Present word count: 25,772

Husband out of town on business. Cat deathly ill. Result: 35 words written. At least, Peach is on the mend (I know he’s a sensitive cat, but only an hour after we had seriously considered putting him down, he began to finally eat again without vomiting)…and my husband returns tomorrow. It’s been a long, unproductive week. Some weeks are like that.

Seth Godin’s Advice for Authors:

6. Resist with all your might the temptation to hire a publicist to get you on Oprah. First, you won’t get on Oprah (if you do, drop me a note and I’ll mention you as the exception). Second, it’s expensive. You’re way better off spending the time and money to do #5 instead, going after the little micromarkets. There are some very talented publicists out there…, but in general, see #1.

First of all, Oprah’s no longer an option (not that it ever really was). Secondly, I’m convinced that after all the hard work we do as writers, hitting the big time really does come down to luck: having the right concept in front of the right eyes at the right time. The stars align and…Voilá! You get waves of recognition and publicity.

Once more, we need to ask ourselves why we write. Are we in it for fame or success? I believe there’s a difference. Success means you regularly produce fiction that you find personally satisfying and that attracts its own gradually expanding pool of readers. Fame is a whole other stratosphere, generally beyond one’s control.

So, who really needs a publicist? What we really need to do is learn to force ourselves to write, even when our personal lives get stressful…like, say, when one’s cat looks to be on death’s door.

Originally posted 2012-02-03 19:46:33.