I used to read too fast so I could earn as many free personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut as I could. But as soon as I’d aged out of free pizza—the cruelest rite of passage ever—I calmed my cheese-drunk ass down and returned to reading like a human.
For me, this question of futility often seems to hit two patterns: 1) insecurity/uncertainty about one’s place in the world, and 2) disillusionment about the reality of writing.
Agents are often overworked, underpaid, and have full lives outside of their jobs. I think writers sometimes have unrealistic expectations because of one of my favorite things in the world: inaccurate movie portrayals of a writer’s life.
Book bans aren’t really extra publicity. Or maybe, at best, they’re neutral extra publicity. As in, publicity that doesn’t do anything. People are talking about the book, people are angry about the book ban, but it’s not improving sales, nor is it reversing the ban.
It’s one thing if one person can’t remember the name of, say, a side character, but if multiple people are struggling, that’s usually a sign that something’s wrong.
