{"id":4805,"date":"2010-04-15T18:49:02","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T23:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shilohwalker.wordpress.com\/?p=4805"},"modified":"2010-04-15T18:49:02","modified_gmt":"2010-04-15T23:49:02","slug":"no-rainbows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/2010\/04\/no-rainbows\/","title":{"rendered":"No Rainbows"},"content":{"rendered":"

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LOLcats|See More Funny Pictures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sometimes I think about what I used to imagine life would be like when I got published.\u00a0 I thought…I’ll write.\u00a0 *G*\u00a0 That was the only thing I thought about.\u00a0 Didn’t think much about other stuff.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t necessarily looking for riches… (which is good, because I’d still be looking).<\/p>\n

I wasn’t looking for instant fame (which is good, because I’d still be looking, and really, as much as I hate pictures, and as much I like my privacy, me and fame aren’t meant to be together anyway).<\/p>\n

I didn’t put a lot of thought into an agent-had only queried a couple before I signed with EC, and with them, I didn’t need one.\u00a0 I didn’t end up signing with an agent until after I’d been contacted by Berkley.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t thinking about the other stuff that went with writing…things like the edits, the galleys, cover art, promotion, the paperwork, the legaleze, the expenses (and man, are there are expenses), the taxes (and man, are there expenses), I didn’t think about reviews-good or bad.\u00a0 I didn’t think about any of other tedious, but necessary crap.<\/p>\n

I just thought about writing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And that’s still my focus.\u00a0 Which is how I handle the other stuff.<\/p>\n

I also wasn’t thinking there would be rainbows awaiting me.\u00a0 Which is also good…because I would have been really, really disappointed.<\/p>\n

Something I see a lot?\u00a0 Disappointment.<\/p>\n

Be warned… I’m a pretty blunt, straightforward person, and I’m going to deliver some blunt, straightforward talk.<\/p>\n

I see a lot of disapointment sometimes…and a lot of it happens with those who have just broken into the industry or are trying to break into the industry.<\/p>\n

What causes that disappointment?<\/p>\n

Usually?\u00a0 Disillusionment.<\/p>\n

Let’s talk about the pot of gold… it can be riches, or it can be a pot of warm fuzzies, or just an easy street where you just write…whatever.\u00a0 But let’s talk about it.<\/p>\n

That pot of gold people think is waiting once they land an agent, or sign a contract?\u00a0 It doesn’t<\/em> exist.\u00a0 What’s waiting for you is more hard work, more stress.\u00a0 It’s hard on a different scale, yes.\u00a0 The stress is different, yes.\u00a0 Things are<\/em> different…and please don’t take this to mean that it’s not worth it-if you’ve got stories in your head and you are determined to do that, then by all means, go for it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But make sure you have your eyes open.<\/p>\n

Guys…don’t set anybody up on a pedestal.\u00a0 Really.\u00a0 Don’t.\u00a0 It’s almost asking for disappointment.\u00a0 Setting yourself to be disillusioned.\u00a0 Writers, agents, editors, publishers-they are people, just like anybody else, and that means… they are going to screw up, or they will make a mistake, or they will do something that you just don’t agree with.\u00a0 If you keep in mind that these people are<\/em> people, if you don’t let yourself put them on some pedestal, you’re much less likely to get so disappointed later on.<\/p>\n

Once you get inside that industry, you realize there is an awful of stuff going on that you never saw from outside, and a lot of it is just silliness, foolishness, stupidity or arrogance.<\/p>\n

There are sadly those who rejoice in being catty.\u00a0 There are sadly those who just love to hand out those backhanded compliments that feel more like insults than anything else.\u00a0 There are those who act like a friend…to your face, and then a few minutes, a few weeks, a few months later, you realize they weren’t really a friend at all.\u00a0 There are those who think nobody compares to their brilliance.\u00a0 Sometimes, it’s almost like high school all over again.<\/p>\n

Basically, there are people like you see everywhere else in life.\u00a0 There are the not so great people… But don’t get depressed, because there are the absolutely wonderful people.<\/p>\n

You can also make fantastic friends.\u00a0\u00a0 You can and will make friends who don’t just share your love of reading, they also understand what it’s like to have stories inside your head, and that’s no small thing.\u00a0 They understand that excitement of a new idea, and they understand how stressed you get when you’ve got a book out with an agent or editor, and you are just waiting…and waiting.\u00a0 They understand the frustration of release day nerves, and they know how down you get when you didn’t hit the lists…again<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For all the negatives, there are positives-it is a balance.\u00a0\u00a0 For all the stress, for all the non-fun stuff, there is something to counter it.\u00a0 For all the disappointing aspects I’ve dealt with, there have been pluses.\u00a0 For all the hours and hours I spend dealing with crap like piracy, I also have hours where I can smile over the comments from the wonderful readers I’ve got.\u00a0 For all the hard work and headaches I get when messes with promo, it’s rewarded when I see people buzzing about a book.<\/p>\n

For all the negative people I’ve encountered….I’ve met double the positive.<\/p>\n

Some of my closest…shoot, most<\/em> of my closest friends are people I’ve met since I’ve gotten involved in the biz.\u00a0 You will meet some amazing people.\u00a0 You will make memories that will make you smile years later…and you might even help give those memories to some other people, and that’s a pretty cool thing.<\/p>\n

This is not a business for the faint-hearted.\u00a0 It’s just not.\u00a0 It is hard<\/em> work, and it doesn’t end with just writing the story.\u00a0 It doesn’t end with one<\/em> story, and it doesn’t get easier after you sell.<\/p>\n

One thing that might make it easier, though, is if you go into with your eyes wide open.\u00a0 Sometimes the writing community can be just that-a warm, welcoming, wonderful community.\u00a0 But don’t think that nothing but warm fuzzies await you.\u00a0 The people on the other side of the publishing line are just that…they are people.\u00a0 And they will mess up.\u00a0 They will do something that disappointments, upsets, saddens…but there are also going to be people who will be there to talk to, who listen to you yell, and scream, and sigh…<\/p>\n

Maybe there is a rainbow, after all.\u00a0 But it’s in the friends you make.<\/p>\n