Since I flew through reading my previous book, I cracked open The Street-Smart Writer this week to finally check out what Jenna Glatzer has to say. One of my sisters mentioned this book to me since I was growing confused about how to go about with publishing/sending my work out.
I have to admit, reading this book has made me feel depressed over what I had hoped to do with my novels (self-publishing). I’m not saying I’ll completely rule out that option yet, but the advice/tips in the book have been big reality checks for me. All of it has made me wonder what it is that I want to achieve out of becoming published. It’d be nice to have a bestseller, but that’s not the sole reason why I want to be published. I want others to enjoy my work, to be able to understand how my characters feel and whether or not they can relate to those characters.
When I embarked on this mission late last year, I wasn’t being foolish; I knew that the road to getting published/building my foundation in the writing world would be a long and sometimes frustrating journey. However, that’s how most things are like in life, no matter how different the subject matter may be: job hunting, establishing a romantic relationship, etc. It’s not all different from the life of an unpublished writer striving to become published. We all go through the same kinds of hardships, but in the end, if it’s something important to us, it’ll be worth all the tough times.
So, even though some of the topics listed in this book have made me feel slightly discouraged, I know it’s just a bump in the road, and that, by reading this book, hopefully I will prevent too many mishaps from happening to me in the “preditor” world.