Jon Samsel

In spite of the conglomerate infusion into publishing, the mergers, takeovers, cancellation of author contracts (it can happen), downsizing, cutbacks, letting editors go or firing them, the worship of the bottom line, and the breathless race for the next mega book––the majority of those who write books (part or full-time) are happy people who would not change their lifestyles for anything. The truth is that most authors are not happy unless they are working on new projects. The more writing a real author does, the more they want to do.

The wisdom of Aristotle once said: “The ennobling of the human spirit comes to us via the written word.” Novelist Thomas Wolfe referred to being published as “the naked, blazing power of print.”

The mere fact that you haven’t written much before could mean that you would bring a degree of freshness to your book subject. In the long run, any writing experience you have had will help, and that includes articles, short stories, feature writing, or the beginning of a novel.

Let your heart and mind and spirit feed on this truth: Nobody in the book business really knows for sure what books will sell and what will capture the public’s fancy and interest. Nobody knows what books will become the great success stories of tomorrow. That is one fact alone that makes the book publishing industry continuously fascinating year after year.

So get to your computer and try your hand at writing a manuscript. If you are already published, renew your enthusiasm for writing and start that new tome today. Even if you can devote just a few hours a week, or on weekends, to working on a book, you will enrich your life for the effort. And who knows? You may fall in love with the unique act of bringing a new book into existence that was never here before and knowing that readers out there will be entertained, informed, or helped (hopefully) because of your book.

To hold a new book in your hand, nonfiction or novel, and know it’s your baby, that you created it, is one of life’s singular joys.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 3:55 am and is filed under Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.