Writing Resources

Recently, I attended a conference for aspiring authors on how to get published. One of the presenters ended a presentation by saying, “Publishing isn’t so much an industry as much as it is like a casino, and we are all at tables placing bets… that are not in our favor. The odds are on the house and so you are going to lose more than you win but you have to learn to play to give yourself the best shot… so much of it is being lucky and being at the right place and the right time.”

 

My mouth sprang open in surprise at the comparison of gambling to my career choice. The large plastic bins full of my journals, poems, short stories, story ideas, half-composed novels, and folders full of manuscripts on my computer would attest to my love of writing and my inability to stop. However, there is a 1%-2% chance for an author to get traditionally published. I ask myself, especially in these circumstances, why would I pick such a seemingly unpromising career? And why would so many people pick this career? Are we really just compulsive gamblers?

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Using Dr. Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot's Portraiture, I am in the midst of profiling authors analyzing their development as a person and writer.