Duck and Cover
More rejections to report this week, unfortunately they were pretty generic. I say that because part of me is becoming morbidly fascinated with criticism- the more creative the better I think, if for no other reason than the entertainment value. If I’m to be criticized or rejected I would hope that at the very least it could be done with some style. This would make the experience much more fun for us both, and really in life shouldn’t we all be striving for a win-win?
In theory, I have no illusions about being universally embraced by all readers, but in practice it might be a little harder to maintain a thick skin. Being a fan of my own sanity, this concerns me. I’m currently conducting an experiment in which I travel to random blogs and websites and offer up comments to various posts. Initially I thought this would help to get my name recognized and attract traffic to my website (I know- how contrived, how smarmy…), but the experience has changed my outlook somewhat.
For many reasons social networking sites turn me off, so to make this experiment easier, I had alerts on topics related to THE EMPRESS ROSE made through Google and waited for new listings to come to my inbox. I’d go through them, pick topics that were relevant to my book and respond. All pretty straightforward stuff, but it was the responses I received in kind that kind of threw me. The comments were polite and all for the most part, but many were laced with an underlying agenda. I know, shocking, but it was the intensity of feeling, the mania of superiority that confused me. I didn’t really consider how seriously some people take these things. I’m not talking about politics or religion here, even topics as innocuous as libraries vs. bookstores, organic vs. hydroponics, my blog is better than yours… are all up for rigorous debate. My God people, calm the hell down already. Take a nap.
Anyway, I’ve decided to continue the experiment. Not only will it develop in me a layer of keratin even the most discriminating rhinoceros would covet, it’s also good training for my eventual book tour. Hydroponics, Tarot cards and globalization all in one book? Am I nuts? Yeah, I’m going to need some seriously thick skin. My own personal Zen master. Maybe some Novocain. Three times the criticism, three times the fun, right? What an idiot.
Learn from me, fellow authors. All actions have consequences. If you bring attention to something, the predators will come. Be prepared.
