I wanted to take a moment to highlight this fantastic tweet from Anita Doreen Diggs. You can follow her on Twitter here @AnitaDiggs
Finish your proposal (nonfiction) or manuscript (fiction) before worrying about agents, Kindles, e-books, the book tour, etc.
There is this fantastic Garfield comic strip (you know, the big fat lasagna eating cat) that some day I will remember to scan in and post here but, in the meantime, I’m going to just have to describe it for you.
In the first panel, Garfield is saying something to the effect of “Lots of people talk about writing a book someday but only some people actually do something about it.” Then, in the last panel, he is there in a little cat sized smoking jacket with a pipe, looking in the mirror saying to himself, “Yes, this is how I want to be photographed for the book jacket.”
I love this comic. Especially in this information age, no sooner do you get an idea for a book than you want to start researching publishing options, agents, queries, how you want the cover to look, who will play the characters in the movies, etc all before you have actually finished the book in the first place. Most of the people at the #askagent chat last night were people who had an idea for a book and were stressing about markets and query letter before they’d actually finished their texts!
It’s easy to make this leap. We come up with an idea for a book and immediately our minds jump ahead to how we will be photographed on the book jacket and how witty we’ll be at the booksigning, etc, making us forget that we actually haven’t finished the book yet.
Finish the book. Tune out all the distractions, the info, and finish the book.
Let me tell you from personal experience, I started my first book in 2002 and did everything you are doing. I researched the industry, the agents, the formats and now, 7 years later, when I actually have a finished book to shop, all that info I researched changed anyway. Don’t worry about what the publishing industry is like now. By the time you finish your book it will be a whole different world.
Wasting time stressing about eBook, agents, trends or whatever is capturing your interest right now is just keeping you from writing.
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Hillary DePiano is a playwright, fiction and non-fiction writer who loves writing of all kinds except for writing bios like this.
Thanks for your post. I love your point, that by the time we finish that manuscript, all that research on agents, etc. is for naught.
And, that Garfield comic sounds great, too, maybe because I can relate as well 🙂
I need that Garfield comic!
I do love researching silly things when I need a break from writing, but I remind myself that I'm just goofing off. Because I totally agree, and I pass that advice on to other writers frequently. Like my husband who obsesses with details like whether the vocabulary in his unfinished children's story is too advanced (an editor will tell you when it's done), or whether he'll be able to find a niche for his spiritual musings (well, write them & see!). I think part of the drive to research things like that is procrastination, and part is fear of failure, and they're both linked. Because if you don't finish your book, you'll never have to find out whether it will fail to get published…
I have to go raid my parent's house and find the book it's in. Once I know what date it's from, I can find it on the official Garfield site.
But it is great advice no matter what!