Danny the Avenger on :
Yeah, this is the anchor that most aspiring authors cling to when braving the rough waters searching for Publishing harbors. But how does the author connect this common pattern with Randomness? There's no drunken walk with Geisel or Grisham or Rowling or any of the other examples he uses. It has everything to do with intentional human decisions.
In fact, this is a great lesson in the subjectivity that rules our lives (tell me where to find that book) and the necessity to pursue the right match between your subject and the correct gateway. My guess, if you were to interview these authors (the living ones anyway) they would be offended if you related their pathway to success to a flip of a random coin. Take Rowling. Most aspiring and successful authors would probably say, "ONLY NINE?" People in a positions to choose commercial art like books, music, movies, etc., they have their tastes, their talents, and most important, their personal agenda. The guy who rejected animal farm said as much when he said "you can't sell animal books in the U.S." My guess is that Rowling and others did a lot of research (Grisham, in fact, turned to Hollywood as part of a strategy, not simply because "the universe" guided his manuscript there) to find out who was the best fit for her work. She found a publisher in children & young adult fiction, who was looking for a series in the fantasy genre. And even then, nine others still did not see the potential.
My point is, a human decision was made to choose or reject these stories. That being the case, how can it be compared to a lottery?
I'm just saying. Authors who allow themselves to believe that publishing is nothing more than a crapshoot have already killed their careers. The examples speak more to the determination and faith of the authors than it does to any sort of "the manuscript was picked up from his desk by a sudden burst of summer wind, slapped the edge of the broken window on the second floor of the Brooklyn brownstone only to be pushed into the Gulf Stream where it whirled and tumbled through the North Atlantic Drift until it finally landed in a neat pile on the doorstep of a little known but very hungry publishing company who had just set up shop in a two story building with a lovely view of the Thames a half mile outside of London" sort of randomness.
I can't tell you how hard it was not to keep going with that, by the way.
In fact, this is a great lesson in the subjectivity that rules our lives (tell me where to find that book) and the necessity to pursue the right match between your subject and the correct gateway. My guess, if you were to interview these authors (the living ones anyway) they would be offended if you related their pathway to success to a flip of a random coin. Take Rowling. Most aspiring and successful authors would probably say, "ONLY NINE?" People in a positions to choose commercial art like books, music, movies, etc., they have their tastes, their talents, and most important, their personal agenda. The guy who rejected animal farm said as much when he said "you can't sell animal books in the U.S." My guess is that Rowling and others did a lot of research (Grisham, in fact, turned to Hollywood as part of a strategy, not simply because "the universe" guided his manuscript there) to find out who was the best fit for her work. She found a publisher in children & young adult fiction, who was looking for a series in the fantasy genre. And even then, nine others still did not see the potential.
My point is, a human decision was made to choose or reject these stories. That being the case, how can it be compared to a lottery?
I'm just saying. Authors who allow themselves to believe that publishing is nothing more than a crapshoot have already killed their careers. The examples speak more to the determination and faith of the authors than it does to any sort of "the manuscript was picked up from his desk by a sudden burst of summer wind, slapped the edge of the broken window on the second floor of the Brooklyn brownstone only to be pushed into the Gulf Stream where it whirled and tumbled through the North Atlantic Drift until it finally landed in a neat pile on the doorstep of a little known but very hungry publishing company who had just set up shop in a two story building with a lovely view of the Thames a half mile outside of London" sort of randomness.
I can't tell you how hard it was not to keep going with that, by the way.
