Why Are We All So Scared?

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Over the last two years I’ve met quite a few writers, some quite successful and others—like me—just starting out in indie publishing. Overall there’s a lot of value in being part of a writing community. We share ideas on how to get better at what we do and talk about our successes and failures. After months of reading and posting, though, I’ve come to the conclusion that on the whole we’re scared.

What led me to this conclusion, among other things, is the recent announcement that Amazon plans to purchase Goodreads. And what a dust storm that bit of news set off! Doom and gloom. The end of book reviews as we know them. “Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria.” Sorry, I don’t know how ‘Ghostbusters’ got in there. You get my point though.

What are we so worried about?

Writing as a Business

Let’s start with the basics. Amazon is a public company. Here is their mission statement:

We seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company for four primary customer sets: consumers, sellers, enterprises, and content creators.

But let’s be honest. Like any other publicly traded company, Amazon’s real purpose in life is to return value to its shareholders. Over the last several months we’ve seen them do everything from experimenting with the Like button to taking away tags for many book titles to creating a Send to Kindle widget for your website. They’re an innovative company—and one to reckon with when it comes to its competitors. But in the end they’re a business. They must continue to grow. And how does one grow? By acquiring other companies for one thing. Companies like Goodreads.

In a recent article in The Atlantic (“The Simple Reason Why Goodreads Is So Valuable to Amazon”), the author argues that the acquisition makes sense. Amazon needs super fans—book worms who read far more than the average consumer. Whatever the real reason, it was a smart move and Amazon should be applauded.

Which leads me to my point, which is that writing is a business too. We are not starving artists trying to give something eternal to the world born out of blood, sweat and tears, hoping that we can eke out a modest living while receiving scant praise from obscure academic journals. No, we’re trying to make a buck any way we can. And the last time I checked, writing is way better than cleaning out the grease traps at McDonald’s.

You Cannot Control the World

I gave up trying to control the world a long time ago. I figured out that (1) it’s a thankless job and (2) there’s no money in it. Better to concentrate on the things I can control—like my writing.

So when things happen like Amazon buying Goodreads or Washington State legalizing marijuana, I tend to shrug and move on. No matter what happens in the rest of the world I still have to work every day to write the best book I can, market it effectively and hope that someone out there will decide to buy it and maybe even write a positive review. That’s it. There’s nothing else to be done. Stop obsessing already!

You want to know whom I admire? Joe Konrath. You should read his blog. After more than a decade of writing and publishing, the dude just doesn’t give a hoot about things that other writers fret over. Amazon buys Goodreads? Pishposh. Someone publishes a scathing one-star review for one of his Jack Daniels mysteries? Can’t please everyone. Joe just keeps writing and publishing. And, if his sales figures are to be believed, he makes a nice living. We should be so lucky. Mazel tov. Sorry, for a second there I was channeling the little Jewish man who dry-cleans my slacks.

But You Don’t Understand!

Oh, I understand—believe me. In many ways, writers are control freaks. Why? Because we are used to controlling our brains in order to get something down on paper worth reading. And it’s not easy, let me tell you. There are a million things we’d rather do than write. Think about it. Who wants to spend all day sitting in a cold, lonely room typing away while other people are out there having fun? Why do you think so many screenwriters hang out at Starbucks? And because we are control freaks, we are suspicious when anything in the indie publishing landscape changes. Anything.

Have you ever watched horses graze? I have—I used to own a horse as a matter of fact. They don’t just eat—they observe. Everything. Other horses, trees moving in the wind, that weird guy over by the barn. Everything. The slightest anomaly—anything that changes their surroundings and looks like it might cause harm and they’re out of there.

“But I’m not done eating!”

“Shut up, Frank. I don’t like the look of that anomaly. We gotta go!”

That’s us—writers. We just can’t concentrate on the task at hand and filter out all the other nonsense. But worrying that something will change doesn’t sell books. Great writing sells books. And great businesses concentrate on things that make money—like selling books.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I forgot my power cord and need to leave my nice cozy chair here at Starbucks. Stupid four-hour battery.

Related articles

Amazon buys Goodreads: We’re all just data now (salon.com)
Some Authors Devastated Over Amazons Purchase Of Goodreads (landbar.wordpress.com)
Writing Is Meditation (brianbbaker.com)


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