Every time I sit in front of the laptop with the intent of writing, I decide to read some of my favourite author blogs first, for inspiration. The brilliant writing advice, those publishing stories, their editor-deadline tales of frustration (that make me go green with jealousy) – all absolutely motivating stuff for a wannabe writer. Only downside is I get so caught up in the advice (and the day dreams about one day imparting my own writer-ly wisdom) that I tend to forget about actually writing…
Anyway, one of my favourite writer blogs is that of Sarah Duncan. Besides being the author of many fabulous books, Ms Duncan is also a Creative Writing teacher, and her articles portray her experience as both (at least in my mind). She writes about any commonplace activity, or some event that occurred recently, and somehow makes it about writing. But more about that some other time. In fact, I think I’ll do a post listing my favourite blogs and websites for wannabe writers.
So about Sarah Duncan, I recently read this one post by her where she talks about how she prefers people who buy her book, whether or not they read them, to people who read her books by borrowing them from the library – and I had an epiphany: Authors have to sell their books, that is how they make their living.
Okay, it wasn’t that I didn’t already know this. I have had those day dreams too where I am a best-selling author raking in the dough and negotiating movie deals. In my more lucid moments I have thought about the fact that I could get published but that doesn’t mean my book will be bought by anybody or that my publisher will want me to write more books. I knew all of those things, but the epiphany I had was purely from a reader’s point of view.
Now I am a bibliophile, which means not only do I like read, I want to own and keep lots and lots of books too. Unfortunately, my fresh-out-of-Uni-first-job-wages don’t allow for that. I let myself buy one, maybe two new books from my Amazon wishlist at the start of each month, and then a few more from a charity shop or library sale if I happen across one. It took some work to stop the impulse book-buying but I remind myself of the student loans often and somehow manage nowadays. Overall I try to avoid WHSmith and avert my eyes when walking past Waterstones, because it’s just too sad when I see books I want but can’t afford.
I love – LOVE – some authors. I have to find and read all of their books, I know exactly when the next one is coming out and I consider myself a proper loyal fan. But! More often than not, I try to borrow their books from the library, or I get them at a charity shop (got a Wilbur Smith for 40p last week!) and if I absolutely need to read a book and it isn’t available at the library, I will buy it from Amazon, used and cheap whenever possible.
I was somewhat happy with this arrangement.
Now I feel bad! Ms Duncan’s blog post made me realize that I am not exactly doing my favourite authors any favours by borrowing their books, or buying them for £.99 at Oxfam. But I can’t do anything about that either.
I have this list, of all the books I borrow from the library every week, with titles and author names, and I add a little asterisk at the end of a title if it was an AWESOME book or a hash symbol if it was a really good book. I hope to someday own those books marked with the asterisk. And that’s the best I can do right now.
Ms Duncan does conclude that post by saying she might have to rethink her attitude because those who read her book, by whatever means, are more likely to tell others about them and increase her readership, which might make more people buy her books.
I suppose that is something I can do too, recommend books, and write those reviews I keep planning on…
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