On Being Published

Yesterday, I responded to an agent’s tweet about how subjective publishing is; my comment got far more traction than I expected, so I wanted to expand on what I said. Because the comment only barely scratches the surface of how I’ve been feeling about writing, and publishing, lately.

For the longest time – and even now, to an extent – traditional publishing has been the logical conclusion of writing. Toward that end, I’ve written a book a year since I started in 2013. And I’ve rewritten books from scratch, multiple times, to make them better in hopes of eventually breaking through.

If you’ve spent any kind of time on my blog, you know that I love writing. I have a sort of unfailing optimism when it comes to the path forward – I’m going to get there; I’m going to be published; it’s going to happen with this next book. That’s fine. It’s great, actually, because it helps me stay sane in the sea of so much rejection.

For the last few years, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want out of writing. Do I simply want to write? Do I want to be published? Do I want to make money?

The answer is a fourth option that’s always been there, but I never really took seriously. I want exactly what I said in that tweet yesterday: I want someone, anyone, to think one of my books is the best book they’ve ever read.

Sure, being published would be nice. Making lots of money would be nice, too – who wouldn’t turn down (tiny) bags of cash? But what really makes me get up in the morning and put words to paper is the idea that someone out there is just as passionate about what I’m writing as I am. They just don’t know it yet. So, I’m going to keep churning out books until I find them. Or they find me. It could be days from now. Weeks. Years. Decades. But I don’t want to let that person down.

At the end of the day, this won’t change much about what I’m doing. I’m still going to write. I’m still going to revise. I’m still going to submit to contests. And I’m still going to query. I’m just going to do all those things knowing that each is an opportunity for someone to fall in love with the words I’ve put to paper.

Now, I just have to find them…