The Adventures of Sir Writesalot, Part II

Last time, we left Sir Writesalot exultant in his victory over the editing virus.  He feels convinced that his work is as perfect as he could possibly make it be.  Who could possibly be the antagonist for him now?

Why, the Publisher, of course.  The Publisher is rather like the head of an entire evil entity.  He is the crime boss.  And he has many lesser villains in his employ. 

The least of these lackeys is Slushpile, a veritable morass of an individual.  He absorbs manuscripts like a sponge, good and bad alike.  An excellent manuscript like the one produced by Sir Writesalot gets sucked into Slushpile’s vast belly, where it sloshes around amongst other manuscripts that would make an English teacher contemplate ritual suicide.  

If a manuscript manages to be successfully regurgitated from Slushpile’s deep and vast belly, the next villain in line to receive it is Dr. Editor. 

Dr. Editor used to struggle with the Editor virus until it finally overpowered her.  Now, she picks apart others’ works, and she is also is ruled by a secondary infection of marketing fever.  You see, she does not merely evaluate the work based on literary merit, but whether she thinks it will sell and make lots of money for the Publisher. 

Her presence re-awakens the dormant virus within Sir Writesalot and shatters his confidence.  He realizes that his work was not as perfect as he thought, and he comes to realize that the deck is stacked against him.  All the Publisher truly cares about, in the end, is the bottom line.  Established writers, or even writers of dreck get published more easily if their dreck happens to match the popular theme du jour.  (Cough, cough. Vampires! Cough, cough, cough.)

If, by some miracle, Dr. Editor approves of Sir Writesalot’s manuscript, it climbs up the ladder to the Publisher, who makes Sir Writesalot sign all manner of…

Of…

Legal documents.

[A woman screams in the background.]

Now the Publisher really flexes his all encompassing control.  He might try to seize the rights to the work, holding it over Sir Writesalot’s head that he is the only one who will publish this, and it’s now or never, buddy.  He may even force Sir Writesalot to sign a contract saying that Sir Writesalot will never publish anything with another company, ever again.  

Yeah.  The Publisher is a piece of work.  And because the Publisher is one of the quickest ways to success, it seems like the only option is to go with his extortionist requirements. 

Suppose, however, that Sir Writesalot goes with a private publisher or even self-publishes.  Now, he has no marketing power except for what he can do on his own.  That’s practically a nine-to-five job by itself, and Sir Writesalot needs lots of money for that ring he wants to give his main squeeze.  He might have to work two jobs already. 

Either way, Sir Writesalot is in a load of trouble.  His only solution is perseverance. 

To be clear, I am not actually vilifying the publishing industry.  I compare the publishers to villains in the sense that they are a challenge for the writer, not that they are evil.  However, it can seem extremely unfair to the aspiring writer to fight his or her way up through an industry which really presents huge hurdles.  One might need literary agents or lawyers to navigate its perilous waters, and neither of those work for free.  

Which is a problem for the impoverished Sir Writesalot. 

Again, the only solution is perseverance.  He has to continually fight for his manuscript and not give up, ever.  At the end of the second movie, he is successful.  Everything looks great until just before the credits, Sir Writesalot says, “I think I’ll write another novel, but I want to switch genres.”

[Dramatic music.] 

Publishers, if they make a lot of money off of your work in a specific genre, really pressure writers into remaining in that genre.  There are many successful authors who have published both Science Fiction and Fantasy, but even then it’s not without a fight.  Publishers are interested in money trends—and really, you can’t blame them for that—but it is frustrating for the writer who would actually like to write in more than one genre. 

As you can see, even the superhero writer, the writer in the best of circumstances, has many challenges to face. 

Now, let’s return to reality.  The aspiring writer is not Sir Writesalot.  We have real life jobs and real life responsibilities that get in our way.  We have writer’s block.  We can get so discouraged by the editing process that we give up. We might receive one rejection letter and never try again.  We want to be published as quickly as possible; we want to share our story and vision with the world, but we are constantly fighting against our personal obstacles.  

It seems like we don’t stand a chance, if Sir Writesalot just barely made it by the skin of his teeth.

The truth is that his solution is also our solution.  Perseverance.  It took J.R.R. Tolkien the better part of his life to produce The Lord of the Rings. There is never a hurry.  Your lifetime of labors may result in a cult following that you could never have predicted.  Some people are published early in their careers, others later, but success is not defined by how soon you are published. 

I have often struggled with this urge to be published sooner rather than later.  But someday, my slow steady work will pay off. 

And when that day comes, I—and any writer who makes it that far—will feel like a superhero. 

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.