That said, I was on Jane's other side, and next to me was another author who didn't get anybody coming up to ask her to sign books. I signed about eight, I think. I was vividly reminded of the time that Uncle Hugo's scheduled me to sign the newly-released Hidden Land alongside David Brin, who had just published The Postman and had come in to town to speak to the Union of Postal Workers. He had a line around the block. Everybody who knew who I was had already bought a copy of my book and asked me to sign it.
Brin, who was much nicer then, ended up cajoling people into buying my book. (He sorted them by whether they knew any ten-year-olds.) But that was the first time I really understood about my writing career that I couldn't think about what other people were doing. I had to think about what I was doing. Not in relation to what other people were doing, but in relation to what else I was doing.
It's one of those annoying lessons that comes unlearned regularly. I did feel a horrid sinking when I looked at all Jane's books. She is not actually so very much older than I am. But I know from being on panels with her and talking to her that not only do we not do the same thing, we don't work in the same way on what we do do. Nobody is ever going to come up to me with sixty books that I've written. But I like what they have said to me when they do come up, which does not always happen. I did a signing with no takers the first year Minicon was in the Hilton. You know your readers are out there, even if they can't arrive in person. They want you to write your book.
no subject
That said, I was on Jane's other side, and next to me was another author who didn't get anybody coming up to ask her to sign books. I signed about eight, I think. I was vividly reminded of the time that Uncle Hugo's scheduled me to sign the newly-released Hidden Land alongside David Brin, who had just published The Postman and had come in to town to speak to the Union of Postal Workers. He had a line around the block. Everybody who knew who I was had already bought a copy of my book and asked me to sign it.
Brin, who was much nicer then, ended up cajoling people into buying my book. (He sorted them by whether they knew any ten-year-olds.) But that was the first time I really understood about my writing career that I couldn't think about what other people were doing. I had to think about what I was doing. Not in relation to what other people were doing, but in relation to what else I was doing.
It's one of those annoying lessons that comes unlearned regularly. I did feel a horrid sinking when I looked at all Jane's books. She is not actually so very much older than I am. But I know from being on panels with her and talking to her that not only do we not do the same thing, we don't work in the same way on what we do do. Nobody is ever going to come up to me with sixty books that I've written. But I like what they have said to me when they do come up, which does not always happen. I did a signing with no takers the first year Minicon was in the Hilton. You know your readers are out there, even if they can't arrive in person. They want you to write your book.
So do I.
P.