Do you dream of rags-to-riches?
The Publishers Weekly book trends blog recently ran a bit about Firmin, a title that was released by Coffee House Press in 2006 and is in the process of taking the entire world by storm. This story hits all the right notes: an unsolicited manuscript by a first-time author gets published up by a small press, then garners great reviews, gets buzz at Frankfurt, sells internationally, and is finally picked up by Bantam for a splashy domestic relaunch.
First, even though I haven’t read the book, I’m very happy for the author and for Coffee House. I am not here to rain on parades. But I also cringe every time I read a story like this because it plays into the lottery mentality that plagues publishing.
My beef is that not for every remarkable success story there are countless failures. My complaint is that for every remarkable success story that are countless boring and mundane success stories that are never celebrated. Books that build their audience slowly. Books that make an impact but never crack the bestseller list. Books that modestly meet, but do not, exceed expectations. All outcomes that are perfectly acceptable.
I believe in keeping the dream alive. But I also worry that certain kinds of dreams (that your book, all by its lonesome, will take off) can lead to passivity. Sometimes the work speaks for itself. More often you need to speak for it.
A former writing teacher of mine said it was okay to fantasize about instant success, but to do it for no more than fifteen minutes a day. I would amend that to go ahead and fantasize about going from rags to riches, but to also consider the alternatives. If my work isn’t going to catch fire, what can I do to help it burn slowly?



