No One Likes Arrogant Assholes

As I sat down to write this, I found myself struggling to control the venom that wanted to seep into the post and infect the meat of it. It ravaged every key stroke and bleed into each word on the screen until it mutated the entire post into a rant that, no matter how much you sliced and sucked at the offensive wound, would ultimately kill it's intended victim.

Yes, I wanted to teach someone a lesson in humility. To rake their naked body over the coals of Publishing 101 and drag them into the depths of Intro to Self-Promotion only to leave their broken and bleeding ego at the feet of Every Author Who is Better than Them.

But alas, I have calmed down.

Oh, you thought you weren't getting a rant. Sorry, but I haven't calmed down that much.

While I am in no way an expert on writing, publishing, or advertising, I can tell you:

1-- Every author has those moments of "Goddamn this is the best sentence/paragraph/scene/chapter/book I've ever written."

And it is OKAY to have those. Hell, we NEED to have those. They are what keep us doing what we love. Without those moments of self-proclaimed genius, however warranted or unwarranted they may be, failure is inevitable.

2-- No matter how great you think you are, or how many of your family and friends fluff your ego, keep it to your goddamn self.

Telling people how awesome you are will only ensure they never read your book. Or, if they do read your book, they do so in order to pick apart every one of your self-proclaimed awesome sentences/paragraphs/scenes/chapters. This leads to rotten reviews, deep sighs, frustration, and possibly ranting blog posts about arrogant assholes.

3-- There are people who will read your work, unbiasedly. These people EXCLUDE friends, family, co-workers and yourself.

THESE are the people that matter. THESE are the people who give their opinions without feeling obligated to stroke your already bloated ego. They have nothing invested in your book because they do not know you personally. THESE are the people you don't want to show you're an arrogant asshole, no matter how awesome you truly are, because THESE are the people that post reviews of your book.

THESE people are the reason you publish . You write for yourself. You publish so others can enjoy your works. Plain and simple and brashly stated, but true.

So, keep the fact that you are the Best thing that's EVER happened to writing between you and your bathroom mirror--don't lie, we all have a mantra that keeps us going. 

Feign modesty to everyone else.

No one likes an arrogant asshole.

Happy Reading. Happier Writing.

J