Preventing Pain in Publishing
Competition, rising above the noise, establishing yourself professionally in your desired forum is real. There is the prevalent belief that working harder makes success more likely. There is also the “suffering for art” mentality that has been promoted. It’s true that practice, drive, focus and determination will get you to a place where others won’t bother to do the work. But is hard work enough?
Having been raised with a strong work ethic and as a high achiever, my younger self thought, “ I can outwork anyone.” I had a high pain and stress threshold, as well. I was primed for success but also exhaustion and burnout. My natural talents and gifts would easily carry me well beyond the above-average. But was I really doing my creative best and what about the toll it was taking on me? I thought I could do it myself but it robbed me of the unmatched benefits and beauty of collaboration and team.
When one is also on a solo journey and particularly, in uncharted territories or juggling tons of responsibilities, an aspiring artist, filmmaker or author can reach out, most likely when fatigued or overwhelmed, to accept help from almost anyone. Yet, it’s that time when we are potentially primed to fall prey to those sniffing out desperation and money while others make a play to the ego or our dreams. The found “Godsend” can then even become a nightmare but minimally, an extreme disappointment. Additionally, how do you know what questions to ask when you don’t know what you don’t know?
The stories I hear from those who have paid money to ghostwriters, vanity publishers or have gone the DIY route and received “nothing” or “not much” are epidemic. When I went looking for a publisher, I know I got a real education. Fortunately, my prior training as a lawyer, businessperson, filmmaker, writer, magazine producer, photography editor, marketing consultant and other gave me a different insight. But wow, what a learning experience. I was fortunate to find some very good mentors in the publishing world years ago and that was the gamechanger. I was coached as to the questions to ask. I had my mentors guide and participate in meetings and calls with me. I was given information and education by my mentors. They turned me onto to only vetted high quality sources. My mentors were transparent, patient , supportive and trusted experts. They also had faith and belief in a project evolving in the right timing. They took away the unknown and uplifted me as a team while allowing me to love the process and practice self-care. When I started Silverlight Press, I wanted those same values and experiences to be provided to our selected and invited group of authors. I desired to share that unique experience that I had and continue to have.
You may have had pain in the writing or publishing process. You may feel disappointed or lost some of your steam. You may believe you’re “not as good” as the others. You may think you’re not a good writer. You’ve started your book several times but never finished. You’ve been taken and now you don’t feel capable of evaluating other resources. You may have anxiety, are a procrastinator or a perfectionist always tweaking and revising. Whatever the root of your pain, It’s ok to have failed in your first, second or third attempts. It’s understandable that you wouldn’t know the questions to ask and you don’t know where to begin. However, your hard work, sacrifice, focus needs to be enjoyable and fruitful. It’s important to dream big and find those who will champion and realize that vision with you. You need to make it to the finish line successfully, surrounded by good people giving you the best support possible, and all while enjoying the dance throughout.
I was the little girl that took years of ballet lessons. Fortunately, I didn’t want to be a professional dancer and had other aspirations. It certainly gave me joy, an appreciation and a love of the art form. I learned so much from those ballet lessons, as well as with my time on a ballet company’s Board of Trustees later in life. I have the “ballet feet” from those younger years as evidence of the pain… when I didn’t know how to avoid or rid that pain. I just knew I loved to dance. The creative process made me happy. Was there a better way? Absolutely. However, the knowledge and realization hadn’t evolved at that point.
The service on the Board of Trustees for the ballet company revealed dramatically to me, too, that art is a business. However, pain, suffering or a lack of money doesn’t necessarily need to be prerequisites in the realization of creative’s dreams. As an author, you also don’t need to endure pain to succeed. If it doesn’t feel right either inside yourself or with your current collaborator, move forward in another direction. The old adage, “No pain, no gain” is being thrown out by athletes, trainers, performance/strength coaches and pain management therapists everywhere. That touted principle is being disproven in sports and business. Don’t confuse pain with appropriate hard work, sacrifice, focus or relying on the team members to ease the load or complement your own skillsets. You need to treat your book as business while avoiding or lessening any needless pain. The attention to self care and overall health in ballet dancers now, rather than it’s previous secondary consideration in earlier years, is integral to a successful dancer’s journey. It is equally so for the author/artist. There’s no need to do it on your own throwing your health, wellbeing and personal life out the window. Nor do you need to keep struggling when the right team, coach, mentor or collaborator will help you soar.
As a prima ballerina told me, learn to love those calluses but know how to take care of them. There’s no need to keep bleeding… and always keep dancing.
