Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Unless you live in a cave you have been bombarded with negative, anxiety-producing information of late. Brexit marks the end of the EU. The stock market has never been so volatile. The upcoming United States election promises an unsuitable candidate, no matter whether you lean left or right. In less than one hour of listening to news recently, I heard that Baby Boomers find themselves unable to retire because they saved no money, instead counting on their only-just-now slowly recovering home equity. The same news story said that if those penniless Boomers continue to hang onto their jobs, there will be no room for young people in the economy. The college education those GenXers got? Not worth the price paid. I also heard that 4 out of 10 people have more in credit card debt than they have in savings. And guess what? Cell phone companies will be charging more and giving less. Oh, yes, gas prices will soon be on the rise again.
Those are just the stories I remember. The economic sky is falling. Don’t believe everything you hear.
And how about publishing? Not a day goes by without a discussion of the demise of publishing as we know it. DIY publishing is making traditional publishing obsolete. Agents are going the way of dinosaurs. Authors are getting lower and lower advances. Publishers aren’t promoting the books they contract anymore. If an author’s sales figures aren’t up to par, he’ll never get another contract. Kids aren’t reading anymore. No one’s willing to pay for a book these days. Information should be free. Brick and mortar stores are a thing of the past. I could go on and on, but I’ll let you fill in the rest. It would seem the publishing sky is falling as well.
What I want to tell you is this: Don’t believe everything you hear.
I won’t even take time to unwind the economic bad news I led with. Yes, there’s some truth in each story, but it’s skewed toward the negative because it makes a far more compelling story. It’s interesting to note how little attention comparatively was given to the Dow rebound after the Brexit fall. It’s the same with publishing. Bad news rules.
My colleagues all across the industry have noted a sense of near-panic from their authors. We know what authors are talking about in their circles– what they’re reading in blog posts. Their questions reveal the anxiety. When will I get my next sale? Is anyone still buying? If my numbers aren’t good, will I ever have another chance? Do publishers even care about publishing good books? Is anyone interested in promoting a new author, or are they just fighting for the same handful of A-list authors? Is traditional publishing dead? The zeitgeist fairly sizzles with negativity.
Don’t believe everything you hear.
Yes, you could make a case for each one of those worries, but here are some facts that fly in the face of this generalized author anxiety.
- Publishers are still buying. It’s only the first week of July and our fearless leader, Janet Grant, has already exceeded her 2016 goal. Being the competitive player I am, I’m right behind her. And all the Books & Such agents are booking very nice sales.
- Just last week I made an exciting three-book sale to a gutsy new publisher. They are jumping into this market and aggressively acquiring. Just watch.
- We keep hearing that publishers won’t even consider a nonfiction author without a platform. I just came from ICRS in Cincinnati and while platform is still vitally important, a compelling concept or story along with superb writing still catches the attention of acquiring editors.
- Traditional publishing is nowhere near dead. Print books still make up nearly 80% of all books sold. Most of the publishers with whom we do business are good stewards, maintaining a healthy business even in challenging times. It reminds me of Mark Twain. When he came across his own premature obituary he is quoted as saying, “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
The greatest danger is self-fulfilling prophecy. If we keep saying something long enough, we begin to believe it. As my sweet mother used to say, “Snap out of it!”
- Focus on the work. You are a writer–an artist. Worry steals all creativity.
- Stop listening to the dementors. (Remember these creatures from Harry Potter?) Dementors feed on positive emotions, sucking the very joy out of their victims. If you are hanging with naysayers, walk away. Just say no.
- It’s too easy to become suspicious of those in the industry–publishers, agents, editors. The trouble is, you’ll end up finding exactly what you are seeking. If you look for good and honorable, you’ll find good and honorable. If you seek to demonize, you’ll find plenty of examples. Pollyanna? Maybe, but it’s no less true.
- We need to stop obsessing over the unknown. We may not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.
Chime in. What worries you? What disturbing things have you heard? Let’s tackle them together and see if we can find some balance.
I know this blog is about writing and the publishing industry, normally things up. important to me. sometimes, though, stuff happens which swamp our paltry concerns and reduces their importance to mere trivialities. This is one of those times for me.
