It has been said — by someone, and I am not going to research who it was — that no matter how much you know, there is someone out there who knows more. Maybe it was actually about fighting ability. I don’t know.
That said, no matter how good a writer you are, there is always more to learn, be it about craft, business, or the nuts and bolts of whatever process you’re looking to improve. And that said, I have to give you that caveat I’m so fond of: Every writer is different. There is no single way to do anything, no one road to success — heck, there’s not even one single definition of what success is.
As a hobbyist writer who is not very good at it, I am constantly trying to learn new things about this hobby. I have mentioned before that I will always buy the StoryBundle writing bundles. (They just did the 2020 Write Stuff bundle, so I picked that one up.) I pick up books on specific elements I need to work on, like beginnings, middles, endings, characters, story, dialogue, setting, how to put two words together to relay an idea… you name it, I want to know about it. Sometimes I pick up books on the business of writing and publishing. After all, since I am indie published, I technically have a business now. I need to know what I’ve gotten myself into.
My most frequent educational resources, however, are podcasts. I listen to podcasters who are traditionally published (Mur Lafferty), independent publishers (most of the others, I’d wager), exclusive to Amazon (Chuck Buda and maybe a couple of others), wide (Joanna Penn), a mix of exclusive and wide (lots of them), and just about every genre you can think of.
That said, I do not accept all of the advice given in these shows at face value. Since every writer is different, sometimes the advice conflicts with other advice given on the same show. Sometimes the guests have a perspective that is completely counter to my own experience. One host often spews out misinformation as if it were fact. I keep listening to that show, though, because some of the advice is, if not sound, at least worth investigating.
The one thing that makes me madder than anything else when it comes to writing advice is that one person who believes he knows everything, and anyone whose advice differs is completely wrong. Even when the “all-knowing” advice is demonstrably non-factual. The fastest way to make me not listen to you is to tell me your way is the ONLY way. It’s simply not true.
In a recent episode of one of the podcasts I listen to, the advice being given was so tradpub-focused, I thought the host would reach through the internet and slap him. I am not going to name names, even though I love this show and it will be included in my recommendations later on.
The guest started out by saying (and I’m paraphrasing here) that the primary reason 96% of manuscripts get rejected is that the core idea is bad. To be fair, later in the interview he made some interesting and even valid points on idea generation, but that statistic had my Crap Detector shrieking.
You see, the real reason 96% of manuscripts get rejected (if that is the actual percentage) is that only 4% of manuscripts follow the cookie cutter requirements of a business model that cannot — and does not — take any risks whatsoever. In addition, some of that 4% are written by Stephen King, John Grisham, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Jeffery Deaver, David Baldacci, Janet Evanovich, and whatever other authors are “proven” and actually publishable these days. The moment your book falls outside what they think they can sell to at least a million people… you’re rejected. There’s no room for imagination or innovation.
This is not to say SOME of those ideas aren’t bad. Hell, most ideas I have tend to be on the “what the heck are you thinking” side of the spectrum. Even then, though, that’s the beauty of independent publishing. No one gets to tell you that your ideas suck except for your potential audience. Some random person in New York who, as Dean Wesley Smith puts it, would not know how to write a novel if their life depended on it? I don’t care what that person thinks. The people whose jobs are to stamp out all originality and flair in someone’s book? I don’t care what they think, either. My readers, if any ever exist? Honestly, I’m not sure I even care what they think. (Uh-oh! Controversy!) I am not a professional writer. I am a hobbyist. I am not writing for the purpose of making Stephen King money. (Good thing, too.) My livelihood does not depend on attracting readers and keeping them. I am writing because that is what I enjoy doing. If one of my ideas is something I might buy myself, I will think about publishing it. There is no law that says everything I write has to see the light of day. (I’m looking at YOU, Serial Filler.) Do I try my best to make my published books as good as I can make them? Of course.
But I’m not going to lose sleep if no one ever buys them. There are much better writers out there worthy of people’s money.
The writing/publishing game is a long game. Me? I’m a casual player. I don’t know all the “rules” yet, and to be honest, I will probably never play by those rules. I write what I want to write and am always trying to learn new things to make my books better. When I hear advice that resonates, I take it to heart. When I hear advice that’s so loaded with baloney and crap that it makes my eyes sting, I immediately disregard. Like a traditionally published author who believes the rhetoric that agents and publishers are the end-all and be-all of what makes an idea and its subsequent novel good. That idea is a load of crap.
Now, as threatened, here are the podcasts I have been listening to on the topic of writing and publishing:
- I Should Be Writing
- The Creative Penn
- Six Figure Authors (Regular weekly show has ended, but they still periodically pop up with special episodes.)
The Mando Method(Ended as of episode 333 in early 2023)Wordslinger Podcast(Never officially announced the end, but has been on hiaitus for multiple years as of April 2023)- The Every Day Novelist
I know there are more out there, but these are the ones I have time for and that interest me. (I also listen to audio dramas and a few other podcasts.)
Thank you for letting me rant.