Writing is tough. My book went so unnoticed I won an award
Nov 24, 2019 21:16:42 GMT -8
chelsfield, garyweston, and 1 more like this
Post by Ted on Nov 24, 2019 21:16:42 GMT -8
Only standing naked under floodlights in the middle of a football stadium would feel more exposing than publishing a novel. In those first crucial weeks after the release date, the author is poised in nail-biting suspense, waiting to see if their creative baby will sink or swim. With sales data notoriously slow to arrive, how can you tell that your novel is not quite setting the world on fire?
The realisation usually comes slowly. First there is the conspicuous absence of reviews, publicity spots and invitations to literary festivals. Then there is the all-too-swift removal of your title from the glamorous New Release section of the bookstore, and its relegation to the densely packed Australian fiction shelves in the bowels of the shop. Lastly and most humiliatingly, you see that the single copy of your book has been turned perpendicular to the wall, now only visible by its spine. At this point you know your novel has lived its short, inglorious life and there will be only a few more spluttering sales before it passes into the annals of the entirely ignored.
Fiction writers are a sensitive bunch, and the porousness of our imaginations is often close cousin to a fragile ego. When people ask how our books are going, those of us who are not Trent Dalton affect a casual insouciance, shrug our shoulders and say, “I’m not sure really,” or “haven’t seen any figures yet”. Anything to avoid the awkward truth, which is: “The book to which I gave three years of my life and a small chunk of my soul has become the literary equivalent of a bespectacled girl sitting longingly on the bench at the school dance.”
The gift of the Most Underrated Book Award is that it gives my idea a second life. It says that the conversation begun by my book is worth continuing. It is a quietly handsome, yet sensitive man, walking over and finally asking my bespectacled girl to dance.
I have read my fellow shortlistees and am delighted to have had their work brought to my attention. In an industry that is fiercely competitive, it is a reminder to practice mindfulness, to make the time to notice what has fallen through the cracks of publishing hype. To remind ourselves that listening to the quiet voices can be deeply rewarding.
I’m not sure whether being officially underrated will mean my book gets turned cover-out on bookshelves. But it does mean that I sit down at my desk each day with renewed motivation and a willingness to don my taffeta ball dress all over again. Don’t underrate being underrated.
• Ilka Tampke’s novel Songwoman came out last year through Text Publishing and won the Most Underrated Book Award at this year’s SPN Independent Publishing Conference.
I have read my fellow shortlistees and am delighted to have had their work brought to my attention. In an industry that is fiercely competitive, it is a reminder to practice mindfulness, to make the time to notice what has fallen through the cracks of publishing hype. To remind ourselves that listening to the quiet voices can be deeply rewarding.
I’m not sure whether being officially underrated will mean my book gets turned cover-out on bookshelves. But it does mean that I sit down at my desk each day with renewed motivation and a willingness to don my taffeta ball dress all over again. Don’t underrate being underrated.
• Ilka Tampke’s novel Songwoman came out last year through Text Publishing and won the Most Underrated Book Award at this year’s SPN Independent Publishing Conference.
Source: The Guardian web site:
