Well. This sucks.
I could go into all sorts of detail about why I wrote what I wrote, or how I wrote it, or whatever, but in the end all that really matters is I hurt feelings, and for that I am truly sorry. That was not my intention in the least. Sometimes this industry can really get to you, I suppose, and when everyone who's gotten through the door seems to look down on everyone who hasn't, it gets to you even more after a while. That said, I did not mean to attack anyone, offend, or hurt feelings. My own hurt does not give me the right to hurt others.
Again, I am sorry.
I read this thread this morning and my heart sank. I honestly never want to hurt anyone. It was a stupid backlash over slighted feelings and personal frustration that I never should have written, and I felt like the biggest loser for having done so.
That said, my support of you stands.
We all have to choose the path that is right for us.
You didn't hurt my feelings, Morgan. And you don't have to explain why you said it; I know why. It's not an uncommon thing for (forgive me) rejected writers to say. I understand.
But it's still not true, and it *can* be hurtful.
The thing is...I'm going to be very blunt with you here. I've seen you elsewhere on the forums expressing frustration that people aren't crediting you with knowledge of and experience in the publishing industry. Statements like the one you made are part of the reason why people assume you're new to the business, because people who do know a lot about it understand that the submission process isn't designed to keep good books away from readers; it's designed to do the opposite. To trot out an analogy I've used many times before, you and I might think TWILIGHT is crap, but an agent and editor read it, thought "I bet a lot of readers will like this," and guess what? They were
right.
If we have issues with the tastes of readers, if we wish books we thought were better books were more popular than books we consider lousy, well, that's our issue. It's not an unreasonable one. We've all seen books we think are awesome fail. But that's not the fault of "the gatekeepers." It doesn't mean the book isn't good, either. It means that it doesn't match whatever it is readers were/are looking for, and that's all. Industry professionals spend a lot of time studying and thinking about what readers want, because they want to give it to them. That's their job. Their job is not to give writers a chance or fulfill dreams, it is to give readers the books readers want, and they're right more often than they're wrong.
As for people looking down on you somehow, or this forum in general being a place where people without experience are treated badly...please report any posts of that nature you may see. Those of us who do have experience aren't here because we want to make others feel bad. We're here because we want to help. I don't come here to laugh at people or boost my ego. I come here because I want to offer help and advice, because that help and advice was offered to me when I was starting out. No one is trying to intimidate you or put you down. No one is making fun of you. We want to help you. We want to see you succeed. We're doing the best we can. But please do us the favor, and pay us the respect, of not assuming we're all trying to plant little barbs in our posts for you to trip on.
I won't play the "No one can make you feel inferior except you" card, but I do ask you, in all seriousness: Are you seeing an attitude towards you because it's there, or because you think it's there? When you see an attitude, is it in response to something you might have said--like your post above--that perhaps may have been rude, or hurtful, or whatever else? In other words, before you accuse people of having attitude, are you sure you've expressed none? I'm not saying you have, just that it's good to look at the entire conversation and not just one part of it. You don't know us well and we don't know you; isn't it possible wires are simply getting crossed due to unfamiliarity?
AW is a great place. We want you here. We want to help you and we want to see you become a member of the community. Please give us a little credit for that, and don't assume we see you as a human volleyball we can throw around.
Please feel free to PM me if you ever feel there is a problem. Or PM any mod. Again, we are here to help.
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