Just finished the novel Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson about an editorial assistant juggling too many publishing jobs. First of all – of course I had to read a book with that title!
One aspect of the novel that stuck out for me was the protagonist’s pain at the disconnect between the actual love of books – full of creativity and messiness and imagination and hope and many of the unquantifiable joys of life – and the cutthroat pure numbers fame game of the publishing industry she’s working in.
Don’t get me wrong – I believe that many, if not most, people in the publishing industry genuinely love books (in fact, I’ve met some of them and they clearly did). But I also feel this frustration – especially as I’m looking toward launching my own novel out into the world. As a person with a full-time job in a separate field, I don’t want to turn reading and writing into a business, it will suck the joy out of it for me. Yes, I’m willing to put in some work – but at the end of the day it has to bring something different to my life than worries about sales, statistics, and the bottom line, or I’m just not going to be interested in doing it.
Maybe it’s not the best way to go about it – but for now it’s my way. And hopefully, someday, my own book, at least for a few people, can be something that helps others love books.
Jenel Alan 
Sadly enough, I feel that the business aspect of writing will never be separate from the entire process. After publishing my first book, I realised just how ill-equipped I was in the fields of marketing and social media. As much as we hate to admit it, there’s more to writing than just writing, lol. Wishing you all the best with your own journey!
LikeLike
Thanks for your thoughts on this
LikeLike