Crazy times in publishing. The news that Dorchester sold titles by top authors to Avon made my jaw drop. That’s not the only development that’s shocked me in the last six months. And in the midst of all the shakeups, I lost two long-standing editors. Well, really only one, because she left publishing altogether; the other I followed to her new publisher. Six months ago I couldn’t have predicted that my Samhain editor would be at Carina, or that I’d have a launch title there. Things change too fast to guess what might happen next.
Which is one reason I’ve decided that long-range planning is ridiculous. I’ve always been big on planning, but it’s time to look at it from a different perspective. In development, there’s an approach called scrum. It’s agile, breaking projects down into smaller projects, defining the results stage by stage instead of trying to predict six months out what the end result will be. The principal can be applied to writing projects.
I can’t plan what I should be doing in six months because the landscape can change radically in that time, internally and externally. Instead, it makes much more sense to focus on small, short term goals and to look at the big picture, not in terms of the path I should be following but in terms of values, priorities, desired outcomes. If I know what I value and what I want to accomplish, I can focus on that and be open to new opportunities to pursue that instead of stubbornly persisting along a path that seemed like a good idea before the landscape shifted.
I don’t believe books are going away. But publishing is undergoing radical change, and change is never painless, even when it’s good change. Fortunately, one thing that will never change is the human need to tell stories and to hear them.
My big picture still includes world domination. And books better not go away: I not only want to write some, but a used bookstore is a big part of the evil plan. And of course a 3 week vacation. 🙂
You can plan all you want but, in the end, all you can do is write books and cross your fingers. Who knows what will happen next week or next month in this business.
NJ, it’s not just business uncertainty, it’s kids getting sick, the million unpredictable factors in any given day, and how to approach just getting the writing done. Hence scrum, where at least I can examine factors like complexity and better gauge project time. It’s a much more accurate way to estimate.
Cari, good point. Carpe diem.
Ooo. Vacation!
Very true!
This applies to more than just writing. A friend’s mom was diagnosed with advanced cancer recently, and I remind my own mom of that when I see her doing her projected budget years into the future. Of course you want to plan as much as possible but there’s a point where living reasonably in the moment is the best plan of all.
Your post title made me laugh out loud.