What worries me now is where is the UK going? I have no idea what the effect on Europe will really be, but right now the UK is in disarray. All the architects of the vote to leave have scarpered, leaving the rest of us to pick up the pieces and work out how on earth we actually do what only half the country asked for. None of our political parties have functioning leaders at the moment and racial hatred has exploded through the roof (I have heard first hand tales from my non-UK friends . . . even an American was spat at and told to go home.) Yes thing really are bad in the UK at the moment, maybe not financially but socially. Although it is not all bad news. There has also been an outpouring of support for our non-UK neighbours. So many messages of “We appreciate you” and “want you here”. “You add to our society and are great neighbours”.
I feel the words of Phil Collins song “The Land of Confusion” are so apt right now.
With all this going on it is rather difficult to concentrate on writing!
On the radio this morning, I heard a story (a subject I am sure most are familiar with but I don’t want to go into here) which demonstrated to me how God can bring good out of anything. It gave me the image of God sighing, rolling his sleaves up and getting in there to work a bad into a good.
I have hope.
Nicholas, I’m so glad you said this. It reminds those of us “across the pond” that we need to be in prayer for our neighbors. May God bless you and keep you.
We owned a house in a distant community where we no longer wanted to live. Our renter wanted to own it, but it was out of his price range. When the bottom fell out of the housing market, he could afford it. We found a ramshackle foreclosure and poured six-month’s labor into making it livable and charming. Our former renter is happy. We’re happy.
* Bad times offer new opportunities. Imagination and hard work, invested as God directs, have a positive impact in any economy.
What a great perspective, Shirlee! We will all face hard times. The question is, HOW will we face them? I need to apply your mindset to an area in my life. Thank You for sharing this.
“Bad times offer new opportunities. Imagination and hard work, invested as God directs, have a positive impact in any economy.”
Hear, hear!
Wendy, I appreciate the hope your post offers. There are times when the negatives in life speak more loudly in my ears than the positives. If I focus solely on what I can see with my eyes, I’m going to become discouraged.
*I try to remember that God is always, ALWAYS working, often behind the scenes, and almost always in ways I can’t see with human eyes. When I keep my focus on Him and the truths I know about Him, I find it easier to not become discouraged and overwhelmed by what’s going on in this world, in publishing and in my life.
*Thank you for the reminder that thee is always another side to what we read and see in the media. If I forget that, those Dementors will definitely come in and destroy me from within.
And nobody can destroy creativity and joy faster!
Wendy, Having practiced a surgical subspecialty for almost four decades, I’ll admit to having a surgeon’s mentality: find out what’s the matter, fix it, move on. In med school I heard a definition of anxiety that has stuck with me. It’s a fear of the unknown or the uncontrollable.
We can’t control it, we can’t do anything about it, often we don’t even know the details of what it is–but we’re worried about it. Thanks for bringing this to the fore and offering positive information on a lot of things that cause us to worry.
I always go back to Philippians 4:6– The antidote for anxiety is three-fold– prayer, asking and thanking.
What worries you? What disturbing things have you heard?
Wendy, I worry about new writers who sweat and toil and get a publishing contract, but after their books fail to break out are dropped by the publisher without any prospect of getting their rights back, yet are burdened with a sales record that keeps them from another contract.
The answer would seem to be a more equitable reversion of rights clause, one that is triggered by either a definite term of the contract (e.g., 7 years) or a meaningful royalty minimum (not $250 per six months, but $1000 or more). Is that happening?
Here’s the clause I’d like to see concerning that:
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“All rights revert to Author 5 years after the effective date of the contract or 4 years after the effective date of publication, whichever comes sooner, unless an extension is agreed to in writing by both parties.”
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No royalty amount involved.
Would love to get some feedback from any of the agents on this question.
So sorry to take so long to reply. Yesterday was my first post ICRS day back at work and the tasks outlasted the hours.
The issue here is complex. Let me break it down and then play devil’s advocate for the publisher, instead of from our natural side (the writer’s advocate).
–It would be so easy to just say that we are licensing rights when we enter into a publishing contract. I’ve heard one bestselling author advise to just insist on what you need in the contract. Or like David Todd suggested, put in a clause that answers the issue. Trouble is, a new writer has no clout at all. Fact! It’s a buyer’s market. A contract for a new author or an author with regrettable numbers is often almost a take it or leave it proposition. If you insist on a favorable-to-the-author reversion of rights clause, you might as well just self-publish your book to start with. The publisher generally will not negotiate unless there is a reason he is sure this book will earn out.
