who won the passionate ink thing?
I was a finalist in the best novella category! Did I already post about that? I bet I did but yay, again. (I never got a cute lil button like last year, so you'll just have to take my word for it.)
I've heard bits and pieces about RWA's decisions about epublishers and lots of sad people ranting...but I don't feel so much as a twinge about it.
I did rant this morning on a loop. Oh, did you drop a hat? did someone in the background clear her throat? is that a small nod? no? It's just the light? Too bad, I'll post the rant anyway.
I read about the whole RWA thing and about how some people wearing pink ribbons get treated like second class citizens and I'm reminded once again that no matter how hard you try, chances are, validation ain't ever going to come from the outside world.
If you write to be an Author, then you'll probably get some fun lifts now and then--the first glimpse of a new cover, contest wins, a letter from a fan--but those lifts are not going to come very often. Most of the time you're going to get the usual: rejection, snotty letters about missed commas or "they didn't say okay in 1910" that you can't even answer because then YOU look snotty, more rejection, the realization that you spend way too much time alone, stuff like RWA nonsense or the line "when are you going to write a real book" to a romance writer.
RWA's current shit is about Authors, not writers. [actually I think it's about publishers, not individuals] It's just another one of those "not again" things. Too bad, since the organization is supposed to be supportive, but I imagine once this settles down, no matter what, there will still be the great parts like the local chapters, the online chapters and the access to good resources. All the real reasons to join an organization like that to begin with. Some of the frosting will be gone, but the cake is still there. (ugh)
Anyway. The point to my rant, other than the fact that I don't operate without coffee, is that in the long run, this is just another reminder that if you go into the business of writing books to be an Author, you're going to be buffeted and knocked over all the time. I think there's only one way to survive and that is to concentrate on the writing. If you go into it keeping your eye on the main prize--which is always the story and your characters--you can stand this sort of crap for years and years and years. Write the books, fall in love with the stories. Skip the rest when you can--unless you think you have what it takes to spend a lot of time dealing with people and can be a politician then by God, go run for RWA's board, please.
where's the damn coffee?
Kate
* * * * *
And I get that this "don't go looking elsewhere for satisfaction" applies to all sorts of things. Not just when it comes to writing or the RWA.
Although definitely when it comes to coffee because my coffee-making ability is sometimes piss-poor. Hit or miss with the coffee
To be truthful, I appreciate this board of the RWA because I know and like some of them, and because the more I know the more I think thank god someone's willing to deal with this stuff.
Although my advice to them would be Study The Brits! The RNA seems to know what it's doing when it comes to membership.
And the Brits rock because they voted Nell Dixon Winner of the Romance Prize 2007. Yay Nell DIXON!
I've heard bits and pieces about RWA's decisions about epublishers and lots of sad people ranting...but I don't feel so much as a twinge about it.
I did rant this morning on a loop. Oh, did you drop a hat? did someone in the background clear her throat? is that a small nod? no? It's just the light? Too bad, I'll post the rant anyway.
I read about the whole RWA thing and about how some people wearing pink ribbons get treated like second class citizens and I'm reminded once again that no matter how hard you try, chances are, validation ain't ever going to come from the outside world.
If you write to be an Author, then you'll probably get some fun lifts now and then--the first glimpse of a new cover, contest wins, a letter from a fan--but those lifts are not going to come very often. Most of the time you're going to get the usual: rejection, snotty letters about missed commas or "they didn't say okay in 1910" that you can't even answer because then YOU look snotty, more rejection, the realization that you spend way too much time alone, stuff like RWA nonsense or the line "when are you going to write a real book" to a romance writer.
