July 2016

Deciding what I need to know

Living within my limitations has been one of the hardest, if not the hardest lesson to learn.  Some days, my limitations, which are in fact relatively slight in the scheme of things, feel heavy.  And I learn to see that my belief in limitations is more of a mental pattern than a physical reality – we all have limitations, the Earth has limitations – after all, what is gravity, except a limitation placed on floating? – and these are sometimes necessary.  Without gravity we would not be able to live or breathe, and without more personal challenges, how would we learn anything?

Excuse the clumsy link, but – where creativity and promotion meet, the avenues for promoting and networking are limitless; the space to invest time and energy and resources in them stretches to the horizon; and each devotee of every field will of course say that their field is the most valuable.  Invest with us!  Let us show you the way!

There are different types of expertise, each of which has their advantages and drawbacks.

• The expertise we gain from professionals who work for a fee;
• Knowledge we acquire from being with like-minded enthusiasts who are in roughly the same place as we are;
• The insight we acquire from working within our own strengths and limitations.

Sure, I could sign up for another few websites, all of them charging small annual fees, and all of which contain lots of useful information. Certainly, I can invest in the services of a proof reader, or a publicist, or an social networking maximization service, all of which doubtless do what they say.

But, do I need another twelve passwords?  Can my budget absorb another £150 in fees and subscriptions?  And do I have the time to set up more schemes, while managing the ones I already have? If the answer to these questions is an honest, heartfelt no, then I have probably reached my limit, and future investment in anything other than the most inspired and urgent projects is probably not going to attract the enthusiasm I need to make it worthwhile.

It is always a good idea to try and stay abreast of developments, to keep an eye on the shape of our ambitions and keep them lean, keep them clean, and moving and relevant.  Sometimes, though, more is not always better.  There is truly a limit to our time and resources.

It can save a lot of heartache, soul searching and money, if one day, instead of trying something new, we admit that actually, what we really want to do is write, rest, take it easy, laugh and go for a walk.  None of these requires the investment of that material resource called money, but each, in it’s own way, refreshes and enlightens our writing and motivation in ways that mere money cannot reach.

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Bridging the Expectation Gap

What assumptions do we make, about how the publishing process works for us?

We find an agent?  Great!  We assume they will find us a publisher.  We then assume that the publisher will sell loads of copies.  That is what they do, right?  So we sit back, while they work their magic.  We let them get on with it, because they are the experts, of course.

That is a bunch of expectations, and there are going to be gaps between what we expect, and what actually happens.  Compare what we expect, with what actually happens.

Here is what the professionals do:

An agent will try to find a buyer for your book.  That is not guaranteed.

A publishing house will aim to print, publish and set up distribution networks for your book, making it available through all the usual purchasing channels.  That, however, is not guaranteed.

Straightaway you can see the gap emerging, between what an author expects, and what actually happens.

An agent may not find a publisher interested enough to buy your book.

An agent does not necessarily involve themselves with promotion, networking or marketing.

A publishing house, having purchased, edited, printed and published your book and made it available through all the usual purchasing outlets, may make the policy decision that they do not do promotion.

And here we come to the crux.  There is a gap between what an author hopes will happen, and what the industry offers and delivers; a first-time author is always going to be somewhat idealistic and dumbstruck, just when they most need to ask questions and be clear about what services are on the table and what are kept discreetly out of sight.

Any author signed with an agency will make mistakes.  If they are first timers, this is usually because they are living in a state of incredulity and disbelief, but also because little is made explicit, and often a wall of silence descends.

At first, we don’t see the wall, because we are soaring so high above it.

As we come down to earth, we perch uneasily on it, gingerly feeling our way along the edge.

As we drop behind it, it is easy to be blind to the complexity of the relationships that agents and publishers have with each other.  To our general lack of knowledge, add the timidity one feels when first writing to an editor, and it is easy to see, in retrospect, that authors have more opportunities to slip up than a clown playing with a bunch of banana skins.

An author has to reappraise his situation constantly, and, when he finds that assumptions he has made are false, he has to deal with the fear of having misunderstood or badly miscalculated, and then find reserves of courage and self-belief to step over the gap and take on whatever jobs need to be done, to allow the journey to continue.

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Managing Expectations 

The first thing I have to acknowledge is that if I am to be successful in any endeavor, I have to learn to accept gracefully what I receive, from those who offer their skills, life experiences and talents, or who open up opportunities in business.

We all seek and meet people for the personal and professional satisfaction of being acquainted, and for what we can build with and for each other.  I do believe that altruism can be found in business.  Yet, it helps no-one if we attempt to impose our expectations on others, nor if we attempt to make others do what they do not do, or to expect more from them than they can give.

For example, if an agent tries to find a publisher for your book and finds none, this is not a sign, necessarily, that s/he has failed, and is no reflection on the quality of your writing, but probably has more to do with the time of year, the subject matter of your book, the apathy of the buying public, a significant holiday or event in the news, or the loss of a main contact in the industry.

So, it pays to be very clear about what we hope to receive from any professional we engage to help us, whether an editor, a publicist, promoter, website builder, agent or publisher.

When we engage a professional, or are lucky enough to obtain their services, we must be very clear from the outset what they are offering.  We must have the courage to inquire and be sure as far as possible that their services and their work ethos are a good match for us, that we are happy to accept what they offer, and not expect a great deal more from them than that.  Often, those who help us charge fees, though the most valuable and sustaining help that we find on our travels has no price tag.

Because someone charges us a fee for services rendered, we often assume that they know what we are asking them to do, and that of course, they will do that for us.  However, since most business relationships are formed at the outset, and since at that stage we tend to be under-informed; and since there are only so many inquiries we can make without sounding like the inquisition, the gap between what I hope will evolve from my working relationships and what actually happens can sometimes come as a shock.

How we notice the gap and take steps to cross it before it becomes a yawning chasm will make or break our future prospects.

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