ABC's of Writing - (Y)ou Have The Final Say In Your Writing

There is a pretty good bet that if you did a quick internet search, right now, you will find someone blogging about how they were royally screwed over by an agent, an editor, or a publisher. While I do understand there are some fairly slimey people and companies out there, I always have to laugh a bit (more like a chuckle) when I read these posts. There is an implied message these people are sending out that they were somehow innocent victims in all of this. Again, yes, things like this can and do happen, but the one thing to remember is... "You signed the contract."

In the end, YOU have the final say in all that is going on with your writing career. YOU decide who to send the project to. YOU decide if you want to take the traditional approach to publishing or the self-publishing approach. If you do take the self-publishing approach, in most cases, YOU set the price and YOU take care of the marketing.

As an agent, when one of my authors comes to me with a project we want to work on, I make recommendations. Yet it is entirely up to the author whether or not he or she wants to take that advice. There is nothing in my contract that forces the writer to take those suggestions. It is up to the writer to make that decision.

Even if you are in the middle of a contract with an editor and it is time to "renew" the contract or look at options, you are not required to take the offer. If the offer is not something that is taking you in the direction you want to go, then you have the right to say no, just like they had the right to say no to your next book.

For those of you who might still be looking for that first big break, remember that this idea extends to you as well. If you send your story to your critique group and they tell you there are things to change, there is nothing that says you have to follow those guidelines, The same goes for critiques you might win in contests or even the comments/feedback you get from a contest. These are simply suggestions. Take them or leave them.

There isn't much more to say about this. Simply put, it is YOUR CAREER. Don't look to others to control it. YOU get to decide.

Have a great weekend.

Monday is Z!!!!