RWA's current shit is about Authors, not writers. [actually I think it's about publishers, not individuals] It's just another one of those "not again" things. Too bad, since the organization is supposed to be supportive, but I imagine once this settles down, no matter what, there will still be the great parts like the local chapters, the online chapters and the access to good resources. All the real reasons to join an organization like that to begin with. Some of the frosting will be gone, but the cake is still there. (ugh)
Anyway. The point to my rant, other than the fact that I don't operate without coffee, is that in the long run, this is just another reminder that if you go into the business of writing books to be an Author, you're going to be buffeted and knocked over all the time. I think there's only one way to survive and that is to concentrate on the writing. If you go into it keeping your eye on the main prize--which is always the story and your characters--you can stand this sort of crap for years and years and years. Write the books, fall in love with the stories. Skip the rest when you can--unless you think you have what it takes to spend a lot of time dealing with people and can be a politician then by God, go run for RWA's board, please.
where's the damn coffee?
Kate
* * * * *
And I get that this "don't go looking elsewhere for satisfaction" applies to all sorts of things. Not just when it comes to writing or the RWA.
Although definitely when it comes to coffee because my coffee-making ability is sometimes piss-poor. Hit or miss with the coffee
To be truthful, I appreciate this board of the RWA because I know and like some of them, and because the more I know the more I think thank god someone's willing to deal with this stuff.
Although my advice to them would be Study The Brits! The RNA seems to know what it's doing when it comes to membership.
And the Brits rock because they voted Nell Dixon Winner of the Romance Prize 2007. Yay Nell DIXON!
I'm sticking this rant into my file dedicated to my upcoming political campaign. I know most of this stuff already, but I'm going to need an easy way to remind myself not to take any of this crap personally. Run to win the seat, serve in the best way that you can for the right reasons, support the best ideas and people, and then let all the rest slide off your shoulders. Because no one, not anyone, is going to spend time and energy telling me what a great job I do and how I've personally changed their life. It's important to remember that,
ReplyDeleteAnd you wrote that all so well, so it's going in my file.
Thanks.
damn, thank you for your help, suisan.
ReplyDeleteI hope you got a copy with a coffee cup in it because I'm always still messing with these dumb entries. Anything to avoid....shudder....packing.
Great post Kate!
ReplyDelete(Passionate Ink contest results are announced tomorrow at the luncheon - we'll have the website updated ASAP after that!)
Like I said on Bam's blog: why do authors get into such a snit over the RWA when it's basically a club? The organization didn't get people published: people got themselves published. The organization doesn't broker deals. The general reading public probably doesn't even know it exists. Belonging to the RWA is no guarantee that you'll be published. People complain about how nitpicking the contests are. And so on. So again, why does anyone care?
ReplyDeleteIf the organization doesn't do anything for you, speak with your dollars. Maybe if tons of people drop the RWA, perhaps the organization will emerge from the ashes a better place for writers published and unpublished. But for all these authors to grip about the changes every year and feeling excluded or persecuted but still give them money? It comes across as foolish to me!
(And nothing is stopping anyone from forming their own groups and planning get-togethers with the writing friends they meet online or know from the RWA...I'm just saying *shrug*)
Thanks, Ember, and thanks for doing all that work.
ReplyDeleteand yeah, Angela, it's a bigass organization and hard to change. I'm pretty impressed that membership squawking managed to do some good stuff (ie stuff I like)like making sure romance is open to f/f m/m etc.
If slow change bugs you, don't join a bigass organization. If you have very specific needs, get them met from smaller groups.
"met from smaller groups" ??
ReplyDeleteno, I don't think so. "if you have specific needs, go small."
Great post Kate. One of the healthier ones I've read in the past few days.
ReplyDeleteThrough this all I kept asking myself - did I choose the writing path so I could belong to the RWA? NO
- did I submit to EC because they were RWA recognized? NO
- do readers CARE if EC is RWA recognized, or if I'm PAN or PRO? NO
- will I still pay my dues? YES because my local chapter ROCKS and I wouldn't not want to be part of that amazing group.
Hey, kate, I missed your novella finalist announcement! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, you nutshelled it great. I wrote off RWA long ago because they don't really meet my needs as a mostly e-published author (in fact, my only print works have come from Samhain so I guess I'm totally e-pub'd?) but was considering rejoining when Samhain was recognized. Now I'm not so sure. But the main thing is just what you said--take a deep breath and don't expect RWA to be anything other than what they are: a club.
ReplyDelete