WHY I MIGHT NOT BUY YOUR BOOK BUT I LOVE THAT YOU WROTE IT!

My social media feeds are chock-a-block full of posts from writers promoting the books they’ve written and published or had published.

I just want to pause a minute and point out why this is actually frakking AWESOME!  And say how AWESOME all of you writers and artists and creators are.  And what an awesome and wonderful time we live in!  And no, I’m not (just) high on caffeine and sugar right now!

You're Awesome!

 

And now, I’m going to get deep for a sec to explain why I think you’re all awesome.

 

One of the things that truly boggles my mind is people who have no real passions in life. And in this context, I’m not counting a passion for their loved ones and children, which is a perfectly worthy and lovely thing but is to be expected (even if, sadly, not always realized). Nor do I count religious devotion in this definition of passion, or devotion to the local sportsball team, etcetera.

Rather, I mean some art or skill they strive at, some achievement they pursue, some (non-religious, non- child-related) impact they hope to make on the world, some grail that they quest for.  And not with the sole goal of monetary riches, but because it makes their life richer, and potentially the world and/or the lives of others a little richer.

  • For many, this passion involves creating something, whether it is creating stories, games, artworks, music, artisan furniture, custom clothing designs, the most amazing pies, or whatever, because it fills them with joy and a sense of accomplishment to learn and improve and do these things, even if the end result is not something they ever sell or want to sell commercially.
  • For some, it is achieving some level of true excellence in a physical or mental skill, which often leads to a more balanced and engaged life, a true happiness that has a positive ripple effect.  They want The Glow.  Heck, I’d even count playing video games here if they are pursuing a national championship (and better yet, with ambitions to do something positive or inspiring with the platform and/or sponsorship money they gain).
  • For others, it is activism or volunteerism of some kind, seeking to help solve a problem or help a group of people, to directly make the world and people’s lives better in some way.  This includes fostering or adopting children who have suffered trauma or damage of some kind (one example of an exception to my definition of passion as not including our love for our children).
  • Or perhaps you do a little of all of these things, or your passion crosses all of these definitions.

Without my writing, I definitely feel like my life would have less of a point.  Don’t get me wrong, I have family and friends, and other interests, and I hope and try to make the world a better place in my own small ways.

But if you asked me what is the meaning of life, I’d probably says something like: “To strive to add something positive to the world so that you were not simply a waste of time and resources; to grow and potentially inspire or lift up others through your effort; and to do so in a way that brings you joy without making other people’s lives any suckier.” I’ve heard others say “To leave the world a better place than when you entered it,” which is a better soundbite but lacks the aspect of personal happiness, and begs the question of what is “better,” Mal. Also, the world might just get worse despite our best efforts, and why should we die feeling like we failed if we made an honest effort at accomplishing something, right?

So, since personally I believe there’s a better-than-even chance we simply cease to exist when we die, and this might be our one shot as “us” to do something, I just don’t understand folks who primarily spend their time doing, really, nothing.

  • Seeking our own happiness is important.  Doing so by watching reality television, getting wasted, chasing material possessions, consuming, etcetera isn’t necessarily bad in moderation, but these things don’t generally challenge our potential, or help us to leave behind any kind of positive legacy.  In fact, they generally seem to do the opposite.  And the internal rewards such acts offer are usually fleeting.
  • And while being a good parent is an incredibly important and difficult job, it is not in itself a personal legacy beyond creating more people who must themselves go on to do something positive (and if those children’s sole legacy are their own children, then really nothing is gained but more and more people consuming more and more resources and counting their children as their legacy).  [EDIT: See my comment below for a clarification on the term “legacy”).

But we live now in a time where it is easier than ever for more people to pursue their personal passions, to chase their dreams.  Certainly, there are still terrible inequalities in access to power and resources; and the luxury to chase one’s passions and the odds of success are impacted by varying degrees and types of privilege and circumstance and ability.  But generally speaking, computers and the interwebs alone open up so much possibility.

You want to be a writer?  You can access a ton of resources on how to write, edit, submit, and publish, as well as find local or virtual groups of likeminded writers, mostly for free or cheap online.  You can write a book, and self-publish it online.  Granted, there are deeper considerations if you want to actually be successful in writing and publishing a book, but again, it is perhaps easier than at any time in the past to do so.

And if you want to pursue some other passion, or find opportunities to support a cause you believe in, this too is easier than ever.

Like most of the folks reading this I imagine, I almost never click on a book link in my feeds unless I’ve already heard buzz about the book or I like the author (since, sadly, I can only read a finite number of books and have too many to read already).  It is rare my attention is truly grabbed by something new.  And of course, not every book in my feed is of a genre or topic that interests me.

