Friday, December 26, 2014

There's Hope for Me Yet

I had been reading an article in a glossy fashion magazine about this "amazing" historical novel due to debut. The buzz had been so favorable about the author that a bidding war had erupted between numerous publishing houses, all clamoring to get ahold of the rights to this masterpiece. There was a photo of the demurely humble authoress, and paragraphs about her "daring" characters. 

There was also a couple of pages of the book itself. 

It was terrible

Every cliche that could be availed of was utilized. The sentences were terse and stilted. The visual presented was quite lacking and befuddling. And why to some women cling to this bit of dialogue? 

"Are you frightened?" he asked, smirking. 

"No," she lied, heart pounding.

Is it, like, required in order to get your book published, or something? 

This was the grand novel that is expected to sell at a record pace?

Okay, okay, I have to dial back the snark. This woman's . . . attempt at literature is being fought over, and I am patently jealous. Especially since my Great Jewish American Novel is currently scribbled scraps of my worse date experiences. 
 http://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/there_s_a_little_i_m_jealous_in_every_whatever.jpg
There are many great writers, mediocre writers, and terrible writers who have been published, as well as not. So I suppose I shall buck up, be nice, and actually do some work. At some point.   

5 comments:

Daniel Saunders said...

I confess that the sheer amount of bad poetry out there sometimes spurs me to write, thinking I can do better. But so far no one has wanted to publish anything, even for free, so I probably can't do better.

Daniel Saunders said...

Also, remember Sturgeon's Law: ninety percent of everything is crud.

Princess Lea said...

Publishers publish so much horrible stuff that the fact they did not take you probably means that you only need a friend in high places, like how the crud got published in the first place.

Daniel Saunders said...

It would probably help if the journals I want to be published in didn't suddenly cease to exist when I want to submit to them! Although lack of self-belief means my attempts at seeking a publisher have been half-hearted, which is probably half the problem.

Princess Lea said...

Same here.