There’s been something on my mind for quite a while now and part of it stems from my visits to bookstores and equating our works as ‘products’ or unit to be moved like CD’s or any other source that creates collateral for all.

I’ve been writing since junior high way back when and I’ve always treated the written word as a form of expression, a talent that belongs to everyone no matter who and what you are. Yet in my years of becoming a published author and now director of a book fair, I see that pushing books to the hands of readers is part of ‘the business’ that we as authors and scribes have to do to survive. In short, we have to hustle just to keep our names and stories alive for public consumption. As I take a step back from the rat race of books, I wonder what does it all mean anyway? What and why are we doing this for?

For some, writing is a way to tell a story not found in the quiet stacks of novels perched along shelves at Borders or Barnes and Noble or any of the rapidly shrinking independent bookstores. For others, it’s a way to get paid. A sure fire tale or series filled with controversial literal heat and fire will get the pages turning especially if they involve sex, murder, deceit, lies, all that good stuff. It’s not just the flesh driven sensual tales that will drive fans to the bookstores either. Tales of the spirit, how to improve your station in life are also available for anyone who wants it and yes, there are still a few socially consciousness volumes packed with intellectual food for the mind. At least in our black culture, there’s enough to go around and rightfully so.

Whenever I conduct a writers workshop, I hear the voices of the unpublished author who has a good story in mind, but when I think of my colleagues who have already been published, I feel for the aspiring writer because my contemporaries who have already heard from those ahead of us in the literary world will judge them for whatever reason, whether it is lack of focus, content or bad grammar. It’s almost sad in a way that as quickly the new author dreams of making a name, the ‘veterans’ are like a pack of rabid dogs with fangs exposed, ready to devour the heart of the beginning author tearing it asunder then retreat when all the morsels have been tastefully consumed. You would say it’s not fair, that these same authors should remember when they were first starting out how difficult it was for them to be published themselves. However, they don’t and that’s unfortunate for the new and aspiring author because the fear of competition blinds us from giving a word of advice to someone who needs it, a word of encouragement and constructive criticism to help the newbie on their way.

What the hell are we writing for anyway? Either we’re born with this gift, blessed to find it in a moment in time or we work hard to become the best. The older I become, the more I realize it’s not about the fame or how many books I sold, none of that. I believe it’s the impact I’ve made, the creative way I crafted my tale, the smile on someone’s face when they get what I’m saying or the negative tongues who couldn’t connect the dots on my story. Once you write something, you should expect all types of reactions to what you’ve written and not all pleasing. I guess that explains a bit of human nature also. When you do something successful, everyone’s patting your back and claiming how good your work was, finding parts of the tale they enjoyed. When you’re not successful in their eyes, they cite a thousand reasons why you shouldn’t be a writer, let alone publish another book. This is the uncharted territory as a new author you must be prepared for. The road to ‘success’ is very muddy indeed.

If the promise of sales and fortune never existed, I wonder how many of us would still be writing today? If we wrote purely for the love of the craft and a feeling to create a story that will uplift instead of denigrate, motivate instead of discouraging, and everlasting instead of short term, how many of us would be writing today? Not only that, how many of our race would invest in stories like that? While it wouldn’t be fair to say who would and the number involved, the closing of bookstores and failure to attend book fairs is a indicator of our current troubles in the business. Product will not move merely because either we’re not writing better stories or perhaps, just perhaps, we’re in a generation that doesn’t value reading as much as it did in the past. Maybe it’s a lack of discipline provided of the way our society moves, fast with no signs of slowing down.

Why do we write? Why do we bother? Those are questions better left for us to answer alone.