Posted on by Amy K. Sorrells

The publishing business: all that glitters

The morning began as usual, checking my twitter, facebook and email accounts before I stuck a toe out of my warm, cozy covers.
 
Did my post post?
 
Did my scheduled tweets tweet?
 
Did anyone RT them? Comment on them? Reply to them? Even see them?
 
Get more speaking engagements. Submit more articles. Write more controversial stuff, like her. Write more edgy stories, like him. Promote more books for people so they’ll someday help promote me. Comment on that-one-blog so the agent notices. Read three more blogs and comment on them, too.
 
My posts and tweets and updates sound stupid. My blog looks outdated. The only responses I ever get are crickets chirping. I shoulda posted a link to that one-really-good-writing-article. Why didn’t I RT so-and-so? People might pay more attention to my writing if I RT someone with a little more Klout. I’m too messed up for that industry professional. I’m not messed up enough for the other.
 
Does any of this stuff matter?
 
And when was the last time I added a word to my manuscript?
 
Oh, yeah, my manuscript. The thing that pulls my heart. The story that makes my gut churn with excitement and fear, possibility and hope.
 
The publishing journey glitters. Veteran authors, publishing houses, editors and MFAs pull us like the sparkling bodice of a circus dancer, flipping and tumbling effortlessly through the air, her partner eagerly waiting to catch her in his arms and raise her into the air for applause.
 
And yet, we who write for publication must be careful. We sit in the dark stands under the Big Top, munching on popcorn, coveting glow-in-the-dark necklaces, lost in the illusion and elusive space between what is real and who we are.
 
Like many of you, I’ve been a hobo on this circus train since my youth, curled in a small, black space under a box car, hoping no one will find out I’m there, spying, watching and mimicking every move . . . while at the same time hoping the Ringmaster will discover me, dress me in the finest costume of tulle and sequins and tights, crown me princess in the center ring.
 
At some point, as each of us steps into the publishing business, we must decide to whom–and for whom–we will perform. I suppose a piece of every life involves some degree of performance. But how big a piece we give up, well that part’s up to us.
 
Good magicians, like good circus performers, don’t tell you their secrets. But I will tell you mine, and it is this: YOU are the main act.
 
You’re it.
 
Because you are the artist.
 
No matter which trapeze the business has you swinging from–commodity or compadre–you’re the one with the words. Anything the business brings beyond that is a side show compared to the talent, skill and gift you bring to the center ring . . . a gift that can’t be enhanced or revealed, covered or consumed by a shiny costume.
 
I re-discovered this recently as I read over pages of a document my grandfather left my grandmother, printed words etching a burning love story into the cold stone of history.
 
My history.
 
The beginnings of another new novel.
 
You have a history too, and from behind the cage bars it scratches and roars to be told. Feeding it isn’t enough. You must let it loose and tame it. Balance the weight of it on a small, round stand. Parade it carefully in front of the masses.
 
There’s a hoop only you can soar through. A tightrope only you can walk. A story only you can tell.
 
Don’t lose it in the spotlight. Don’t let it become ensnared and choked out by the ropes and pulleys, smoke and mirrors.
 
Do this, and you’ll survive–and perhaps even thrive–in the publishing circus.

Because all that really glitters in this great show is you.

What about you? How do you remain true to yourself and be the best possible steward of the gifts (and time) God’s given you, while walking the tightrope of the industry?

44 Replies to “The publishing business: all that glitters”

  1. Amy– I honestly love your writing! One thing about being on the publishing road is how little I actually write fiction somedays. It is a battle and I’m having to do some reorganizing of my thoughts on this as well.

  2. Well, Amy, I’m speechless. You’ve managed to bring the circus to my kitchen, where I’m reading your post. I especially LOVED this:

    “There’s a hoop only you can soar through. A tightrope only you can walk. A story only you can tell/”

    Thank you friend. You reminded me I actually have a manuscript to work on.

  4. IAmy: I
    ‘ve been playing mental ping-pong with all the same balls: write blogs, comment on blogs, check Twitter, FB, Linkedin, write my enewsletter, write articles, market my upcoming book, go, go, go. And my heart wants to simply sit with the Word, sit with women struggling with their marriages, and inspire others to go to the only source of comfort and courage and hope for today and tomorrow. Sometimes, I wonder what and why I’m doing this–but as the Lord shows me another person helped through something I’ve written or said, my commitment to serve Him gives me the fire and longing to continue. Poppy Smith, http://www.poppysmith.com

    1. Mental ping-pong balls, oh yeah! I often wonder if I ought to be tested for ADD! “Be still and know . . . ” That’s what we need to remember. Thank you, Poppy!

  5. I am printing out your post and putting it on my bulletin board for those times when I need to remind myself that my writing is first and foremost. The business of publication can be overwhelming! It is quite the balancing act! Thanks so much…

  6. Pingback: The publishing business: All that glitters «

  7. What a beautiful post, Amy! Like all novelists and writers, I juggle.

    At one time I allowed my parent care responsibilities to completely overwhelm my life. I gave up everything, even participation in my church choir. I was a zombie, exhausted, discouraged. Lost a writing career that was supporting me and my family financially. I’m not sure I had a choice. My mother-in-law was so needy and we live in a place so isolated from the services available to most people. When she died, I decided to reclaim my life, even though I was still heavily involved in caregiving. Since that point I’ve made 2 giant adjustments to resurrect my writing career.

