There Are No Short Cuts

We are living in a world of immediate gratification. We seem to think that all we have to do is click our fingers and we get what we want. Along with this, we are living in a world where we seem to think there is always an easier way to do things. We look for anyway to make things happen faster and without having to jump through all of the hoops. Think about it. Even when we apply for jobs online, we are often upset that the company we want to work for will not have a system set up to just auto-populate the application and, darn it, we have to actually type something. We have hiring and professional platforms that seem to imply we can just upload one document and "poof" we get a job. Even our youth today look for anyway to get a good grade and do no work.

But the reality is, there are no short cuts. In publishing, that is certainly the case.

If you have honestly taken the time to study the industry, regardless of whether you go self-publishing or traditional, this is not an over-night process and success does not miraculously happen.

I am bringing all of this up because I am once again finding an uptick of authors taking every route to "find a shortcut" to getting published. They don't want to do the research. They don't want to write a query letter. They don't want to write a synopsis (because these are hard to write..."waaaaaaaa" oh poor baby). These authors are even getting on social media sites and simply saying, You need to publish me so go look at my website."

Many authors have also jumped into self-publishing because it was "easier than having to go through the steps required to get a traditional contract." Now before some of you get your panties in a bunch on this one, I know some have taken that route because it was best for them and their books. I am not talking about you, but those that went that route looking for a "quicker path."

So, if you are not finding success, you might want to examine if you are trying that "short cut" approach. If you are, I highly recommend changing that approach.