Morning neighbors. I need to run to work but placeholding a #breakfastthread about the value of spending money pre-publishing. (on cons, edits, workshops, etc) #WritingCommunity

Stay tuned.

Okay, *rubs hands* 1st up as with all of this, we're talking my experience with carries with it all the privilege, timing, etc. This isn't a case of YMMV - your mileage WILL vary. Things are very different from when I started querying 20 years ago.

They're even different from a decade ago when I first got the idea for Behind the Throne. Which was not the first book I wrote, nor the first I queried.

*laughs* Not gonna lie, I feel a bit old today.

I'm throwing those numbers out though as a reminder that this business can take a very long time. It's easy to get frustrated. We are surrounded by instant gratification and the idea that if we just find the "right" equation on this ... we'll write THE BOOK.

It doesn't work that way. Publishing isn't an equation to be solved. It's a weird, biased, subjective business. Getting a foot in the door is a combination of talent, work, privilege, so much fucking luck, and timing.

Can you work to be a better writer? Yes.

Can you go to cons to network? Yes.
Can you go to workshops to learn? Yes.
Can you pay an editor to look at your work? Yes.

Do you need to do any of this to be published?

No. You do not.

I went to ONE writing conference in the early '00s.

It was a horrible experience. I got shouted at by the organizer for not being "prepared."

I didn't go to another one until 2016 when I went to Sirens (which is really a reader's con, rather than writing specific).

I don't do great in crowds to begin with, throwing in the additional stress of trying to pitch something just seemed like a bad idea.

I also don't do well meeting strangers so smaller things like local writing groups didn't work for me either.

*laughs* Remind me to tell you sometime about how I got sick with anxiety before every kung fu class for a YEAR. That's how I roll with going to do things - sometimes even after I get to know people.

If you feel this way but are trying to force yourself to cons, don't.

You don't have to.
If you don't have the money for it.
Don't. You don't have to.

What I did instead was write. I wrote and queried and got rejected and wrote more.

I read. *pauses to pour one out for the days when I read 100+ books a year*

I read so much. I read to see what people's voices were. I read to see what was selling. I read to see what was missing - what *I* wanted to read that wasn't on the shelves.

And I wrote and wrote and wrote. I made friends with authors through some rather random channels. I asked them for advice AFTER they offered me the help.

I met critique partners online. Some of them still trade off with me on occasion. Some moved on.

Cons and workshops were never something that was going to work for me. The money and travel I probably could have managed, but the anxiety and that early bad experience made it really unpleasant for me.

So I didn't do it.

Eh, maybe I'd have gotten published sooner if I had? But when I think about the manuscripts I was shopping out then...I'm REALLY glad I didn't. They weren't ready. *I* wasn't ready.

I know people hate to hear this, but the writing is what matters.

If you have the funds and the ability, there's nothing wrong with going to cons and workshops and the like.

But if you're wondering if that's a guaranteed way to get published? It's not. There is no guarantee.

The good news? If you can't afford those things and/or something else prevents you from attending cons and workshops and such, it's okay. *smiles*

You don't have to do any of those things. You can still get published. I'm right here as proof of that. And so are a lot of others.

Doctor Who style advice to wrap up:

Be kind.
Take all advice (including mine) with a jar of salt.
Read as much as you can.
Keep writing.