Friends

No matter where you are in your writing career there’s pressure. First you have pressure to complete the book. Pressure to sell it. Pressure to market it. Pressure to do well. Pressure to follow up with another winner. Pressure to make that sell and market, etc. If you get rejected there’s pressure to follow up with something else – what to write, where to send it – it goes on and on. Agents, editors, covers, marketing, should you do conferences, should you rush out to write something when you see a call, do you want to branch out, what happens if you take some time off, will readers forget about you – blah blah blah

Carina Press announced its opening this week. This directly from their website:

Carina Press is a new digital-only publisher that combines editorial and marketing expertise with the freedom of digital publishing. With a long history of digital marketing and editorial experience, the Carina Press team is committed to bringing readers fresh voices and new, unique editorial.

So of course people, writers, have been discussing the pros and cons all over the place. Sharing thoughts and concerns. Loops and boards can be pretty helpful this way, though they can also be peppered with things I personally get annoyed about – the willfully blind, the chip on the shoulder, the spurned ex whatever.

One thing I saw a few people bring up, the thing that bugged me most was the suggestion that authors should just you know, “look for whatever crap they got rejected on with other epublishers and send that in”

Authors should always strive to submit their best work. You’re really going to knock on the door of a new line at the largest romance publisher with crap that got rejected from poodlebutt press? Don’t you think you’re selling yourself short? Don’t you think you’re selling the publisher you’re submitting to short?

We all have books that have been rejected for reasons other than quality. Marketing looked at it and was like, “what the heck are we supposed to do with this?” for instance. Now, see, THAT might be a manuscript to take a chance on subbing because it’s not that hamster, cow, pig menage shifter no one wanted – in fact the example I gave is precisely why digital publishing is attractive to me. They can take chances because the structure of a digital press is such that they can take chances on things traditional publishing may not be able to.

Not every book an author writes will be the very best book they ever wrote. It’s not possible and all of us have our favorites (mine are never the books that sell the best, either, LOL). But I can’t express how sad it makes me to see people just phoning it in, or worse, encouraging others to just find stuff no one wants to toss it at an editor.

Remember – editors are gatekeepers to publishing for goodness sake! Do you want editor A to think you’re only capable of that half assed piece of crap you sent because someone on a loop urged you to? Do you want industry professionals, even those you don’t write for, to see you as a competent and professional person or one who digs out that questionable manuscript and lobs it at them just because?

If you’re going to do this – for god’s sake do it right. Put your best foot forward each and every time. That’s the point.

If it’s not the point, what the hell are you doing?