WHO RAN OFF WITH MY CHEESE?

My yard is undergoing a landscape makeover which requires that the bird and squirrel feeders be removed for the process. One morning a squirrel raced frantically back and forth along top of the wooden fence as if crying: “Who swiped my feeder? Who swiped my feeder?” Change. It disturbs the peace of even the smallest of God’s creatures.

Just in case you haven’t figured it out yet, God is the only unchangeable in our world. He’s the same yesterday, today and forever. And no matter how many people would like to vote him off Earth Island, he’s still in charge. Always has been, always will be.

Other than that, however, change in almost everything else is the norm today. You go to bed with one reality and wake up the next to another. In 2002 a book came out called “Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson which addressed this issue in an allegory. Mice scurry through a maze, seeking what makes them happiest—the cheese—only to find out one day that the cheese isn’t where it’s always been. Over and over they futilely keep running back to the same place where they previously found the cheese rather than searching out its new location.

As someone who’s long been a tiny cog in the “corporate world” wheel, I’ve seen the companies I worked for relocated, down-sized, sold, merged, split, reorganized, re-reorganized and re-re-reorganized. Nothing stays the same for long as companies attempt to minimize losses and maximize profits. In this rollercoaster economy, things are even more dicey. That’s the day-job world I’ve lived in for fifteen years, and I’m constantly learning how to roll with the punches, increase my knowledge base, acquire new skills, and reposition myself to be more valuable to my employers so I can keep that day job that pays for the cheese!

Maybe you’re a stay-at-home mom or working outside the home part- or full-time and you want to supplement the family income through writing commercial fiction. Or maybe you’ve already paid your “corporate dues” and are determined to make your writing dreams come true--far from the rat race you washed your hands of. “So what,” you’re asking yourself, ”does this Corporate America talk have to do with me?”

Well, hate to break it to you but, like it or not, it’s been my observation that when you get a book published you become a miniscule cog in Corporate America’s big, big wheel. Publishing is a business. BIG business. As much as an editor might like to, they can’t merely pick you out for publication because they like you personally and love your first book. They must believe—really believe—that the market they’re targeting will also love your books (as in plural). They’re taking a huge monetary and professional gamble that you’ll consistently produce stories that will satisfy an increasing number of readers and turn a profit. The bigger the profit the better. Not even Christian publishers are charitable organizations. Both ABA and CBA must keep an eye on the bottom line. They can’t lose money indefinitely and stay in business.

I’ve been reading Romantic Times magazine since the early 1990’s. I have a LOT of back issues, and in reviewing them I see a number of writers who were “names“ a dozen years ago who are still “names” now. But you know what? As I turn the pages of today’s RT Book Club, a disheartening number of the authors whose books once populated the reviews are nowhere to be found. A search of the web finds no mention of them. Or maybe only an isolated reference to a last book published a decade ago. Pretty sobering. Where did they go? Perhaps it was by choice that they’re no longer published--some things are only “right” for you during a season of your life, then God leads you to close the door and move on. Or did someone run off with their cheese--and they never found it? Did they attempt to find it?

So what are some ways we, as “newbies,” can keep an eye on our writing cheese?

- Join writers’ organizations (RWA, ACFW, etc.) to ferret out changing market trends. Take an active interest in the profession. Don’t write in a vacuum.

- Attend writing conferences and workshops for the same reason—often agents and editors speak to anticipated reader trends and what they’re looking for to fulfill that market niche.

- Read writing-related magazines, newsletters, and professional journals, both on-line and paper (Writer’s Digest, RT Book Club, Romance Writer’s Report, etc.).

- Network on-line. Editors occasionally find time in their busy schedules to visit popular writing-related blog sites. (Last month Seekerville hosted Barbara Scott of Abingdon Press, and on Thursday, November 13, Melissa Endlich of Steeple Hill will be our guest.)

- Read current books marketed by the publisher(s) you’re targeting. What might have been considered standard tone, style or content in a genre or line five or ten years ago may now be passé.

- Read outside the genre you’re currently targeting or published in. Broaden your horizons. Maybe you’re writing Mom-Lit, but (after a rough day with a houseful of sick little ones or a harried ride on the subway) you find yourself picking up a LuAnne Rice women’s fiction with a low key New England setting. Keep that in the back of your mind in case the market shifts and you must look for another writing place to call home. Just because you can’t publish/remain published in your current niche, you can still write something you enjoy and which doesn’t compromise your innermost values and beliefs.

- Listen to what your editor says about your publisher’s (and readers’) needs. Is it a need that (within reason), you can fulfill? You’ve never written a novella, but your editor is putting together an anthology? Give it a shot. The line you’ve been writing for tanks? Where does she think you’d fit best in another one? She isn’t thrilled with your latest proposal? Ask for her input, counter-propose, and give her something she can wholeheartedly get behind.

- Don’t be surprised if during your writing career you must reinvent yourself so to speak. Maybe it’s going from one line to another. One genre to another. One house to another. Category to single title or vice versa. First person POV to third. Don’t allow your writing world mindset to become so narrow that your immediate response is always “no way.” Think through it. Pray through it.

- Don’t give in to fear when your cheese gets moved. Take a deeeeeep breath. Be positive. Be proactive. So often it’s not the situation we find ourselves in but how we react to it that causes us the most grief. With the right attitude and some genuine effort, you may find yourself in a much better place than you were before. A framed quote sits on my desk: Don’t fear tomorrow. God is already there. Those are good words for a writer to live by.

As Camy discussed in her Seekerville post last week (Good News and What I Learned From It), being flexible is a MUST if you’re intending to be in this business for the long haul. Publishers are bought out. Merge. Restructure. Go under completely. Editors switch houses. Reader tastes change. Lines fold. One of my friends wrote over 100 category books before taking a well-deserved breather. When asked the key to her success amidst the ups and downs of publishing, she said: “Write every day. Read every day. Never forget this a business. Give your editor what she’s looking for.” Or as Camy so aptly put it: “be willing to be willing.”

Remember the scene in the 1997 movie “My Best Friend’s Wedding” where Jules (Julia Roberts) comments that while Kim (Cameron Diaz) is like crème brûlée, what their mutual “hero,” is really looking for is Jell-O? Kim responds: “I could be Jell-O!” Now THAT determined little lady has the makings of a successful published writer!

So, like the little squirrel racing along the fence in my back yard, panicked because his “cheese” has been moved, there are some things that are out of our personal control. But I have no doubt that after a few days Mr. Squirrel will be checking out the neighborhood and discovering that while my feeder specialized in unshelled sunflower seeds, the one next door has corn. Or peanuts. And while it takes a bit more effort on his part, another yard features shelled sunflower seeds that might tickle his taste buds. It’s my guess the little guy won’t give up looking for a new source of food, and he very well may find something he likes much better than the “cheese” originally within his grasp!

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As always, I’m off to my day job and unable to access the internet. But my Seeker buds will make you feel at home in our comment section. So please stop in and chat awhile!

Glynna