots of young people have unrealistic expectations about writing--perhaps fostered by agents, editors, publishers and MFA instructors. Apparently she wasn't told that 12,000 traditionally published (i.e., on paper) books is considered a pretty good sales performance, or that few writers (even well known writers) ever 'earn out' their advances.
This might come as a surprise to any Marie Claire reader who thinks getting an MFA is a worthwhile investment.
Maybe the conclusion should have been, "Save your $25,000 and invest it in indexed funds."
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Post by Becca Mills on Sept 19, 2016 22:46:49 GMT -5
Heh, heh ... you guys are having none of it!  Trouble is, self-publishing wouldn't do it for her. She's clearly writing literary fiction. She needs to publish traditionally. I get the sense that she got her hopes hugely inflated. Yeah, she probably went to Iowa, so already she would've felt selected as the best of the best among young writers. Then she wrote this book that a big publisher went ga-ga for. I think Amelia's right that they threw a ton of money at her. Other authors loved the book and send her amazing blurbs. Major critics fawned all over it in the most prestigious publications. All the messages were that she was going to be GREAT. Intellectually, she probably told herself not to listen to all that because there are no guarantees, but it had an impact anyway. Expectations were set, not just her own for herself but other people's as well -- her spouse's, her parents', her friends', her envious former schoolmates, her editor's, her agent's, her thesis adviser's ... And then she failed. At least, she feels like she failed because there's a yawning gap between what she expected and what happened. She feels humiliated. Recognizing her own outsized expectations, she feels like a fool for feeling humiliated. That makes it even more humiliating. Dunno, but I really feel for her. It's much easier to build success incrementally and quietly than to have to live up to massive expectations from the get-go. |
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Post by Miss Terri Novelle on Sept 19, 2016 23:07:19 GMT -5
Well, I suppose it could have gone differently for her. She could have been Dan Brown who wrote some half decent books and made a name for himself so he could crank out a total stinker and still hit the bestsellers list.
I mean really, have you read Inferno?
It's bad. I mean, he's never been Hemingway or anything, but he at least told a good story up until now. What kind of bad guy hires a secret agency to hide him while he engineers a plague to kill half of humanity and then leaves a bunch of cryptic clues to where he hid the thing?
I'll finish it because I want to see if all my predictions for how it ends will come true, but at least the woman who wrote that article went out on a high note. I still want to shake her and wake her up.
You know, though, she'll probably sell a few books off that article, so maybe it was all a publicity stunt so she can earn out her advance.
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Post by Suzy on Sept 20, 2016 2:10:09 GMT -5
What I needed to see was that she loved writing, that she wrote this book from her heart and soul. Isn't that what literary fiction is supposed to be?
I got a handsome advance for my first book. It sold 5000 copies on the first print run and was reprinted twice, the final printing in mass paperback. I was all over the press, TV and radio with my little story about Irish politicians gone wild. Never saw a penny in royalties. Same story with the other three trad published books. (not literary fiction). I got a great advance, but that was it. Self publishing is where the real money is.
I wrote, and still write, for the love of it, for the challenge of mastering the English language, to tell a story and perhaps, most of all, for the readers out there who have been so kind and who have told me they read my stories late into the night, that they make them smile and that I take them to a fun place for the duration of the book. And they keep asking for more.
I don't care if that's 20 or 20000 readers, it's what keeps me writing and what inspires me to do better each time.
I saw none of that in the article.
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Post by Suzy on Sept 20, 2016 8:33:14 GMT -5
Just to add: One would think that the critical acclaim would be a terrific springboard for her continued career. Wouldn't that be a terrific foundation to build on?
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Post by Daniel on Sept 20, 2016 8:54:06 GMT -5
Just to add: One would think that the critical acclaim would be a terrific springboard for her continued career. Wouldn't that be a terrific foundation to build on? Absolutely! The reality is that she was granted an incredible opportunity and received critical acclaim for her work. You can't put that in the bank directly, but it sure puts a shine on a budding career. Okay, so the first book didn't connect with readers the first time out. Given the insanity of bookstore placement/returns/remaindering, it may not have even gotten a fair shake. It still might earn her some decent money if she publishes a second book. You don't build a writing career with one book any more than you build a house with one wall. I guess what bugs me most is the defeatist attitude. She's decided she can't earn a living from her books and that has made it impossible to work on a second novel. She's down to "hustling the fuck" out of articles like the one for Marie Claire if she wants to get paid for her writing. That makes it less of a cautionary tale and more of a "don't bother trying" tale. I like that the article gives readers a realistic view of what happens in publishing, but I take exception to her conclusions. |
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Post by Suzy on Sept 20, 2016 8:56:46 GMT -5
Exactly. She was handed gold on a plate but she wanted diamonds.
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Post by carlos on Sept 20, 2016 12:24:32 GMT -5
OK, I give up--she is a wretched, stupid, silly girl who deserves to be slapped (but if this rather harmless bit of self absorption deserves a slap what are we to do with all the people who intend to vote Republican... My arm is sore just thinking about it.)  |
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Post by Suzy on Sept 20, 2016 16:06:05 GMT -5
what are we to do with all the people who intend to vote Republican... My arm is sore just thinking about it.) I don't want to think about *that* at all.It scares me silly.  |
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Post by carlos on Sept 20, 2016 17:22:00 GMT -5
I just realised why I am so reluctant to slap her--I had three older sisters who taught me, from birth through age 12, that [nyah, nyah, nyah] 'You can't hit a girl!' (...no matter how richly she may deserve it.)
This mantra was repeated so often, and with such conviction, that it became a fundamental truth of my early life, far more compelling than any of the other ten commandments.
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