Twenty Years Before the Masthead by Martha Reed

I’ve been mentoring a newbie author these last few months, helping her find her path to publication. Initially, I hesitated to accept the assignment. I wasn’t sure if the advice I had to share would have any practical value. I’m happy to report that my little bird is ready to fly. She’s taking her thriller manuscript, query letter, and elevator pitch to Sleuthfest agents this week.

So much of what we writers do is figuring out the process as we blindly follow our dreams. The publication world seems to be constantly undergoing rewrites, reassignments, and renovation. Literary editors peel off the publishing houses to become independent agents. Boutique small presses open and close like rare night blooming flowers. Others launch with optimistic fanfare only to burn out in a few short years when the owners finally grasp how much 24/7 involvement and dedication it takes. The awards – Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, IPPY, Macavity, Shamus come and go in their annual passage. Crime fiction conferences rotate across the country like constellations in the night sky.

We authors scramble to keep up, not only researching and writing this year’s new book, but also doing the marketing and promotional heavy lifting. We develop interesting and esoteric PowerPoint presentations to share with book clubs and library patrons as we try to make or maintain that all too vital connection to our crime fiction community and our mystery readership. We order business cards, build Wix websites, and email newsletters all the while hoping for enough decent reviews to trip Amazon's and Goodread's unseen and almighty promotional algorithms. And then we pause before clicking our wireless mouse, afraid to go look at the sales data and royalty payouts.

Is it worth it?

For me, the answer is: Yes. Sitting down every day to work on my manuscript is my sacred time. It doesn’t matter if I’m drafting or editing. The joyous feeling I get is the same.

My newbie author asked me if I ever got tired of it. I have been doing this for almost two decades. True, sometimes I get tired of sitting in my chair, but I never tire of losing myself in the zone while searching for the perfect word or turn of phrase. I adore it when I catch myself saying, “Yes, that’s it,” out loud.

Before my book gets published and goes public, I’m spending private time in my own private world. During those two or three hours each day, it’s between the book and me. Researching fascinating details and plumbing deep rabbit holes keeps my brain alert and engaged. The annual conferences give me a great reason to fearlessly travel to new cities and distant shores and revisit my writerly friends. After nearly twenty years, it’s so ingrained I can’t imagine what my reality would be like without my writing life.

How about you? What drives you to enter the fictional world and write your stories?