McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

How do you deal with conflicting editors/edit ideas.

<< < (2/4) > >>

KevinEvans:
It comes down to the Golden Rule-- The one with the gold makes the rules.

Ultimately that is your reader, the one you have to get to part with their beer money to buy your work. How ever many of the readers have given their trust to publishers and editors, and depend on them to pick the good stuff.

The best advise is to listen to the ones who are going to pay you for your stuff. I often disagree with editors, but an editor is the one who fits my work into a magazine or picks the book for publication so at the end they win. New writers do not get much say, mid list writers a bit more, and lead writers are listened to.

Like a crime story, follow the money. In school, get the grade, then make your mark when you are a NYT Best Seller....

Regards,
Kevin

Wordmaker:
This. It's probably the single hardest lesson for a writer to learn, but if your goal is publication and book sales, your focus has to be on what readers will want to read and buy.

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:

--- Quote from: Wordmaker on June 08, 2011, 09:13:18 AM ---This. It's probably the single hardest lesson for a writer to learn, but if your goal is publication and book sales, your focus has to be on what readers will want to read and buy.

--- End quote ---

And it's a better bet long-term to get published and become a success by telling the stories you care about as best you can than by churning out derivative invitation of whatever today's flavour of the month is.

When it comes to what readers will want to read and buy, always remember William Goldman's First Rule:

NOBODY

KNOWS

ANYTHING.

Snowleopard:
The previous comments all have merit in one way or another.
I think one thing all beginning writers need to learn is to listen to and learn to accept criticism.
Not an easy thing.
Having dealt with a friend who wrote who would begin to sulk the moment you tried to tell him anything.
I also think one of the greatest gifts a beginning writer can have is someone who will tell you "The Truth".
They don't have to be nasty they just have to give it to you unvarnished.

Wordmaker:
I never said a writer had to churn out derivative work just to fit current trends. But if everyone's sick of vampires and your book is about a tortured vampire falling in love with a mortal woman, you have to accept that it's going to be a much tougher sell than something fresh and new.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page