Parting thoughts… I agree that you should be informed as to what’s hot and what’s not, and who can blame people for wanting to stay on top of the industry? But, and I think this what what Diana meant, how many of us started out with dreams about how much money we could make and when we’d be able to quit our day jobs, and we wanted to know how long we’d have to toil at this quasi-masochistic, sucker-for-punishment hobby before we ‘made it’ [insert whatever that means to you here]. That was, of course, before the writing bug overtook us and we discovered that when we managed to park our rear ends in front of our computers, we really did enjoy writing. Not just the idea of writing, but the actual art, for its own sake. It’s a nuance, I think, reading up on stats as a means of living vicariously through other writers and genuine curiosity. It’s too easy to get caught up with everything surrounding writing (blogs, RWR, loops, etc) and to put the lofty ‘I wanna be a writer’ dream ahead of the actual work itself.

And Thanks Diana!!! I’ll be posting details on the chicklit loop tomorrow when the deal is sealed (just got the call yesterday… we’re waiting for a counter-offer that’s due any minute now). It’s actually from TOR, same house that’s publishing Shannon’s Venus Envy (another blog that distracts me from writing…).

I guess I’m an odd body ’cause I’ve never gotten into the statistics or what a certain writer’s doing or not doing or how many manuscripts they’ve got. I just figure when they sell it’s because they wrote something editors and agents couldn’t walk away from.

For example, your book. And since there are people who might think you magically waved a want and voila…auction quality book…well, let me tell you, I’ve read pretty much everything Diana’s written. And while her writing has been excellent, creative, entertaining, crisp and professional…it wasn’t until she wrote Society Girl that I had that lump in my throat and that 100% sense that *this* was the book.

So, keep writing your good books. As Diana says…just write!

Good luck everyone!

Marley = )

It’s way too easy to get caught up in all the side issues when what we really should be doing is writing. This applies just as much to published writers as it does to unpublished ones. Obsessing about awards and reviews and our (largely meaningless) Amazon numbers all gets in the way of the one thing we should be doing: writing the very best books we can.

Speaking of which . . .

My point in this post has always been that asking these questions, like questions about “how many novels that you request do you buy” is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS pointless. Always. And this is why:

1) the editor says “Oh, maybe one percent.”
2) the author tracks the blogs to hear who else got a rejection.
3) The author hears about 99 rejections.
4) the author is certain she sold.

I saw it happen just the other day when Agent Kristen Nelson blogged about her request rate. All over the blog and my email loops, people were talking about the percentage they fell into and how they should feel “lucky” about that percentage, and blah blah blah. Luck had nothing to do with it. She wasn’t picking names out of a hat to request.

And not a week goes by on Miss Snark’s blog that someone doesn’t ask the same question.

And a few weeks ago, on my blog, when I tried to make an innocent statement about my own path to publication, it turned into an enormous examination where the example of me was supposed to somehow serve as proof that no one else taking part in that discussion would get published, becuase of my stats versus their stats.

A erotica writer friend of mine was recently answering questions at a romance writing website, and EVERY SINGLE QUESTION was about percentages. What percentage of pages should be about sex? What percentage of body words should be dirty? What percentage of different sexual acts should be in the book? And no matter how many times she said, “whatever works for the book” and “I don’t think you should think of it like that” and “it’s not about the page count, it’s about the punch,” sure enough, the very next question was asking about statistics again. As if that was what mattered, and not the story.

Yes, I believe in knowledge. Yes, I believe in watching trends and trying to capitalize on your strengths. yes, I believe in getting as much info as you can so that you can go into this business with your eyes wide open.

This isn’t about curiosity. As I said in my orignal post, I’m not above curiosity. I’m massively curious. MASSIVELY. the people who are repeatedly and regularly asking about percentages and chances and whatnot are no longer curious. they are focusing on the statistics.

They’re the ones who say that they aren’t going to submit to such and such agent, because she posted on her blog that she only requests one out of 150 queries. They’re the ones who decide to write crap vampire novels, then complain when they don’t sell them because they thought they’d have a “better chance” to sell, because it was so trendy. They’re the ones who spend years, YEARS, writing bad category romance novels and getting rejected and still writing bad category romance novels, because “all the big ones started in category.”

Ask the question, get the answer, then ask yourself, are you any closer to achieving your goal because you have that answer?

What I meant when I said “no one will listen” is that “no one will believe me.” If you disagree with me, then obviously you don’t believe me. Right? Which is fine. And is what I said would happen. After all, I barely believe me. But that doesn’t make it any less true.

I realize the post refers primarily to individuals who focus on stats so much their writing output is stymied, but just because someone has a different viewpoint doesn’t mean they didn’t ‘listen to you’. No-one here, including Natalie, is suggesting one should put aside actual writing for analyzing stats and market realities–just that being aware of them isn’t an automatic trip to Obsessionville. It’s not always about comparison. Sometimes it’s just about knowledge.

And yeah, one does have a better chance with an agent (or editor) who’s actively seeking clients than one with a full list or who doesn’t welcome anything unsolicited. It’s no guarantee and no reason NOT to query agents who seem unapproachable, but the odds themselves are pure logic.

Ellie M.

I agree that statistics are largely meaningless; even as agents, it takes years to be able to truly “read” how a submission is doing out of the gate (unless it’s just absurdly obvious.) If it takes agents years to hone their ability to interpret buying signs, smoke signals and other publishing totems, then authors should realize their own efforts are likely going to frustrate them.

While I recognize this post was more about the practice of comparing “sideways” to other authors, I think the above example still holds true because it’s ultimately about inexperienced authors trying to “call” the race based on some kind of voodoo.

Great wisdom here! Every person charts their own path, so why compare to others when that comparison may be largely meaningless?
Deidre

I completely and totally (yes, I know that’s redundant) agree with Diana on this one. Because she’s right. Every single book is different from every single other book, and knowing how quickly (or for how much, or to whom) another book sold isn’t going to tell you squat about how your own book will do. Know the market, if you think it will help. But knowing someone else’s statistics won’t help you.

Now, having said that, I’ll also admit to being one of those obsessed-with-the-numbers kind of people. I can’t help it. And it didn’t stop after the sale. Now I study sales figures by genre, first print run sizes, and percentage of my publisher’s authors who earn out their advances.

It’s an unhealthy habit. Maybe I’ll give up statistics for Lent.

i don’t agree with this at all, despite the “whether they admit it or not.” i know plenty of people who all they do is be curious about other people’s writing style, habbits, what’s worked, etc. it’s more than a curiousity. it’s an obsession. an information obsession that prevents them from shutting the heck up and writing their own stories. i think what the point diana is trying to make here is that you have to WRITE the book. stop with all the ancillary things that distract you and take your eye away from the word processing document: blogs, industry news, message boards, news articles, writer forums, agent pages, everything and all of it. it’s great to be informed, but at some point — if you really want to be a writer — you’ve got to put your money where your fingers are. a comparison i can think of is playing the piano. you can listen to bach and beethoven, you can get that video tape of how to play in just two weeks. you can spend thousands of dollars on a piano and cover the bench in crush velvet and put candelabras on it like that guy from the 70s in the sequin suits, but until you sit down and put your fingers on the ivory keys and actually bungle your way through something you’ll never be a piano player. you’ll just be a fan of piano. same applies to writing.

I don’t think knowing this info is bad, necessarily, but focusing on it can’t be productive, IMO.