Following Success?

While I’m awaiting word whether the remainder of The Space between Atoms can be recovered, I’m pondering the correct strategy for publishing. Like most struggling writers, I follow success when I encounter it. Right now the biggest struggle for me is whether to focus on fiction or non.

You see, under my real name I have had four nonfiction books published. The problem is they’re academic books, expensive and obscure. Yes, they may rest in the Library of Congress after I’m gone, but I doubt I’ll be joining Poe on Bradbury’s Mars. Nevertheless, I know how to get such books published.

My true love has always been fiction. I’ve been writing fiction since at least 1974. I really only attempted publication in 2009. Although I’ve earned less than $40 from fiction, I’ve managed to have nearly 30 stories published. My novels have had no success at all.

If I were to follow “success” I would go after nonfiction. My nonfiction earnings amount to well under a thousand dollars. In fact, if I use Turbo Tax the form I have to buy to report royalty income costs more than the actual royalties themselves. This means I’m losing money by publishing nonfiction. Is this success?

Like those of you reading this post, I write because that’s who I am. I don’t do it for money, but I wouldn’t mind being paid a little for my efforts. At least enough to pay for the Turbo Tax schedule I have to file.

Looking at the bookstore shelves, or even seeing what’s on Amazon, I realize my fiction isn’t the worst that’s been committed to words. Why do agents avoid me and walk past, pretending not to have seen me? Ah, but agents follow success. Defined in dollars.

I’ll continue writing fiction, although it will have to share the time with non. Neither one pays the bills, but what can a struggling writer do but write?

Comments

Dusty

My, this thing is dusty. My fans—hi, Mom!—perhaps believe me to have perished in the pandemic. No, it was nonfiction’s fault. Since the pandemic began I’ve had two nonfiction books published and have written a third. With a nine-to-five job something’s got to give. Unfortunately it’s been fiction. Well, the groundhog didn’t see his shadow yesterday, so it must be safe to come out. I shuffled away the rejection notes and began submitting again. I’ve got a backlog of weird stories and maybe some new publishers have emerged? The thing is, don’t you just hate it when you’re in the mood to submit and some lit journal has its window for submissions firmly shut? My last story, “ The Hput, ” was published about three years ago. Oh, I’ve submitted since then, but with no traction. Well, it is winter. I’ve got a lot of stories lined up. I’ve been sending them out again, dreaming of making a dime at what I love doing best. When you’ve been writing for half a century, you l

Neglectful Parents

If I was a parent I’d be accused of neglect. I have to say 2017 was the least published year of recent memory. Not that I’ve been neglecting my fiction, but I had a non-fiction book accepted and I work full-time and commute to that job—you get the picture. I’ve also had a personal epiphany. If you can write, you should get paid for it. I know a publicist (not my own; I don’t have one) and she says she won’t let her authors even write an op-ed if they don’t get paid. I guess I’d never get published then. My Medusa novel had a flicker of hope for a few moments. A publisher actually wrote back asking for the rest of the manuscript. That’s never happened before. Then the editor disappeared. Even called me by the wrong pseudonym. I’ve gotta wonder about that because the second half of the novel’s even better than the first. While looking for an agent for my non-fiction (couldn’t find one of those either) I came across several who said they liked quirky ficti

Too Much Writing?

Has this ever happened to you? Have you written a story that you’ve completely forgot? Not only completely forgotten, but made unfindable? I play games with my stories and sometimes the joke’s on me. Okay, I suffer from graphomania. I write constantly. I do try to keep organized—I use a spreadsheet that has all my submissions on it. It has rejection/acceptance dates (mostly rejection). Lots of information. I decided to list on it every story, whether finished or in process. There are far too many (mostly in process). When I finish a story I often submit it. If I get burned, I’m shy about resubmitting. I often rewrite at this stage. Then, when I feel brave enough, I try again. The spreadsheet is color-coded. There, in the color that indicates finished and ready to submit is a story cryptically titled “The Password.” I don’t remember this story. I can’t recall what it was about or why I thought it was ready to publish. Looking through my electronic files,

K. Marvin Bruce

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