My Scarlet Letter

I’ve got five minutes to write a post and…go!

So I ran into a fellow writer at a party. Hadn’t seen her in a long time. She asked how querying was going and I told her I signed with Jenn Laughran. She literally screamed, “You got an agent!” In the movies it would have been the moment when the record screeched on the DJ’s turntable and everyone stopped dancing to stare at me. So I had to explain to the whole party why I needed an agent.

Very few people know I write…but man, that cats out of the bag! And it got me thinking, if I want to market my book someday why am I hiding that I’m an author now? For me, it’s failure. What if I never, ever get published? I don’t want everyone to know that my dreams went up in flames!

Ah well…my scarlet letter stands for Author and it’s bedazzled. Now everyone stops me and says, “Hey! When can I buy your book?” Let the explanations begin!

Do you hide your writing skill? If so, why?

Got one minute…Oh my gosh you guys! Do you know what today is? It’s first-sweater-of-the-season day! Woot! Best time of the year. Period. And yes, it’s cold enough in DC to wear a sweater…and flip flops. Not ready to give those up yet.

And randomness is over. Fastest. Blog Post. Ever!

See ya’ll Monday! (And speaking of ya’lls, check out TeenShiver. It’s a blog for YA Writers and Authors in Texas! Maybe they’ll let me join we move back to H-Town…maybe).

21 Comments

Kelly

September 17, 2011 at 4:11 pm Reply

I think when someone says, “Hey! When can I buy your book?” You should just say, “Whenever it gets published! Shoot me an email so I can let you know! The publishing biz takes awhile!” They won’t be sitting at home refreshing their email, but when they finally get that message, they’ll storm the bookstores! Instant best-seller! That’s how it works, right? 😉

Don’t sweat other people. Be obnoxiously proud of what you’ve accomplished!
😀

Marie Borthwick

September 17, 2011 at 4:54 pm Reply

I hide my writing some a bit – I share your fears! I have been pushing myself lately though – sharing it a little more each time I feel a little bold. I laugh at myself sometimes – I hoard my writing to myself a lot and some day I want to be published … don’t make sense does it? lol

Avery Olive

September 17, 2011 at 5:32 pm Reply

I hid my writing. I figured I could write a million books and never get published. And of course, non-writers sometimes say the darndest things, like “Well just get it published, no biggie,” as if it were that easy lol
However, when I signed the conract with my publisher and my name was put up on their website I went to town and told a lot of people.

And of course, man if I fail I’m going to look like an idot lol but who cares, at least my name will be on a book! lol

Kathryn

September 17, 2011 at 7:02 pm Reply

I don’t tell too many people I write, for fear of that patronizing look, and the Stewie Griffin/Brian speech “Oh, so you’re writing a ‘book’?”. A lot, in my experience, assume a serious writer is one who spends a few minutes every month or so jotting down a few sentences, before abandoning it. So many people who tell me they’re working on a novel write that way… for YEARS… on ONE BOOK…

So, yeah. I keep it to myself, mostly, aside from a few close people, and friends that are artists/writers as well.