    1. I informed my family, my husband and my husband’s family that I was going to write and that others would have to step up to the bat to contribute.
    2. I gave myself mornings (usually about 2 hours, sometimes more) to write. Wow! What a gift!

    This is working. I’m still juggling, but I’m also writing!

    1. I remember your story from when you told it to us in St. Louis. That is so incredibly hard. But wow, what a testimony it’s turning out to be. Praying writing mercies and double blessings for you this time around!

  8. Since I’ve fallen off of that tightrope a few times in my journey, I know that I must keep focused, so I don’t lose my balance. I can’t let the audience, the other “performers,” or what’s outside of the tent distract me from my main purpose–walking the tightrope. Anyway, who wants to hire a tightrope walker, who rarely walks the tightrope or loses her balance all the time and keeps falling? Eventually, she might lose her ability to walk the tightrope all together!

  9. Is it any wonder why you’re one of my favorites? Standing up and cheering for you. Excellent post, Amy.

  10. Brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed this- it’s nice to know that when I write (even just for my blog) and I’m getting caught up in marketing it, trying to be seen, attract traffic, or even when I fail to do those things that really, it’s the words that matter. I couldn’t even imagine how that would feel with a book…

    Thanks for the encouragement.

  11. Beautiful writing, as always, Amy! I’m so glad to see so many of us feel the same and I love the analogy of the “big circus”.

    1. I must admit I just watched Water for Elephants this weekend on DVD. It’s one of my favorite books, and the movie didn’t disappoint. Clearly I’m a little stuck under the big top! 🙂 Thank you, friend!

  12. “Did my post post?
    Did my scheduled tweets tweet?
    Did anyone RT them? Comment on them? Reply to them? Even see them?”

    I can so relate!

    Sometimes I read just to know that I’m not alone. Thank you, Amy, for reminding me that I’m not the only one struggling to mainatin balance in this crazy publishing industry!

  13. Beautiful post, Amy, thank you. I have been exposed to several of the ‘glamor’ industries up close and personal (though I was just an observer in all but publishing).

    Lots of things about glamor industries are really not cool. The glitter attracts people for the wrong reasons,. The pay stinks because lots of people would do these jobs for free just to wear the glitter. But at least publishing has a solid heart beneath its shiny clothing, and lots of publishing people who want to do something positive in the world, particularly in the CBA. I can only imagine how it would feel to work in fashion! Ugh! I temped at Calvin Klein for a few days when I was just out of college. Not my thing. Very The Devil Wears Prada. 🙂

  14. My jaw dropped as I read what seemed to be a report of my own days. I had prioritized after moving cross-country to help out a family member and like Sue, have to schedule a time in the day for writing, and writing alone. When checking the stats started creeping into the writing time, I knew I had to click the reset button. Writing is what got us to the point of being able to look at the stats, not the other way around.

    Terrific post, Amy. My writing time has started, so off I go. 🙂

  15. Really liked the idea of letting loose and taming. Although, the taming needs to come first, and that’s the rub. Memories are so PRESENT TENSE, so real. I need not to declaw them, but to blunt them only enough to make them universal.

  16. Wow, so glad to know I’m not alone in all of these struggles. I want to shine, but it is easy to feel like a secondary act. I really like the reminder to ask ourselves why we are performing and for whom. If our focus is on God and doing our best for him, I think that will shine through even if it is in a quiet, confident sort of way.

  17. I chanced to click on this post because my friend Beth Vogt re-posted it–thought you’d want to know. 😉 I found your words so appropriate for where I’m at. I was just commenting to a friend that despite all the emphasis on marketing, every industry professional will tell you, it all comes down to a good story. And we have to write that story. I’ve proclaimed this my year of Giving up the Gun, a silly reference to a Vampire Weekend song that for me stands for surrendering my will for a season and focusing on the joy of writing. I don’t know, it made sense when I blogged about it.
    Thanks for sharing your wisdom and lovely words and re-affirming that we as authors and as people are at the center of our art and all the rest is just bells and whistles.

  18. Great post. Sometimes we covet the center ring position. But God has given each of us our own unique act that He will spotlight in His time. Our response is to continue to hone it and be the best at crafting the words He desire us to share.

  19. This is one awesome post, Amy. I love the circus metaphor running all the way through it. And I like the inspiration you have given me even more — I need that big-time today!

  21. I am struggling with this seemingly impossible balancing act.

    I try to write before work and check other’s blogs after work. Ideally, I write my own blogs after that, but am generally too tired to write well, so blogging gets squeezed in where ever I can fit it. I used to blog on the weekends, but that got old after awhile, because there is more to the weekends then blogging. Then I take Sunday off, so I can do it all over again the next week.

    But I do it, because a cannot not write.

  22. One of the best blog posts I’ve read in a very long time. Really. I’ve only been up an hour, and with coffee in hand I sat down at my computer and opened Facebook. Barbara posted the link on her page. I clicked. It’s rare I am so riveted to a blog post. This was exceptional.

  24. Well, Amy, i stay on track by paraphrasing Dory: “Writing, writing, writing.” I’ve always got at least two novels on deck. I’m finishing number five this week, have number six in early stages of plotting and know what number seven will be. Adds a bit of pressure. And I add extrernal pressure by announcing release dates for books I haven’t started yet. Like number six. It comes out in September. I better get to work…

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