From their point of view, the publisher is taking a huge risk with a new author or an author who hasn’t managed to find his audience. To mitigate the risk, he will want to have time to see if the advance can be recouped.
You asked it this is happening. I take it you mean a royalty minimum. Yes. We try to get that in every contract with varying degrees of success. It all depends on what we have to leverage.
To discuss this fully would take several blog posts– not just a comment. As for reversal of rights, we’ve found publishers willing to consider this after the fact (outside of reversion triggered by a contract floor) if the author is willing to buy the stock of physical books in the warehouse (usually at rock bottom prices– often ten cents on the dollar) and return any unearned royalty. This would be a fair way to buy the rights back from the publisher. Too often, though, we see authors who get angry when the publisher doesn’t GIVE back the rights. Those rights are a commodity and were sold in the first place. If the author believes he can do a better job, he will need to risk like the publisher did. Many publishers will also sell the cover files and inside design to an author as well.
You asked if this is happening. The more clout an author gets, the more we are able to press for these kinds of things. Did that answer your question?
Thanks, Wendy. Good info. I’ll sometimes read a vet advising new authors to insist on this or that clause as a “deal breaker,” without considering that most important item you mention — clout (leverage). Reality is a tough pill sometimes.
There’s always something discouraging for writers. But I went to our local Christian writer’s conference this year and sat across the table from an editor to pitch a story I had pitched at that conference for seven years. She looked up from my writing sample, “This could work.” A glimpse of hope for a story that I had thought was dead. There is good news out there for writers too.
Don’t you love it when things change like that? It happens all the time. A no answer is usually really a not-right-now answer.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Or, if you prefer –
* And when those who disbelieve plot against thee, to wound thee fatally, or to kill thee or to drive thee forth, they plot, but Allah (also) plotteth, and Allah is the best of plotters.
And the end is just the beginning!
In elections, when there isn’t a candidate to get excited about, I’ll hear people say that they just won’t vote. It seems like the writing world can be the same. If the writer doesn’t receive the answer they are seeking or don’t like their options, they stop writing, drop off the scene. I hope I never let anyone or anything encourage or discourage me to stop writing. Staying in the game and trying is the only way to produce a viable offering and maybe to receive one. Some “advance to go” immediately and some have to go around the board, but there is so much joy in this journey.
*We know who holds the future–yes. 🙂
Yes! Joy in the journey. If you’re going to be a writer, you’d better be having fun along the way and not waiting for whatever you think is the payoff.
Shelli, I love your analogy, and I plan on going “around the board” until I get it written right.
Exactly, Shelli!
Sometimes you just have to shut out the world. Our pastor has suggested to avoid watching the news during times of personal stress, therapists also recommended this after 9-11. It’s not about hiding from reality, it’s about giving yourself time to adjust, regroup and heal.
*Sin is in the world and Satan is the author of lies and discouraging words. His plan is to defeat us in all areas of our lives.
*God is greater. If you believe He’s given you the battle call to write, then cover yourself with prayer and fight to defend His gift to you.
And so much of the news is delivered in a breathless, hyperbolic way. It’s not given the weight of historical perspective.
There is a story about a frontier city in the waning days of the Roman Empire, receiving message after message that brought tidings of bad days ahead. Life, never easy, was going to become harder, circumstances ever-more straitened.
– Finally a traveller came with the worst news of all. The barbarians were coming, a vast horde, pillaging and burning all in their path.
– The leaders were informed that the weakened city garrison could not hope to hold out, that the soldiers’ weapons had not been maintained, and morale was poor.
– So they decided to surrender, offering gifts collected from every household in the town.
– On the morning the barbarians were expected, the city leaders had the gates opened, waiting in their best clothes with an array of treasure behind them.
– Hours passed, fine clothing grew uncomfortable, and then a terrible thought struck those who waited…there were no barbarians.
– And what would they do NOW?
– The conquering horde had been a solution of sorts, one that might well have made the daily toil unnecessary. But now life had to go on.
* Off-topic – over the weekend Barb’s Dad, a wonderful man, had a massive stroke that involved pretty much his entire left temporal lobe, and the news has been bad, good, and now bad again. Barb herself has the flu. prayers for both would be appreciated.
