This is all so true! It can be really galling to find you thought you'd be cool with other people's success but then finding that nasty little toxic worm of envy doing its thing. I try to give myself a moment to feel it but then move on to celebrating them as soon as possible.
Oh yes, the green-eyed envy monster definitely gripes and complains sometimes! {Don't get me started on celebrity crime writers who freely admit they don't write their books but are happy to be selected for big festival events - grrr!]
Hi David, excellent observations, per usual. For your next newsletter, may I suggest your take on the following two things? First is. why do authors publish free stories and why do agents and publishers let them? Why would you publish AND THEN THERE WERE NUNS for free and why dud Agent Jenny and Pan Macmillan let you lose out on sales?
The second thing I've always wanted to know is this: suppose an author has an agent who specializes in one genre. If the author wants to branch out, would the same agent help them sell the story? For example, Jenny Brown Associates' site says they represent crime fiction, literary fiction, etc, but not science-fiction. Now suppose you want to a science-fiction novel. Would JBA be the one you send the MS to?
It would be great to read your answers to these questions.
(I don't know if you've already discussed these topics. If you did, my apologies.)
Well said, David!
This is all so true! It can be really galling to find you thought you'd be cool with other people's success but then finding that nasty little toxic worm of envy doing its thing. I try to give myself a moment to feel it but then move on to celebrating them as soon as possible.
Oh yes, the green-eyed envy monster definitely gripes and complains sometimes! {Don't get me started on celebrity crime writers who freely admit they don't write their books but are happy to be selected for big festival events - grrr!]
Hi David, excellent observations, per usual. For your next newsletter, may I suggest your take on the following two things? First is. why do authors publish free stories and why do agents and publishers let them? Why would you publish AND THEN THERE WERE NUNS for free and why dud Agent Jenny and Pan Macmillan let you lose out on sales?
The second thing I've always wanted to know is this: suppose an author has an agent who specializes in one genre. If the author wants to branch out, would the same agent help them sell the story? For example, Jenny Brown Associates' site says they represent crime fiction, literary fiction, etc, but not science-fiction. Now suppose you want to a science-fiction novel. Would JBA be the one you send the MS to?
It would be great to read your answers to these questions.
(I don't know if you've already discussed these topics. If you did, my apologies.)