Up second in the 12 blogs of Christmas is Sarah Lane, a writer from Vancouver. Sarah has provided us with a link to a reading from her novel. Check it out below.
The Need for Speed
And, inspired partially by Sarah who is working on her second novel, second in my list of things that I'm not grateful for in the writing world (or things I hope will change), is the speed at which indie writers are expected to produce books. I am going to blasphemously claim that indie writers are under too much pressure to produce too many books too fast (and please do not think for a second that this is linked to the fact that it's ski season and it snowed 20 cm last night... it's not I promise... okay maybe a little).
Photo Credit: Rick Doble
I'm all for speed, and one of the great things about being an indie writer is the opportunity to get as many books to market in a year as you want, unlike the traditionally published world where many writers are limited to one book every two years. In the indie world, we all know about the writers who produce a book a month, or every six weeks. And that's great... for them. I know Amazon algorithms rewards quick releases. I've tried it and seen the results.
I'm not suggesting that some of these authors are not producing great quality books and that going at a faster pace than traditional publishing is bad (I could not imagine being that slow). But I don't think that a book a month is a sustainable pace for a lot of writers, and I'm worried that to make it as a writer it is almost becoming a necessity and that readers are starting to expect it. Hats (and skis) off to those who can do it. I'm a reasonably fast writer and published four novels last year as well as two novelette length shorts and a novella. However I probably won't quite hit that mark this year. I have a job, a family, and other things to tend to occasionally, like making sure I still have friends. There is also the issue of burn out. Robert Bidinotto has a great article about this issue and Katharine Grubb has a fantastic blog regarding what to do if you do feel burned out as a writer. I have watched with interest Jennifer Foehner Wells's journey from publishing Fluency to great success in 2014, to the expectations that she would follow it up immediately with a sequel. But guess what? She's sticking to her guns about writing at her own pace, and enjoying it, and it isn't hurting her sales one bit.
So here's to hoping that just like the slow food movement, next year we will have a slow books movement. Okay, maybe not slow books. That would be boring. How about a "write quickly, but at a reasonable pace for you," movement :-).
About Sarah
Sarah Lane is the author of The God of My Art, the story of a young woman's journey to become an artist and a quarter finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Lane's short fiction and poetry have also featured in a number of literary magazines, including The Antigonish Review, Roar Magazine, and Quills: Canadian Poetry Magazine.
Lane's upcoming young adult novel is a psychological read about a cerebral seventeen-year old who struggles to learn salsa dancing only to be shown up by her doppelgänger. (You can sign up on her website to be notified when it comes out).
Sarah's Reading
Sarah Lane hopes you will enjoy listening to this reading from her young adult crossover novel The God of My Art. This chapter is taken from near the end of the book, when Helene visits her mother over the winter holidays. Watch the video here.
Blog Post Permalink: http://www.sarahlanebooks.com/author-reading-the-god-of-my-art
