Many of us on Teen ink have a distant dream, to become an author. Whilst some of our visions are larger then others and we are constantly told 'It is really hard to publish a book' we reply, 'we know that' and everyone does, but WHY is it REALLY hard to publish? The answer is not quality, it is competition, supply and money.

Competition is a big problem, the book market is saturated in fantasy and self-help book. If one is to impress a publisher/editor, one must clearly state why their book is different from every other one out there and why people would want to buy it.

Money is also a cause, because who would want to sell a product that did not sell.

However, the main reason, which is a growing problem in the 21st century, is a thing commonly known as ‘a quick fix’. Go on google and type in ‘publish’, ‘how to publish a book’, or ‘how to write a novel’, anything with ‘write’ or ‘publish’ being the key words. The sponsor’s links and results sections are typically clogged with self-publisher’s advertisements, as well as people saying “Write a book and publish it in 30 days”. After reading through the links and understanding the schemes, it comes to show almost all of the ‘writers’ have several things in common. First, not many of them can grasp the concept of effort, dedication or have much experience in the topic. 30, 60 or 100 days is a short period of time and people who think they can complete adequate projects in such a short period of time indicate they have a short attention span and lack of dedication. (No wonder half of the writers are divorced! Jokes). Another con of completing something in such a short period of time is making it rushed, unpolished and flawed. Regardless of the time spent on the actual writing a quality edited manuscript requires ‘fresh eyes’ to be edited at a satisfactory level. In addition, many of supposed ‘authors’ do not have much experience in the field either. Yes, some of them may be journalists or have a degree in English writing but that imply they have automatic knowledge in their field of alleged expertise. The authors may state they have published several books but are they known? Moreover, do they sell? If they did sell well, then why are our computer screens fogged with advertisements and pop-ups?

One more thing these people have in common is that they are more salesperson then authors or writers otherwise, they would not be so ‘in your face’.

With all of this evidence, it occurs that these people have flooded the field of published writing and give such a highly competitive field a bad reputation. So to close this argument, remember. Don’t give up, because persistence is the key (ask Stephanie Meyer and J.K Rowling who were rejected time and time again). And to become a published author, do it properly by following the publishers submission guidelines and don’t rush a potentially well-crafted story.


*Sources: Google.com
http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/18511/1792
http://www.7dayebook.com/?hop=gtpstl

** The author of this article spent 15 months writing and polishing an 86,000 novel. It is currently being sent to publishers and editors. The sequel is currently being written, for a preview search ‘A Myth Life’ or ‘Dreamweaver’ By SamanthaEmily.