I want to write. I love to write. I have so many characters and plots vying for my attention that I need to write.
To my dismay, I’ve discovered an author’s life is not the recluse plying pen to paper. In today’s world, it’s not enough to write a good book, or even a great book, what you need is connections, marketing, and two full-time jobs: one to write, and one to market.
I have the writing part down—or at least I would, if I didn’t spend so much time editing my own writing without professional input. Today’s writer can’t write something notable and expect an editor to read an excerpt from a first, second, third, or even fifth draft and go running down the hall to share it with others due to its merit. Today’s writer must
- craft the perfect manuscript,
- spend a thousand dollars or more to hire just one of the four types of professional editors recommended for each manuscript,
- write their own log line (that’s one short, pithy sentence to grab a reader),
- write a blurb (that’s the short description to whet a reader’s appetite that appears on advertising and the back of a book), and,
- write a one page, two page and five page synopsis (because an editor/publisher/agent doesn’t want to read the book for themselves, they want you to briefly tell them the entire plot with details in a size of their choosing).
- Add to this a cover letter that still stands out, written following all the current rules of query letter form (because, seriously, no one wants to read on if the letter misses a step in the rules).
And that’s all before you get to the place where your manuscript is published. Social Media is a thing. I understand that an author should have a web page. I look up author’s web pages to see what books they’ve written and to read the blurb (okay, yes, there is a reason for blurbs, I’d just rather someone else wrote them). They’re also supposed to write blogs, send tweets, post Instagram photos, learn Snapchat and join TicTok, book funnel, bookbub, Goodreads, and a dozen other “connected” resources—-oh, and post to them regularly—-every day if possible. Each of these is a time commitment in itself-—after all, in total, an author is a curator of their image through these avenues.
And so I understand a “presence,” but what if the author is happy being anonymous? (Well, except for desperately wanting to share their stories with others.)
So here I am. I now have a web page and a Facebook author page, L. Blanton Author. I have one thing published so far, an historical romance short story, Persuaded to Love, published in an anthology, A Season for Second Chances, available on Amazon. I’m okay if you’d rather wait for a whole book, but that might take a while. If you do choose to read my story (free on KU), leave a positive comment if you like it. : )