Title: What Publishers Embrace vs. creative Freedom
Length: 509 words
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What Publishers Embrace vs. Creative Freedom
by Jill Terry, authorjaterry.com
Copyright 2004, Jill Terry

I was recently sent an article from a friend in the publishing industry about publishers finally embracing Chick Lit; something that readers have been embracing for years. What the article was really about was an author who wrote what she wanted and finally got recognition from the "Big Boys" because her books were selling, despite the fact that her genre had been previously frowned upon by the industry. Now it seems everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. Why, because there is
a market for the genre and therefore money to be made.

I'm constantly amazed when I read posts on the various writers groups that I belong to and hear about manuscripts being turned down or sent back for specific revisions to be made, because the manuscript didn't meet the formulated guidelines. Meaning there wasn't a love scene in chapter
three, or the heroine and hero's relationship developed too early in the book...blah, blah, blah. Apparently it isn't enough that there are numerous, talented writers who specialize in this genre; no, that would be too easy. Instead, the publishers who have so eagerly embraced the genre have
done their homework and have focused on the bestsellers in the genre and formulated guidelines based on those books.

What's more amazing to me is that there are so many writers out there that eagerly fall into this trap, and I can't help but wonder why. Am I missing something here? When did it become more
important to be picked up by a big house publisher, with the hope that your book meets their sales quota in the time period they've alloted, less it be pulled from the shelves and deemed out of print forever; or until the author gets their rights back and searches for some others means of
publication? I guess this is something I may never understand, and that's OK, because when I sit down to write and reach the point in the story when the characters come alive and take over, I
wouldn't miss that ride for anything in the world! To me, that's what writing is all about. I may never produce a best selling novel, but that's not why I write. I do it because I love it and I'm not about to change or succumb to someone else's idea of how my books should be written.

Sure, I get frustrated from time to time, just like every other author I know; unfortunately that's part of being in the game, but I don't let it get to the point where I lose my focus and forget why I'm writing in the first place. A friend told me one day when I was feeling particularly down, to just
do what I love to do and the rest of the world will catch up with me. That was perhaps the best bit of advice I've ever received!

Believe in your dreams and make them your reality.

Jill Terry
Award Winning Novelist - Poet
www.authorjaterry.com