Does anyone else wish they could control the flow of time? I wish I could stop it for everyone else and give myself a little extra time every day to relax, to vent and to write.
You see, I'm a full time teacher by day who runs two after school clubs per week to try and make ends meet. I'm also a mom of a very active preschooler. And I'm sick and tired of being told I'm worthless.
Wait...worthless? Who says that? You're right, no one says it to my face. But public policy that lowers my wages instead of increasing them every year sends a strong message. Busting public unions so that no one has my back, sends an even stronger message. Putting me in a position where I'm required to obtain a higher degree than thousands of "leaders" who make over three times my salary (and that figure may be going easy on them) sends the message that I'm expected to do a whole lot for little to nothing.
During my free time, I enjoy writing. When I can't find a pick-up volleyball game, it's another way I've found to blow off steam. And it's also a way to make new friends. I've found a tremendous support network on the Indie writing scene comparable to that I find in teaching, from other teachers and even from some administrators.
But that worthless feeling kicks in every now and then when it comes to writing too. Have you noticed it? Have you ever gotten "the look"? You know the one. It's the look people give when they realize you published your book all by yourself. It's a look that says, "Oh, you must not be very good if you have to self publish." Well guess what? I chose to self publish. At some point, I may choose to submit some of my work to a publisher but not today. And when I do, it won't be because I need someone else to validate my creations.
It makes me want to scream! Are readers really not willing to use the free preview feature and decide for themselves whether or not a book is any good? Are so many people really that lazy?
Thank you for reading my rant. I welcome open discourse. Hopefully, even if we don't agree, we'll still have a lot to talk about.
I have a teacher friend ( U.S.) who was attacked in class by gang members after the school district withdrew funding for teacher's aides.It caused a breakdown and yet it was ages before she was able to get invalidity benfit payments causing even more problems as her capital disappeared under the weight of bills. It seems teachers no longer have the value they once did in the eyes of Government.
ReplyDeletePublic perception of writers is going the same way as they don't understand how difficult it is to gain representation these days or that people may choose the indie path to get better royalties or avoid too much interference in our work. If as you suggest they tok the time to read the free chapters, samples and everything else out there they'd see there are many authors as good as-or better- than those established by contracts with publishers. They could also weed out those whose work could only be published by vanity shops since the content is bad and the editing atrocious.But that's why we give read-me samples. The public must play their part and gauge what they like. The quality of books published by professional publishing houses isn't much to go on judging by remainder bins in shops these days.
You should print out copies of Mark Coker's How to Publish an eBook and hand them out when you get that look. Clarifies all very succinctly!
ReplyDeleteI published my first two books via CreateSpace and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to avoid the hassle of submitting and begging publishers to commit to your work. Sure, it took a little more effort (page formatting and cover design) but was completely worth it. I did eventually graduate to an Indie publisher simply because they have mechanisms to edit and market your work. I say ignore the suppositions and judgmental looks. Let them write their own book and see what real dedication is all about!
ReplyDelete