"I see the notion of talent as quite irrelevant. I see instead perseverance, application, industry, assiduity, will, will, will, desire, desire, desire." ~Gordon Lish
Back at the Borders signing a couple of weeks ago, a fellow author asked me if I had read my own books. I blinked, thought about it, and then realized...No.
Here's the thing: you write a book. You edit it a couple (or 10) times. Your editor sends it back with suggested changes, which you make. Your editor sends you 1-2 rounds of edits, which you make. Your editor asks you to read it through one more time before the FLE (Final Line Editor) gets it. And then before the print release, you read through the galleys one more time to catch any glitches.
So once those books come out in print, I for one am not at all interested in picking them up and reading them yet again. I've read interviews with movie stars who say they've never seen the complete movie they just filmed, and I always thought that was strange. Not anymore. (OK, this is not to say I'm comparing myself to Reese Witherspoon or anything...just the similar abstract concept...)
It's a weird sort of phenomenon. And having just finished the 2nd round of edits for One Night in Napa, I will say I feel the same way this time around. I still love the story, but I don't think I'll be picking it up in print and reading it page by page.
Hey, authors out there - what about you? Have you read your own books?
5 comments:
Not the full length ones, and for the same reason. After all the edits and whatnot, I've read the sucker 10 -20 times. I'm all done. Now, maybe a couple years from now, I'll feel like picking it up. But not anytime soon.
I have reread my shorts before, but I think that's because I didn't have to edit them quite as much. Only 5-10 times! LOL...
Hi Allie,
I never read the finished project. Even after reading it soooo many times, I would still read it in "editor" mode and would cringe if I caught mistakes that were overlooked. It would make me crazy to not be able to fix any errors. So, for my own sanity, once in print, I don't read it.
After so much editing, I never read my books again except for my Christmas book. It's short and I love the story since it's based on some truth about my childhood.
Allie,
Forgot to mention that I have one of your books listed for a giveaway in my new contest!
I am so sick of it. I'll have to wait till the partzeimers helps me forget the story. Then it will be a new book for me. But when it comes out in March in paperback. Hmmmm. I might just re read it, since I will have it with me wherever I go.
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