Blog
Noun
A website that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks provided by the author
___________
So the conversation I had with myself went something like this:
Skeptical Everyday Me:
Why do you think anybody wants to know your innermost reflections? You lambast the social media platform for encouraging uninteresting people to share their thoughts with the world, deluding them into thinking it cares.
HeWrites (Desperately Hoping to Succeed Author Me):
You're right. You're right. I concede your point from the start. But I'm a struggling writer. Everything I read says build a following.
Everyday Me:
If you're a struggling writer you might want to focus on the writing part before you find a following.
HeWrites:
Maybe I used the wrong term. I'm not struggling to write. I've written an entire novel.
Everyday Me:
Really?
HeWrites:
Yeah. So maybe I should used the term struggling author.
Everyday Me:
A novel. Wow. Have you published it?
HeWrites:
And there's the rub. In my naïveté I thought that writing the book would be the hard part. In fact it was. But finding an agent to take it on is harder.
Everyday Me:
What's this agent talk about? Are you looking for an insurance policy? Find a publisher.
HeWrites:
They won't talk to me without a literary agent.
Everyday Me:
Then find an agent.
HeWrites:
They won't talk to me without a publishing record.
Everyday Me:
That sounds a bit circular.
HeWrites:
Like a hamster on a wheel. Each of the 600 or so reputable literary agents in the country receive thousands of queries a year. Because of the wonders of email these queries are now easier than ever for an author to submit and correspondingly easier for an agent to reject (hit the delete button and it's gone into cyberspace forever).
Everyday Me:
What's a query?
HeWrites:
A 500-600 word teaser to get the attention of the agent and make them want to read more. It's often followed by a 500-600 word synopsis--the literary equivalent of cruel and unusual punishment wherein you get to take your 94,000 page manuscript and condense it down to a few paragraphs.
Everyday Me:
If that could've been done wouldn't you have written a short story?
HeWrites:
You'd think.
Everyday Me:
What about a good old face-to-face? Knock on some doors. Go the extra mile. How will they know what a charming, intelligent, dare I say, handsome--
HeWrites:
--Thank you--
Everyday Me:
--Man you are if you don't put yourself front and center?
HeWrites:
Face time is a great idea. But half of the literary agents are in New York. That's a long walk or an expensive flight. Plus they don't want to be overrun by authors showing up at their offices. They'd see me staring in the entrance window, sweaty hands cupped to my eyes and pressed against the tinted glass to see inside, nervous ragged breath fogging up said glass, and call the cops to drag me away.
Everyday Me:
Don't they ever come out to mingle with the unwashed masses?
HeWrites:
Sure--at writer conventions. But unless you've got more vacation days and spare change lying around than I think (and I know you don't, since you're me, after all) that won't do you much good either. They are usually three day events, starting at a couple hundred bucks for registration alone. Add lodging on top of that.
Everyday Me:
I checked my pockets and I don't carry that much on me.
HeWrites:
I know.
Everyday Me:
So where does that leave us?
HeWrites:
Writing a blog. Maybe with the aforementioned charm, intelligence, and humor--
Everyday Me:
--Nobody mentioned humor.
HeWrites:
You know our philosophy; if one person laughs at a joke it's funny enough. And that's not exclusive to one other person.
As I was saying--it leaves us writing a blog, gathering followers, and askng those followers to read, comment on, and mold our work as they see fit. And if any of them happen to be authors ready to recommend the work, or agents filling the wee hours of their mornings trolling about erstwhile authors' blogs in search of hidden treasure (or amusement), all the better.
Everyday Me:
Let's blog! But do it well. I'd like to transition fully into you.
HeWrites:
Wouldn't all mere mortal-unpublished writers.
____________
So there you have it. I'm a blogger. I'll post updates on my efforts, snippets of my work, and (since I now have the platform anyway) maybe some opinions on current topics. Please feel free to email, post comments, and participate in any way you like. If my success comes it will be on your backs.
-Steve
