Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
An author wrote: How about shedding some light on whether getting published and “having it made” are synonymous. It seems to be the feeling among writers that once you get a contract and have a book or two published, all you have to do is run up a decent proposal and your publisher will buy it. But I hear rumors that some successfully published authors have had subsequent proposals turned down. Does this happen often? And when it does, what is the most common reason?
I bet a number of our published readers would love to take on this question! Speak up, those of you who are published. Do you “have it made”?
Clearly the answer to this question depends on your definition of having it made. If you mean “my lifelong goal of being published has been realized” then yes, getting published is having it made. If you mean “I will henceforth be able to spend half the year lying on a beach in the Bahamas,” then no, you probably don’t have it made.
If you mean, “Now I have a free ticket to keep getting book after book published…” then you still probably don’t have it made.
Once you’re published, the road to further publication is easier only if your first book does well in the eyes of the publisher. Did it live up to sales expectations? (This could be anywhere from 5,000 to 100,000 copies or more, depending on the book and the publisher.)
If your first book met or exceeded sales expectations, and your second book proposal is good and the publisher likes it, then yes, getting that next book deal should be pretty easy.
If your first book doesn’t live up to sales expectations or it truly tanks, then you definitely don’t have it made. It will be harder to get a second book published. In fact, it’s sometimes easier for a first-time unpublished author to get published, than an author who has one or more books with poor sales.
This is one of the reasons we’re always harping on platform. You want to do everything you can to help your book sell. It’s much better to wait until you have a platform and give your book a good shot at strong sales, than to go out too soon, with no platform, and publish a book that tanks.
In my mind, your first book contract means the real work is just beginning. You are in for several rounds of edits, then the time consuming work of marketing, not to mention coming up with your next book, and the one after that. Eventually you’ll be writing one book, editing another, and promoting yet another. That’s a lot of work! And yes, by some definitions, that truly means you’ve finally made it.
So what do you think? When can you say you “have it made”?
I have it made right now, Rachelle, because I live every moment, however painful and uncomfortable, to its maximum. To echo Lou Gehrig, I am the luckiest man alive.
And we are lucky (blessed is a better word), to know and love you, Andrew.
Shirlee, thank you so much!
* After a “Go Tell The Spartans” kind of night (why does screaming tend to make pain easier? Though it does keep the dogs awake…not to mention wives…), I’ve found the perfect tag to go with the title Rachelle choose for this post…
* At Thermopylae, King Leonidas was told that he should give up, for Pete’s sake, as the Persian archers were so numerous that their arrows would darken the sky.
* “Su much the better,” he replied, “so that we may fight in the shade.”
I resonate with your answer, Andrew. Love it!
Good question. Great answer.
Great behind-the-scenes information and advice, Rachelle. I’m trying to work hard on the platform part to build that following for a strong debut. I find that it’s hard, though, to gain followers that would really translate into sales. But hopefully I’ll get there…and soon! Thanks for the post!
It’s true, Jerusha – it’s challenging to build that platform! I appreciate your positive outlook!
I keep thinking I’m better off spending my time writing then it is to ‘waste’ time on social media – but I guess once again I’ve been told and I’d better reconsider my stance.
I’ll probably never become a best-selling author, but I learned that one of my books and an article made major differences in people’s lives. To me, that’s Having it made.
Amen, Janet!
Janet, of any definition presented here, I resonate with yours most. Beaucoup bucks in the bank or copies of our books flying off the best-seller racks in airports won’t be what matters when we assess our lives as we lie dying. The people whose lives we helped make better because we answered our calling (as authors and otherwise)―that’s the real measure of having made it that lasts beyond our sojourn in this world. Professional successes along the way, while desirable, should be a means to that end and never the point of it all.
I definitely know the feeling of not having it made in the shade. After a 3 book series with a big 6 publisher that was well received, but not highly sold, publishing became quite an uphill, if not impossible climb. I completely see now that it IS easier to begin fresh, then try and overcome less-than-stellar sales. It’s a hurdle but a fair one, I think, considering that publishers need those stales to stay afloat. Still bittersweet on the sunny side of the fence. 😉 While the shade always looks inviting, I try to remember to have fun in the sun in the meantime. 😉 Great post, Rachelle. Thanks!
Joanne, thank you for sharing your heart.
I have thought about this overnight. I think I would consider myself to have “made it” if and when an agent picks up my work. It still may not get published, but I would have had someone recognise and appreciate my story.
When I started on this journey it was a story I felt compelled to write. Did God lay it on my heart? I don’t know, but I had never had such an urge to write before. Not just write, but write this story.
If someone in the industry were to say to me “Yes, I like this, I want to represent it”, then that would be reward for all my hard work. To then get it published and for people to enjoy it as much as I have would be the cherry on the cake and vindication.
If I never write another thing, I could still look back, say “I did that!” and smile 🙂