Fame, Fortune, or Flattery?
When looking for your publisher, consider what you’re looking to get, from being published. Do you want to be famous from your creative prowess and artistic finesse? Do you want to be on a bestseller’s list and in stores nationwide or (gasp) worldwide? Do you want to be wealthy from book sales or prints of your masterpieces? Or do you simply want to be heard?
When looking through the crystal ball in your future what do you see? If you see yourself down the line achieving fame or fortune, then you will have to work hard and also be able to splurge on your sense of creativity to get in tune with the inner creator. It will not happen overnight... unless you buy a winning lottery ticket or have the talent born into you. It will be worthwhile if that’s what you see in there, behind the misty fog of the ball.
But if what you see is you being part of a small community, and sharing these talents with your family, friends, others in that community, and not expecting more (though you can dream), then perhaps a simple small publisher that is not for much profit will do. I myself run one of these... the details are here at rainflowers.org ... but even I cannot do it alone, I have a partner in crime... er... publishing. That partner shared from 2005 to 2010 the workload of publishing a newsletter of poetry and art every two months, and printing or sending out to print small books as well. Perhaps we can make it big too, we have the dream, and we write and do artwork as well. But if you really want to make it big... here’s what you do:
Trial and error. Putting your work out there when you feel ready is important, so that you can test what you think you know about publishing trends and popular themes, and see if they’re legitimately what you expected. This could get a rejection that might be because your work is wrong for just that trend, but it also can bring back the critiques and criticism that is necessary to bite down on and consume in you to digest what it means for future creative works. It will definitely take persistence. One well known author wallpapered their house with rejection letters, as a reminder that drove them on. It will take a strong will. I know you have it in you. We all do. It all depends on how bad you want it.
Either way, good luck!
When looking for your publisher, consider what you’re looking to get, from being published. Do you want to be famous from your creative prowess and artistic finesse? Do you want to be on a bestseller’s list and in stores nationwide or (gasp) worldwide? Do you want to be wealthy from book sales or prints of your masterpieces? Or do you simply want to be heard?
When looking through the crystal ball in your future what do you see? If you see yourself down the line achieving fame or fortune, then you will have to work hard and also be able to splurge on your sense of creativity to get in tune with the inner creator. It will not happen overnight... unless you buy a winning lottery ticket or have the talent born into you. It will be worthwhile if that’s what you see in there, behind the misty fog of the ball.
But if what you see is you being part of a small community, and sharing these talents with your family, friends, others in that community, and not expecting more (though you can dream), then perhaps a simple small publisher that is not for much profit will do. I myself run one of these... the details are here at rainflowers.org ... but even I cannot do it alone, I have a partner in crime... er... publishing. That partner shared from 2005 to 2010 the workload of publishing a newsletter of poetry and art every two months, and printing or sending out to print small books as well. Perhaps we can make it big too, we have the dream, and we write and do artwork as well. But if you really want to make it big... here’s what you do:
Trial and error. Putting your work out there when you feel ready is important, so that you can test what you think you know about publishing trends and popular themes, and see if they’re legitimately what you expected. This could get a rejection that might be because your work is wrong for just that trend, but it also can bring back the critiques and criticism that is necessary to bite down on and consume in you to digest what it means for future creative works. It will definitely take persistence. One well known author wallpapered their house with rejection letters, as a reminder that drove them on. It will take a strong will. I know you have it in you. We all do. It all depends on how bad you want it.
Either way, good luck!