Publishing and a Truly Creative Mind

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the whole traditional publishing route for completed manuscripts.  I’ve also been doing tons of research on the subject to help me understand this whole business better.  And all this thinking and all this research has led me to the insight that for a truly creative artist, story-teller, and wordsmith, writing is the easy part of this whole career journey.  It is easy to write a book.  It is so much more difficult to figure out the whole vocational aspect of this profession.

A novelist has to be a salesperson to an extent, and for many creative minds, this isn’t easy.  Especially for the “reclusive writer” sect of men and women, as I find myself often being.  I am introverted and always in my head.  I can come up with the plot of a story in mere seconds, and I can begin writing it as soon as I get the time.  But when it comes to getting a work published, the struggle is real.  I have to break out of my shell on a daily basis, try to make connections, put myself out there, and sell myself, my ideas, and my product.

Once long ago, I was a salesman for a time, selling scam products to mostly elderly people inside Costcos and Sam’s Clubs.  This was completely legal but completely unethical.  I hated it, I hated it, I hated it, and every time I sold something, I felt awful about myself.  But it was a job, and I needed money.  As you can guess, I didn’t keep that job for very long.  To be a good salesperson, I think you have to be either completely heartless or you have to truly believe in the product you are selling.  Confidence is key.  And many authors lack that confidence, not in their writing perhaps, but socially.  This whole “getting-published” trek is one of the most difficult jobs I have ever experienced, and like I said, I was once a salesman for scam products.

I was also at one time an over-the-road truck driver, which in my opinion, is one of the most strenuous jobs on the face of the earth. God bless the truck drivers!  No, really.  They are amazing human beings. Alone 24/7 in the cab of a truck you call home, with no one to talk to but the wankers on the CV radio–the trolls of the pavement, and maybe just maybe some family when your available hours to talk coincide with the hours they are awake.  And then there is the schedule.  No free time in truck driving.  Very little at most.  Your work is literally your life all day, everyday.  It is a lifestyle, a very challenging way of life.  To say getting published is more trying than trucking says a lot about this industry I have chosen to pursue.

In conclusion, if you are interested in writing a book, of whatever kind, just remember that the actual writing part is the tip of the iceburg in the world of words.  So if you are pushing the creativity off, don’t any longer, just write.  Write anything, and write it from the heart.  Just do it, no matter what it is, let it out.  No more procrastinating.  There’s no time for that.  The hardest part of being a writer has yet to come.  Good luck folks and God speed.

–Ian

Literary Agent Rejection Letters

So far, I have gotten two rejection letters from literary agencies and have not heard back from several others.  Of course, I just started sending out these letters as of last week, so I don’t expect all of them to get back to me so soon.  Nevertheless, rejection is always difficult, but in the world of writing books, it happens constantly.  I don’t take it personally, I just move on.  However, I am a little apprehensive about the state of the query letters I’ve been writing (for those who don’t know, query letters are the letters that writers send to literary agents to try and get them to represent their book and help them get published).  Am I doing something wrong?  I’ve been following the formatting guidelines that I have read about during my research on this subject, and I believe I am writing proper query letters, but I am thinking I could make them better.  Truly, I am unsure.  Perhaps it is just the book itself that the literary agents don’t think will be worth their while.  Or perhaps, there is something more I could do to reel these agents in so that they will want to represent me.  Who knows.  This is a journey and I am learning as I go.  If anyone has recommendations for me, they would be greatly appreciated.  If anyone has gone through this process before, I would love to hear from you.

–Ian

Author Bio

It seems that a lot of literary agents want an author bio.  So here is mine (for now):

Ian Cardenas is currently a writer, artist, and teacher in Northern Virginia.  Once a scared kid with no hope for the future due to fears of stepping out of his comfort zone, Ian made great strides growing up to transform into a confident young man who believes he can accomplish anything that he sets his mind to.  Now twenty-six years old, Ian is working toward a Master’s Degree in Special Education and has recently completed his first literary fiction novel, Big Red Yonder.  In the past he published two books, a self-help book called The Rock Star Manifesto and a poetry collection called Nobody Likes You When You’re 23.  However, writing fiction has always been his true passion in life and finishing his first full-length fiction novel is on the top of his list of achievements.  Over the course of the past six years, Ian wrote Big Red Yonder under a number of challenging circumstances including financial instability, over-the-road truck driving, a plethora of hostile environments, health problems, and much more.  Though always remaining positive in the face of adversity,  his novel was at times his only form of solace.  As a result, his writing turned into something larger than mere literature, but rather a life-saving outlet that became filled with the raw emotion and creativity that is Ian Cardenas.