Good Reads Library
Blog, And Enjoy It-- But Don't Expect It's Going To Get You Into the NY Times Bestseller List
There's a blogger who was featured in a NY Times article about blogging families--I mentioned it in one of my "blog types" rants. He has been blogging with the intention of turning it into a book.
Well, apparently, publishers are turning him down. One of the comments he mentioned was that they just don't find it--or him as a character--interesting enough.
As I've pointed out before,when you get down to it, blogging is a highly narcissistic thing. We write about our lives, our kids, what we had for breakfast, and expect other people to be interested.
The fact is, a lot of the time, they aren't.
There are some people out there who have genuinely fascinating lives. And there are some people out there who are such good writers that they can make the most mundane of daily events into something that can make you roll on the floor laughing.
And then there are the rest of us.
I have spent 20 years reading children's literature critically, and I am in awe of people who get published--especially those who write for children. It's a high art.
It's not enough to be a good writer. It's not enough to have good ideas. You have to be able to put the two together in a form that grabs your readers and pulls them in with you.
I've never imagined that this blog is great art--though the recipes are pretty good--but it gives me immense pleasure to write it. I spend time reading what I've written, editing it, tearing my hair out over passages that don't work. It's a craft, and I'm trying to learn it and grow with it.
When someone gets pissed at what I've written, and comments, or writes to say that they really liked what I had to say, I know I'm getting somewhere. I've made contact with my writing.
And if you've commented, thank you. Hit statistics are fun, but comments tell you someone has given your site more than 30 seconds!!
But blogging is akin to vanity publishing. If you expect more from it than the ability to get your words out to others, and to have people respond to it, you're asking a lot.
And the odds are, you will be very, very, disappointed.