Oh Lord, hold Barbara and her family in the protective palm of your hand!
Amen! And prayers for your strength as well, Andrew.
Praying for you, Barbara, and the family. I’m so sorry.
Shirlee, Lara, and Shelli…thank you so much. It’s not looking very good at the moment.
Oh, no, Andrew. Praying for Barb, her dad and all of you. “You who have been borne by Me from birth, and have been carried from the womb; even to your old age, I shall be the same, and even to your graying years, I shall bear you! I have done it, and I shall carry you; and I shall bear you and I shall deliver you.” Is 46:3b,4
I appreciate this, Wendy. Though, I heard from one of the BNS agents just a few months ago that fiction sales were not picking up as you all had hoped, so she decided to not take on any new clients. So, I can estimate that this likely means she wants to focus on sales for the clients she already has? Seems, from this post, you’re not as worried?
We’re finally seeing some light on the fiction front. It remains to be seen how much it will open up for debut authors but things are looking up.
So great to hear!
Thank you for encouraging us, Wendy. What worries me at times–am I wasting my time? But then I remember how much I enjoy this journey and “who holds the future”. Nothing will sprout if we don’t plant seeds; I’ll keep learning and sowing as I lean on the One “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine. Eph. 3:20 NIV”. And having just finished reading: Writing the Breakout Novel; I’m going to reread it while I continue to write.
Blessings ~ Wendy Mac
Yes .. am I wasting my time? Always a concern. But … if we stop at Boardwalk and Park Place together along the way … it’s so much fun. 🙂 I would never have met any of you if I hadn’t ventured on this path. I’m so grateful for my writer friends. They get me.
I’m with you, Wendy. This journey holds joy and fun for me, but it also has me on my knees and depending a lot more on God than I ever used to (had to). Thank goodness God can do immeasurably more than we ask or think! I’m so glad He holds my future in His hands. 🙂
You are not wasting your time. When I consider the journey to publication I see all the writers who have reached the “finish line” which is really the starting gate.
Negativity can suck the life out of anyone who lets it. The mind game is huge. Somehow we have to refocus and redirect our thinking when the joy-takers make us feel that life is losing its promise.
I enjoyed reading Janet and your good news about this year’s accomplishments. It’s positive on many fronts, gives hope to aspiring authors, and encouragement to established authors.
Hope springs eternal. Maybe this will be the year for some in the B &S family. You just never know. . . .
“Maybe this will be the year for some in the B & S family” … what a sweet thought and prayer, Norma.
This looks to be a solid year. One editor at ICRS told us that they had record sales over the last 12 months and record profits. That means they will be bold about acquiring to try to beat those numbers.
Saving this post to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest! Thanks, Wendy.
🙂
Yes, Wendy. In mainstream media, if it bleeds it leads. Unfortunately. Wise words you have shared: Don’t believe everything you hear.
I will keep writing even if no one reads it because it’s what I do. Sure beats watching the news.
Good words, Davalynn. And we keep writing because God called us to write. He may not have called us to publication at this moment but it doesn’t mean he lets us off the hook, right? 🙂
Wendy, thank you for such a positive, encouraging post, and for the good news about the Books and Such agents.
*It seems to me there’s always been a lot of bad news–from the 60’s, through the 70’s, and right on through today. I see a change in the way news is presented today, though. Now it seems news is reported with a certain agenda. Mixed in there is negativity.
*To me, this is a sign we are definitely in a war over our minds. Satan is an intimidator. If the barrage of bad news intimidates people from doing the work they should be doing, or being the people they need to be, he doesn’t have to do anything else. Satan is a liar as well. He doesn’t want us to see the good that is also there, even amidst the bad. As Jeanne commented, God is always, ALWAYS working . That thought gives me a lot of comfort.
Davalynn nailed it. In news, if it bleeds, it leads.
I’d love to get rich from my writing but, in the long run, what will matter most isn’t how much money we make, but how we’ve touched lives. If something we write makes a difference to anyone, even if it’s only a college student reading the slush pile, when we get to Heaven we’ll hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Of course making more income here on Earth would be nice, too.
Wise, wise words, Janet.
Worry steals all creativity. Stop listening to the dementors. We may not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.
Amen, amen, and AMEN!!!
Thanks for the encouraging words, Wendy!