by Janis Susan May/Janis
Patterson
I’m distressed. Not long ago I went to lunch with a
well-known publicist. We all want lots of sales, and anything that helps sell
books is all to the good, right?
Now I’m not sure. The more I listened to the publicist, the
more distressed I became. With the energy of a televangelist she spoke of how
in order to be noticed a writer had to Tweet several times a day, Facebook just
as often, join and participate in several new social media groups (as one never
knew which one would turn into the next Facebook), grow a mailing list for
regular newsletters, attend at least one book club (but several were better)
both in person and online in order to get to meet readers, do readings and
signings and all manner of public appearances, have an interesting and
up-to-date website… Oh, and you’re supposed to have a blog – or several – which
you update regularly and often, as well as guest blog. Blog tours are also
recommended.
Then she got really depressing and predicted that within a
very few years we wouldn’t be selling books at all – that all content would be
free, like movies and tv are free on the internet today. (I haven’t seen any
actors, actresses or producers working for free lately, though, and I doubt if
many professional writers want to either.) When asked how we would make our
money, she gleefully announced, “Through
marketing!” Yes, we’re supposed to sell mugs and tote bags and
God-only-knows-what, each with a tie-in to our books and characters. Apparently
some writers are already doing this, but there was no explanation of when they
found time to write, let alone lead a life or be with their family.
That’s when I tuned out, totally overwhelmed. We’re supposed
to do all that? And write, too? To say nothing of dealing with real life, such
as emergencies, family obligations and even the constant necessities of the
dishwasher and the laundry…
Most writers have families, and jobs, and obligations. And,
yes, they have to write. Most writers I know are already stretched to the max.
No writer of whom I am aware sits around on a chaise eating bon-bons and
wondering how they will fill the empty hours since they finished their last
opus. In fact, I venture to say most of us barely get done what is already
necessary.
So where is all the extra time going to come from for us to
tweet and FB and attend all those book club meetings and gather every reader we
meet into the fold of personal friendship? My days are full, but I’m selfish –
I like getting at least five hours sleep a night, and that’s just about the
only time I’m not busy.
Another, equally vocal, camp says that we should all be
self-publishing, that self-publishing is the best way to gain fame and fortune.
Well, I’m self-published and if this is fame and fortune…! I know that there
are authors making bazillions of dollars from self-pubbing, and I know there
are other authors with equally good books who even after several months have
not yet made back their expenses. Most of us fall somewhere in between.
Whatever the financial rewards, self-pubbing just adds to the workload. Now you
not only must deal with edits, you have to find and hire the editor. Same with
the cover and the artist, as well as the translator if you decide to publish in
foreign languages. A lot of authors do their own formatting for the various
vendors – more time gone! Then, once the book is out, you must deal with any
legal matters that crop up – copyright questions, piracy takedown notices,
excerpts – and before you know it, an entire morning or even a day is gone and
not a word written.
Everything I’ve mentioned, from formatting to laundry, can
be hired out or, if you have helpful children or a supportive spouse, handed
over to them. If you do hire someone that becomes self-defeating in a way and
can backfire badly. You can pay a virtual assistant to tweet and FB and
Instagram and whatever for you, but if part of your goal is to be a friend to
your reader, how is that friend going to feel when they find out (and they
will, believe me, they will) that the lovely personal notes and friendly posts
you’ve been making to your fan friends have been done by a hireling?
If there was one thing this marketing guru harped on, it was
personal contact between the author and the reader. “Make the reader your friend,” she crooned; “go to places where you can meet the readers.” Now instead of
writing, we are supposed to join book clubs – both physical and on-line, where
the readers can get to know us as a person and regard us as a friend. We are
supposed to start street teams, where our fans publicize for us and we reward
them with advance books, goodies and our attention. “Stay in contact with your readers – always answer any communication
you receive from a reader/friend. Talk about your personal life instead of your
working life when you blog. Be open. Be receptive. Keep them appraised of what
you’re doing.”
Why? Why force or feign a friendship where one doesn’t
spring naturally? We all know about some readers who want to have a personal
relationship with their favorite authors – not just because they admire their
work, but because being ‘friends’ with a real author somehow makes some of the
glamour rub off on them. I don’t understand that particular line of reasoning,
but I know it exists, sometimes to the point of dangerous stalking. Most people
don’t need to be friends with someone in order to appreciate their talent or
artistry. I have met readers and a few of them have become friends, but it is
because of whatever magic that makes two people become friends no matter how
they meet, not because I want to hang their scalp from my belt as a fan. To
treat every fan you meet as a special friend is really doing them a disservice,
for while everyone can be friendly, friendship is special. I do believe in
friendliness and politeness to all readers, but not the cold-blooded stalking of
them for fans.
And for that matter, where did this position of ‘you have to
make friends of your readers’ start? As far as I am concerned, readers becoming
friends isn’t part of the professional equation. Writers write books. Readers
read books. That’s all either should expect, other than the common courtesies
that are part of a civilized society.
So, I ask again, where is the time for all this involvement
and friendliness supposed to come? I guess it would work well for someone who
has written a single book, maybe two, and is doing nothing but trying to sell
them. For the rest of us, we have to have time to write. It has never made
sense that readers expect you to be their best friend and still have you write
X number of books a year.
There are jokes about writers working in an empty room
filled with imaginary people. They’re funny, yes, but they also underscore that
writing is at heart a very solitary business. Some writers dream of a quiet
room where they can be alone with their computer and their stories for hours
and hours, but I also know many writers who write best in a crowded coffee
shop, or who turn out scene after scene in the dentist’s waiting room or while
at their daughter’s soccer practice or even sitting with the family in front of
the TV at night. I applaud them for writing whatever their personal process is,
but wherever they sit while putting down words, writing is still a solitary
business. No matter how many people are around, writing still boils down to
just the writer and the words and the people in that writer’s head.
Just the writer and words – and it take time and concentration to get those
words, to make a story come alive and touch people. On my computer I have a
little saying that I read every morning before starting work – “Write, don’t
talk.” Originally it meant that a story should be written and not talked to
death being shared with all and sundry, but it fits just as well to mean one
should be writing instead of chatting with friends. Beside that phrase is
another one, “Writing is easy – all you do is stare at a blank screen until
drops of blood fall on your forehead.”
Good writing is work, and like all work, takes time. There
has to be a balance between writing the books and publicizing them. I think the
majority of a writer’s time should be spent writing the best book she can. And
another. And another. Writers should write, and readers should read. That’s the
equation.
