Value Your Work
- By: Jessica Faust | Date: Apr 08 2021
Before you can expect anyone else to be excited about your book you need to value your work yourself.
Writing is such a gift. I will forever be in awe of anyone who can complete a whole book. These short blog posts are probably all I’ll ever have in me. And I’m good with that. I don’t have book ambitions.
As you’re writing, querying, and publishing you’re going to run up against someone who tries to devalue your work. There’s always the person who wants to know, “when you’ll write a real book.” I know, there were always people who asked when I’d represent real books. And even those who wanted to know when I’d work for a real publisher…when I was an editor at Berkley!
Anyway, the best way to arm yourself against a sea of fools is with the power of knowing your truth and valuing your work yourself.
Your Work Brings Joy
Every book, every genre brings joy and there really are fewer things of greater value than joy. Books connect us to each other and to the world at large. They give us an escape from hard times, they empower us to try new things or become the person we want to be. Whatever you’re writing from the coziest mystery to the sexiest romance to the darkest thriller brings joy to readers. So when you’re wondering if you can really value your work remember that, someone along the way is experiencing joy because of what you do.
And, at the very least, writing that book has brought you joy and that’s probably the most important thing of all.
I get this a lot, people who seem to view it as a cute hobby, but not a serious career to have ambition for, or anything worth valuing.
Thanks, Jessica. You come through as a voice of sanity, joyful sanity! And thanks so much for all the videos you and the Bookends agents have posted on YouTube. They have helped me tremendously.
It’s the people who tell me I shouldn’t expect to be paid for my work that get me. I have nothing against people who write for just a hobby or self-expression, but writing well is hard work, and if people get enjoyment out of someone else’s hard work, they should be willing to give something in exchange for it. In our modern economy, the medium of exchange is usually, necessarily, cash. To say that paying for someone else’s work “cheapens it” is ludicrous. You wouldn’t say that to a plumber or electrician! It’s just an excuse for pirating creators’ work.