An Affirming Interview

 

I watched a YouTube interview last night conducted by a guy I really admire, a very successful author and commentator. This was one I was looking forward to, because the guest was a columnist I read regularly but had never actually seen. You know how it is ~ you read someone and enjoy their writing, but your mental picture of them is diametrically opposed to the actual person.

My interviewer likes promoting other authors, especially those he has a personal connection to or at least is a fan of. I think if I was mega-successful I would want to pay it forward, too. 

Last night's guest was so brutally honest about his lack of book selling success, I was taken aback. Nobody says that! Even if it's true!

Mind you, this man has had a national column for years. People like me read him almost daily. And he even managed to bypass the dreaded literary agent with this, his first novel, and connect with a major publisher directly, who promptly agreed to publish his book. What the hell?

Still, in answer to questions posed by the interviewer, he reiterated that he's not selling, and that he's not making any money. He didn't appear bitter. Just sad. I know how he feels, but I turn more to the "disillusioned" side. And I have absolutely no one behind me ~ not a #!S(@! literary agent, much less a publisher. I don't have a national newspaper column. He mentioned that his paper has published a few articles about his book, but all the comments were either thread-jackers or asked why anyone would even be talking about a book, when so much is going on in the world.

I found the episode very affirming. Frankly, I'm sick of hearing about authors who just self-published a novel on a whim and voila! some influential celebrity picked it up and now a movie is being made out of it! First of all, BS. That simply doesn't happen. Nice story, though. What I need is a dowsing of reality. Someone saying, It's not just me! 

Bless his heart, the interviewer gently tried to steer his guest toward the idea of writing non-fiction. Not as in, "you'd be better at that" than simply as encouragement. But hey, non-fiction is no panacea (see the post below this one). 

No, I'm not going to buy this man's novel out of pity. Is he going to buy one of mine? That said, I feel for him. 

And I so appreciate his frankness. It made me feel less alone.