The Rush to Publish
The Rush to Publish
By Celeste Chin
Author and psychologist, Lori Gottlieb, calls the speed in which we live our lives as the “speed of want.” In her memoir, Maybe You Should Talk To Someone, Lori explains about how obsessed today’s society is with everything being instantaneous. When we buy a house, we want it perfect now. When we have a question for someone, we want the answer now. When we order something, we want it now. Patience is as rare of a commodity as water in the desert.
Aspiring authors are no exception, with the desire to publish and find instant success–the sooner the book is published, the sooner one can reap the benefits. But it doesn’t happen that way, unless you are a celebrity or on a Bravo reality show or a famous Youtuber. Good luck with overnight success in publishing as an unknown indie author–sad but true, even if you can write the socks off any of the celebrity “authors” out there.
So, late last Friday afternoon, I received a call from a potential client wondering if I could write her author bio for her book she was about to publish. It absolutely had to be done by that Monday. In one long continuous stream of conscious thought, she explained she had a personal issue and she just couldn’t write it herself. Trying to end her NASCAR like talking speed, I promised to write her bio over the weekend–something I did not want to do. But it was a short bio. How hard could it be, right?
The writing of her bio did turn out to be easy. However, before writing it, I read the preface and introduction she sent me along with her notes for her bio. And once I completed the assigned task, I couldn’t help going back over the preface and introduction. It had been copy-edited, but it didn’t flow or even make much sense. And it most certainly didn’t capture and keep my interest. Which if you know anything about me as a writer, reader, or writing consultant, if your work doesn’t capture and keep a reader’s interest, I can’t help but say, “You’re not ready to publish.”
So, I gently suggested to her that I could rewrite her preface and introduction to perhaps help her out just a bit. She fully recognized they needed help but again, she was in a hurry. She had set a goal for herself and emotionally she had locked into a date. I agreed to get it done before her Monday deadline as I couldn’t let her go to press in their current condition. When these two pieces were in good form, my concern drifted to the content of the book which I hadn’t seen. Again, I went back and gently suggested she take a breath and give some thought to postponing her self-imposed deadline. In the end, she wasn’t willing to let anyone developmentally edit her content, saying she had invested two whole months already and she wanted it done.
Why am I writing about this client, who by the way is a wonderful, smart, and courageous woman? I am relaying her story as a cautionary tale to all of you writers out there who write in a bubble, create self-imposed deadlines, or just load your book on Amazon to cross it off your list of goals. Hurray for finishing, but what about quality? Understand one principle: If it’s not your best writing, then don’t publish it yet. You will never attract a following with work that is poorly done. If you fail to capture and keep the reader’s interest your sales will show it.
Slow down. Get the right advice from a developmental editor and a few beta readers. Don’t miss this step. Your story should have all the elements of a “must read.” Copy editors are important, but they shouldn’t be the only edits your book gets. Having all the right punctuation is important, but what good is it if the reader thinks the content makes no sense, or is boring, or doesn’t capture their interest off the bat? Exactly. You want to be an author? You want to see your name on a book cover? Then make sure the content is exactly what you dreamed of when you first set your goal to publish. It’s not about being first, it’s about being the best.