Sara Niles's Blog: Sara Nile's Blog - Posts Tagged "edison"
Perspiration and Publication
Thomas A. Edison, who was notoriously gifted with a creative mind, said that “genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration”, which is a truth that most successful and semi-successful indie authors have discovered. I have certainly discovered having a creative mind or special talent for writing, is not enough in today’s highly competitive book market, there needs to be one more added element besides creative writing, that is vital to success: you have to perspire a lot. The days of sending off a query letter to a handful of hungry literary agents and subsequently landing a large writing contract, are long gone; with the rare exception of a few select breakaway newbies who have been extended the scepter of honor for the day.
The publishing world has evolved markedly since 1974, when Stephen King almost never was discovered. According to the story of King’s first contract, after continuous rejections from publishers and a last ditch effort on King’s part when his wife saved his manuscript out of the kitchen trash and urged him to mail it “one more time”, King was discovered as a great writer, and the rest was history (http://www.horrorking.com/biography.html ). Those were the simple days, before the massive onslaught of eBooks at the rate of thousands a day, not to mention the 43,000 plus eBooks available through the Guttenberg Project (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/).
The frantic scramble to reach the top of the book pile, by relatively unheard of authors is both easier now, and more difficult. It is easier to become noticed, if you can break through the crowd before it closes in on you; but it is more difficult because the crowd of eBook publishers and indie authors, is growing daily, while the holes in the fabric of eBook marketing, are being filled almost as fast as they are created. Two Independent Authors who broke through the opening in the Young Adult genres, in a big way, were Amanda Hocking and Colleen Hoover, both were independent authors at the time, and both sold a million copies or more of their books. Hoover (http://colleenhoover.com/ ) made it to the top of the charts on Amazon with a number one bestseller and Hockings (http://www.worldofamandahocking.com/ ) was one of first indie authors to make it big. Many more are hot on their heals.
In the case of Hoover and Hockings, did either of these authors just get lucky? Although luck has something to do with it I am sure, from what I have seen and read, these two women worked off their respective glutei maximi; as I have discovered while following their tracks. Whew!
So what does it take to break through into the publishing world?
Creative talent= one percent
Perspiration= ninety-nine percent
Add perseverance and hope for luck!
Bio: Sara Niles AKA Josephine Thompson
Sara Niles is the author’s pen name, chosen for Torn From the Inside Out Torn From the Inside Out
The publishing world has evolved markedly since 1974, when Stephen King almost never was discovered. According to the story of King’s first contract, after continuous rejections from publishers and a last ditch effort on King’s part when his wife saved his manuscript out of the kitchen trash and urged him to mail it “one more time”, King was discovered as a great writer, and the rest was history (http://www.horrorking.com/biography.html ). Those were the simple days, before the massive onslaught of eBooks at the rate of thousands a day, not to mention the 43,000 plus eBooks available through the Guttenberg Project (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/).
The frantic scramble to reach the top of the book pile, by relatively unheard of authors is both easier now, and more difficult. It is easier to become noticed, if you can break through the crowd before it closes in on you; but it is more difficult because the crowd of eBook publishers and indie authors, is growing daily, while the holes in the fabric of eBook marketing, are being filled almost as fast as they are created. Two Independent Authors who broke through the opening in the Young Adult genres, in a big way, were Amanda Hocking and Colleen Hoover, both were independent authors at the time, and both sold a million copies or more of their books. Hoover (http://colleenhoover.com/ ) made it to the top of the charts on Amazon with a number one bestseller and Hockings (http://www.worldofamandahocking.com/ ) was one of first indie authors to make it big. Many more are hot on their heals.
In the case of Hoover and Hockings, did either of these authors just get lucky? Although luck has something to do with it I am sure, from what I have seen and read, these two women worked off their respective glutei maximi; as I have discovered while following their tracks. Whew!
So what does it take to break through into the publishing world?
Creative talent= one percent
Perspiration= ninety-nine percent
Add perseverance and hope for luck!
Bio: Sara Niles AKA Josephine Thompson
Sara Niles is the author’s pen name, chosen for Torn From the Inside Out Torn From the Inside Out
Sara Nile's Blog
"My writing is mission oriented and imbued with a deeper purpose because of my traumatic life experiences: I write nonfiction in order to make an appreciable dent in the effect of domestic violence an
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