Rejection, Romance and Royalties: The Wacky World of a Working Writer [Paperback]

In the graphic design world we have an old saying, "A camel is a horse designed by a committee." Nothing against camels, but they're pretty ugly. Functional. But ugly. That should give you some kind of indication of what designers go through. I thought we had it bad. Now I don't feel so bad. Writers, apparently, have it much worse. Thankfully, Laura Resnick has a sense of humor and so, while cringing at some of the stories she's shared, her refreshing wit got me to the very last page.

This is not a How-To Book for Writers and thank God for that. This book is more like a much needed mentor, who talks you through the inevitable peeks and valleys of publishers, editors, critics and readers. I was surprised at how fearless Laura was about such topics as criticism. Because I share her feelings about the reckless power that critics have, I finally felt like I had some company on the topic. Criticism is, by its own nature, one directional. And so writers and artists usually have to take thier beatings in silence. Laura's anecdote on the topic breaks the silence.

There's also a soft wisdom that comes through on most of her essays. Her words can be therapuetic for any creative person of any field. This book has a longer reach than it knows. I'm just thrilled that, by dumb luck, it reached out and found me.

Resnick's book is like a good pep-talk by an experienced and wise football coach. It's written in a very breezy style--more like a conversation between the author and her reader than other writing books. It isn't, and isn't meant to be, a work of art. Resnick makes clear what's the most important thing: Don't give up. She's faced the rejections, survived sleazy editors, read the vicious reviews (including those on amazon), withstood writer's block as well as an equally dangerous case of logorrhea, and lived through it. She says the worst writer is the one who quits. Also, she says it's important to write at your own pace. Don't worry about how others work, because everyone has a particular style and habits. Most of all, she urges us to keep writing. Don't think or talk about it more than doing it. Resnick never says it's paradise doing what she does, but she is doing what she most enjoys. Her book is well worth reading for the aspiring writer.

This is the most brutally honest account of a writer's life, complete with some good general advice and tons of good humor, that I've read out of dozens of books on the subject of writing. And it's not a close call to put this one at the top of the mountain of "most brutally honest." By the way, don't be confused by the "Romance" part of the title, as this is not a book for romance writers. It's a book for all professional writers, or as Laura says they are sometimes called, "the filthy pros."

I found Laura when she was sharing *the* most candid things I've ever read an established writer say about working with literary agents on another writer's blog. This showed me something about her and her generous spirit when it comes to helping out other writers. She'd spent many hours on another writer's blog sharing, as openly as anyone can share, her experience in working with four agents over the course of her pretty long career (20+ novels under her belt). I was blown away, and this book (Rejection, Romance, and Royalties) is in that same spirit.

I contacted Laura to thank her for her generous comments on this other writer's blog (Dean Wesley Smith's blog), as well as her own excellent blog. She says she doesn't spout to be generous, but to get things off her chest because BS (only she didn't say BS) DRIVES HER CRAZY. In any case, this book is very well written in an almost conversational style, and it gives you the sense of hearing the honest truth from a good friend about how insane the business of publishing can be.

As other reviewers have said, this work is also downright hilarious. Read it and you'll find out why one poor author, through no fault of her own, is now known as the "raccoon author" (hint: insane editor/publishing house who changed one of her human characters for her).

She covers so many of the practical snafus that the writer's life can involve, and also shares some lessons learned about the craft. This work also functions like a good old friend who understands your seemingly insane decision to spend so much of your life in a room alone making up stuff and banging it out on a computer. Not only has she done that since the late 80's and lived to tell the tale, she's done it with her sense of humor much more than intact. I think this is a great companion for amateurs who want to know the minefield ahead, and filthy pros who want to laugh some more at their existence.