I don’t mind folks promoting their book on occasion — I can definitely empathize with the dilemma of how to promote your book to people without, well, promoting your book to people. And there is, of course, a difference between promotion and spamming [EDIT: I further clarify in the comments below about the difference between Promotion vs spamming]

But I am genuinely thrilled and happy for every single person I see who has published a link to their book.

Because that means they wrote a book!  They spent many months (if lucky) striving toward something, creating something, living their passion and engaging in the genre they love in a deeply personal and meaningful way, and had the courage and determination to put that creation out into the world for others to enjoy.

Dilbert Novel Comic

That in itself is a HUGE achievement, and something to be incredibly proud of, independent of whether the book sells, or whether it is the best book ever written.  They contributed and participated rather than just consuming, they had the joy of writing (I hope) the kind of story they love to read, they overcame their doubts and fears, and perhaps will bring a bit of joy to someone else who needs it.

I count every one of these persons as part of a larger family of fellow creators and fans, a family that is (at least visibly via the interwebs) larger and more diverse than ever before.  And though there are, of course, the racist uncles and terrible-drunk aunts, I hold out hope that the family, overall, will continue to grow and be a source of support and inspiration and shared joy.

So yeah, my feed is chock-a-block full of writers promoting books that they’ve written and published, full of dreams pursued and passions embraced, and an unprecedented level of genre love and appreciation.

And gods, isn’t that a wonderful thing?


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5 comments

  1. Manny Frishberg says:

    This is almost like giving me permission to not actually read “Finn Fancy” after all.
    Not that I’m looking for an excuse to not read it. No. Not at all. Let’s stick with that.)

  2. Yeah, I figured some folks would just take the title and say, “What a condescending jerk, and guess what, I won’t buy your book either!” But hopefully more folks will actually read the post, or at least the first paragraph or two, and realize what I’m saying. And of course there are millions of readers, and millions of books, so the odds that the vast majority of those folks will be looking for a humorous contemporary fantasy, AND have heard of my book or find the description interesting enough to want to buy it rather than some other contemporary fantasy, is slim. We each can only buy and read a finite number of books. But I still HOPE that folks read my book, and that they enjoy it, and encourage others to buy it. One can dream. 🙂

  3. ON THE TOPIC OF SELF-PROMOTION:
    As I noted, self-promotion is a dilemma EVERY writer faces — how to promote your book without feeling like you’re just one more person saying “buy my book”. I feel that way all the time.

    I would say personally that there is nothing wrong with POSTS/TWEETS with links to your book. How else will people find out about your book? What is not good are PEOPLE who do practically NOTHING BUT PROMOTE their book (buy my book! My book is now on sale! Read my amazing book!) and don’t offer anything else in terms of sharing interesting thoughts or jokes or helpful info, supporting other writers and artists, etcetera in between the “buy my book” posts. I wouldn’t ever filter out someone because of a book promotional post/tweet. I would filter out someone who offers me nothing but promotions of their own work.

    It is also good to try and mix up the book plugs and come at it sideways — occasionally share an interesting news article or info piece and note how it touches on things that are in your book, etc.

    And again, the point of my post was how awesome all of these links are. They represent a million new books a year, which is a million people (give or take) a year who have achieved an amazing goal of having written and published a book!

  4. ON THE TOPIC OF “LEGACY”:
    I hope I made it clear, but if not, it is not the book itself that is necessarily the legacy (I certainly don’t see my books thus far as being anything profound and life-changing or anything, mostly just entertainment), but rather it is the ripple effects of a life led creating, or striving, or helping.

    If you are finding your happiness in this way, I feel (perhaps naively) that you will perhaps be doing less harm in the world because you will be focused on producing or doing something you love rather than only consuming, and in a way that makes you a happier healthier person which in turn affects the way you interact with others, the way in which you may inspire or influence others, your ability to share true happiness with others, etcetera. There are documented psychological and health benefits of finding happiness through striving toward positive goals that have ripple effects on the lives you touch, on the economy, on lots of things.

    And not to dismiss the value, actually, of writing books just to entertain or make some extra money. You are still producing something that brings others some joy, and you are making your money in a way that is not destructive or unhealthy.

    Of course, it doesn’t hurt to also try to put some positive examples and inspirations in your work.

  5. […] saw two things on the same day in mid-August; this blog post by Randy Henderson and this meme. The blog is Randy talking about why it’s just great that […]

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