When Publishing and Goals aren’t the Same.

Sometimes, publishing seems so easy then of course, there are days when it feels like whatever you have written will never be fit for publishing.  It might be fit for a trash can or recycling can but still…

It can be very easy to think about publishing via say a self-publishing company or a vanity press might have benefits. Often this can create problems as people don’t think about publishing goals as they would with writing goals.  There is a big difference between wanting to publish and having a reason to publish beyond a simple name on a book.

See, I would say this is why people often comment that the whole concept of publishing sucks.  Really without goals of where and how you want to publish, yes publishing can suck.  It is like writing we all seem to have some great ideas about writing, but we all know how the process works.  we start with an outline, then a first draft, then edit, then another draft then edit that draft, then edit again, then…

This is usually where goals stop, we have a manuscript which is edited well and which we are proud of, and we wan to publish it, but often that is as far as some publishing goals get to.  It is not as if you don’t plan but the choices are endless.  You can self-publish, you can query literary agents, you can go to traditional publishers, small presses.

The possibilities are endless, and that fact means that one should take time to write out a list of goals for publishing.  Why you wan tot publishing and how you will get to that point are important… I’ll explain more next time.  When your publishing and your goals aren’t the same what will you do?