There's no doubt that a nice fat dose of fame will help you get your book published: but that's not the only route into publishing.
The majority of books which are published by mainstream, commercial publishers still come from people who are relative unknowns. While I'll agree that it can be difficult to get your book published, the root of that difficulty lies in writing a good enough book, and not in circumnavigating the complexities of the publishing industry.
You don't have to be an established author to get published, either. If you follow that particular myth to its logical conclusion, the fallacy is easy to see: even JK Rowling was an unknown once.
3 comments:
There's hope for me yet then. You are right of course. You only have to look on the shelves of a book store to see that ordinary people do get their books published. The problem is possibly that if you happen to be a celebrity you have no trouble getting your book published. I can't say that I have ever read a book that has been written by a celebrity so I can't comment but I would be interested to know. Are they any good? If they have been published because they are a cracking good read that's fair enough.
Jane, I absolutely agree with you, especially the phrase "the root of that difficulty lies in writing a good enough book." So many aspiring writers snarl themselves up in this negative view re celebrity publishing, and it can blind them to the basic need to write the right book. By the way, my agent told me about your blog when I told her I was starting a new blog/site for unpublished writers, and I have just added it to the site. If you're interested: http://need2bpublished.blogspot.com/ Keep up the good work. All the best, Nicola
I'll have a look at your new blog, Nicola: good luck with it. And thank your agent for me, won't you? (Who is your agent, by the way? It's good to know they're thinking of me.)
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