I’ve been (re)reading Zoe York’s latest book on indie publishing, Romance Your Goals, over the last few weeks. York’s deeply into the romance side of things, and there’s occasional vagueness in each book where ideas she takes as given (or given within her genre) need more unpacking, but there’s generally at least two or three good take-aways per book that have a positive impact on my writing business. Much like the Writer Chaps series, the goal with these is akin to delivering the equivalent of a really good conversation with a smart writer in a con bar, rather than a book that will lay out each step.
The thing I’ve been noodling over after the first re-read is this particular reframing:
And we—I—spend a lot of time in this “is my book good or bad” space, enough time that it starts to morph into “am I good or bad?” And not just as a writer, but also maybe as a person. (My therapist says the difference between regret and shame is regret is feeling like I’ve made a mistake, and shame is feeling like I am a mistake. Whew, I felt that one hard.)
But if we refuse these words, good and bad, because those are external to us and our work…and if we instead say, safe and exciting, does the relationship to the question shift?
If I miss the mark on exciting, and merely make a book that is safe, there may be some regret there, but no shame.
For one thing, there is actually a market for safe books! They don’t really set the world on fire, but they are nice to read.
For another thing, it is much easier to pivot from safe to exciting than it is from bad to good. And at some point, you will want to pivot. (Via York, Zoe. Romance Your Goals, pp. 50-51)
I am not unfamiliar with this tension, especially given my twin penchant for post-modern experimentation and really good pulp action that aren’t always in perfect alignment.
It’s an interesting distinction to think about in relation to the 52 Chapbooks challenge, if only because the challenge isn’t the most commercially solid idea to begin with. But the concept is exciting, as is the way it pushes things, and long-term there may be something to the notion of doing safe projects and interesting ones.
I tend to start the month with a list of chapbooks to focus on, given the one-a-week average required, and a few notes about what needs to be done in order to make the series work. February’s a four chapbook month, with the plan to include:
- Deeper Cuts – a two-story chapbook that collects my very first published stories. Needs: stories retyped from hard-copy; afterword, proofing, cover (on the exciting/risky end).
- Winged, With Sharp Teeth (2nd ed) – Needs: Essay draft and revision (als on the exciting/risky end).
- Clockwork, Patchwork, & Raven – Needs: layout and cover (on the safe end).
- Eclectic Projects Digest 1 – Needs: Essay draft and revision; story draft and revision (on the safe end in terms of content, and the exciting end in terms of concept).
There’s also two Brain Jar books to get out this month, and I’ve hit the first wrinkle of the challenge—my print-on-demand provider of choice doesn’t handle short lead time wells, and there’s been two projects with short upload-to-release cycles that have stalled during set-up. I may need to start building a bit more of a production buffer into the schedule.
