What I Should Have Told that Aspiring Writer
Okay, what are you complaining about this newsletter? Imposter syndrome? AI? How your eyes hurt from squinting up at the eclipse?
No complaints!
Really? You have nothing to complain about? YOU?
Ha ha, I can always complain about something. Like, birds here are too loud in the morning. Chill out, birds. No one cares.
But nothing about writing?
Well...
There he is.
So, the other week I was talking to an aspiring writer who had finished a manuscript, but didn't know the next steps about publishing. I was explaining to them the differences between self-publishing and traditional publishing, the pros and cons of each, and I realized that I was concentrating too much on the cons.
That poor kid.
Right? I mean, yes, this is a tough (and constantly struggling) business, but it's a mistake to let that control your dreams. One of the great ways we harm ourselves is by making happiness a goal, rather than a realization.
So you're happy?
Happy, yes. Content? Nowhere near.
Wut?
Wut I'm trying to say is that...I used to fret I would die before I ever had a book published. I imagined a deathbed where I frantically wrote, desperate to get a novel finished.
I thought you weren't going to complain.
But then I had a book published, a book I was genuinely proud of for all the right reasons. And I kept writing, and I had a very good agent and my writing heroes became my friends and people saw me as a writer and I saw myself as a writer.
I realized that, when I eventually lie down on that deathbed, I won't regret the words I haven't written. I haven't said everything I want to say in writing - far from it. I'm not content. But I've said something.
I did my best to scrape the earth, and what a lovely, freeing thing that is to realize as a writer.
Did you mention that to the aspiring writer?
I wish I had! I would have told them that the next steps will likely be rough, particularly if they go the route of traditional publishing, and the rejection they'll face is important to face. I would have reiterated how necessary rejection is for writers, in the same way losing is required of an athlete. I'd have told them that the book they write is something to which they'll cling and, even if they end up realizing it's not the perfect book which they imagine, it's their first book, and that will always be one of their most important. I would have said that writing and publishing are, truly, two entirely different things, and one should never be in total debt to the other.
I would have congratulated them on their work, which is not something I did.
Is this aspiring writer actually...you, years ago?
Ha ha, actually no. It really was someone I spoke with a week ago.
That poor kid.
Trust me, I'm going to email them now.
EA
As always, I hope you'll check out my most recent thriller, When She Left, which is currently only $10 for the paperback! That's a savings of something!
And I have a few fun events coming up this month, particularly if you're in the DC/MD/VA area:
Monday, April 15, 6 pm - I'm moderating a panel at Marymount University, for that university's annual Bisson Lecture and Spring Celebration, about "The Arts in 2024." It will be a panel consisting of a writer (Carrie Callaghan), a poet (Holly Karapetkova), Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili of Synetic Theatre, composer Andrea Reinkemeyer, and graphic designer Hoon Choi. I'll lead a discussion about their work in different creative fields, and how it's changed in 2024, and how YOU can make dozens of dollars in the arts! Held at the Reinsch Auditorium.
Wednesday, April 17, 7 pm - More on her below, but I'm interviewing K.T. Nguyen for the launch of her much-anticipated thriller, You Know What You Did, at Loyalty Bookstore. This book has appeared on seemingly every most-anticipated list, and it's a gem of a debut, and I can't wait to chat her up about it. Click HERE to register for free.
Saturday, April 27, 1 pm - I'll be at the Annapolis Book Festival, on a panel with Valerie (Liv) Constantine (The Last Mrs. Parrish, The Senator's Wife) discussing "Edge of Your Seat Thrillers with a Female Twist." That is a big topic and big-time author to share the stage with! Heh heh, yikes.
I met K.T. Nguyen at a Crime Writers of Color meetup at last year's Malice Domestic conference. She told me she was based in the DC/MD/VA area and her debut thriller, You Know What You Did, was going to be published in 2024. We stayed in touch and quickly became friends, and it's been fun to share in the unpredictable, exciting, and often harrowing journey of a debut novel coming to publication.
I recently finished reading You Know What You Did (always a good thing to do before you interview someone about their book, pro-tip) and it's a fantastic read. Very few authors, particularly in their debut works, can write so assuredly and empathetically about neurodivergent themes within the space of a compelling thriller, but K.T. manages to pull that off. I asked her if she'd consider contributing something about her work to my newsletter, and she graciously sent the following:
When I asked Ed what I should write about for his newsletter, he gave me the following advice, “People like reading happy things, so much of publishing and writerly insight is negative.” Got it! Yessiree, happy things...happy, happy.
On paper (and on socials) everything looks sunny. My debut psychological thriller YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID (Dutton, April 16) has been named to a bunch of coveted “Most Anticipated” lists and garnered stellar trade and early reader reviews—with the stark exception of doglover007_90210 on Goodreads who DNFed yet found the ending implausible, explaining “I probably read too many thrillers, because I am just sick of them. Why can’t this be a cookbook with sexy dragons? 1 star.”
I hear you doglover007_90210! And my takeaway is that my book can’t be all things to all people. If a five-star average is my unconscious rubric for success, I’ve set myself up for certain failure and misery. As an author, it's easy to move the goalposts: I’ll be happy if I land an agent. I’ll be happy if I get published. But, once attained, these goals immediately morph into, “I’ll be happy if I’m a Reese pick. I’ll be happy if I hit the NYT bestseller list.” Um, sure.
The most rewarding part of the publishing experience has been seeing readers' responses to the raw depiction of OCD and mental health in YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID. The main character Annie Shaw, like me, has been diagnosed with contamination-based OCD. Readers with OCD finally have a realistic, sober representation on the page; readers without the disorder are able to view the world through a different lens.
Publishing is a mental game, and I have to remind myself constantly to celebrate the wins. To allow myself to be happy…Period.
Thanks, K.T.! And see, everybody? HAPPINESS. Learn more about K.T. Nguyen and work HERE.
It's giveaway time! The winner of a copy of You Know What You Did is:
j____et_m@yahoo.com
Congrats, and I'll send you an email soon!
Thanks to everyone for subscribing and reading! The other thing I should have told that aspiring writer is that they should definitely get themselves a newsletter with a bunch of cool subscribers. 5 stars, definitely recommended.