On Pain and the Writing Industry

The biggest non-secret in the writing industry, be it traditional or self-publishing, is that it’s a tough business.  I’ve always known this.  I’ve had a few bad reviews.  Earlier in my writing journey, agents all living “The Villiages” rejected me as I’ve written before.  I’ve been repeatedly reassured that Every Agent and Editor are the busiest on the planet; you’d think they could pay the US debt.  (That’s an exaggeration, and I understand that editing is tedious work.) I don’t understand agents.  That explains why I don’t use agents.

Nobody likes rejection; it hurts.  I’ve experienced it many times, and I don’t get used to it, and if other authors say otherwise, I’d say either “congratulations” or “be honest with yourself.”  Examples:  The Agent:  No, thanks for submitting.  The Editor:  No, you suck.  Reviewers/other outlets:  We don’t take self-published books.

But there’s another rejection out there…the rejection of omission.  This is when someone you think you have a virtual friendship with, financially and support his/her books, get an offer to have your work featured, then you hear you didn’t make the cut on Twitter!  Hey, nice timing!  To be fair, there’s an effort to right the wrongs, but I’m going to be careful this time and not hold my breath. 

Why does everything go wrong on the same day?  A blog syndicator I support with articles and donations left me out of a list of examples of articles.  Where was mine?  Especially, where was the one I wrote in support of the site?

I couldn’t even get a much-needed cup of coffee today.  So today has been rotten.  We all have these.  With big things I usually pull myself together.  Little things make me upset.  Yes, it’s stupid, can’t be helped.

But the real pain arises not from any of the above, including agents and editors.  Instead, it comes from a “no problem” reply, then as I think about it, get more hurt as the day devolves into time where nothing seems to be going right.

OK, enough whining.  People have a lot of bigger problems than the above.  I realize that.  Things are going to happen, and most of the time it isn’t personal.  I believe this brings home that when we feel hurt or angry, many times we can track our feelings back to ourselves.  We play a part (or at least, I admit to it).  Nobody’s perfect, these things happen, and as writers, we must deal with it.

I believe in looking at the bright side of things.  I’m coming with great inspiration for Shevata to clean up the bad guys!  Will I work with the people above mentioned again?  Probably.  But my memory is long.  That can’t be helped either.