Guest Post ~ Ms. Lee drops by the Lair...

Allow me to introduce you to a wonderful woman... Ms. Sullivan Lee! Please give her a warm Smutty Hussy warming! Grab a sit and see what she has to say!!!!

Publishing Addiction – The Self Publishing Fix

When Cecile invited me to do a guest blog on All I Want and More, she cautioned me that it couldn't be one for the kids. Well, since just looking at her banner gets me all hot and bothered, I should say not! But it was a good warning – after all my first four books are for children (though one, Ladies in Waiting, is a pretty raunchy historical YA, with lust and intrigue and cross-dressing.) I've been wanting to break out of my good little children's writer shell, so I'm very happy to be on an adult blog!

I won't talk about sex – there's plenty of that here already (mmmm) so what else is adult enough? How about drugs? No this won't be the big children's author drug scandal expose. (I did – I don't now – who hasn't?) But I will tell you about my new addiction, one I only just realized I have: a publishing addiction.

There are a lot of crushing disappointments in publishing, but there are also ecstatic moments of gratification – the first request for a partial from an agent, for example. The first little puff of success – what a rush! But then you need more. A request for a full comes next, then, at last, an offer. No doubt about it, I was hooked!

But it wasn't enough. Sure, it was still a high to see my first book traditionally published, but sales weren't stellar – and when you're under the influence of the Publishing drug, you're deluded enough to be disappointed by anything less than J.K. Rowling success. So you look for your next fix. Another traditional sale is great, but what if it isn't strong enough? And you can't sell more than a book or two a year, so there's a big rush, then a long dry season. You need a new drug to keep that gratification coming.

Thank goodness the wizards in their labs whipped up self-publishing, the ultimate fix for jonesing writers. Now, every few months, I can have a new book or novella or story out, and I can have more of those reviews and fan letters that are heroin to writers. Every time I know that someone has read one of my books, I get a sense of euphoria like you wouldn't believe. Sure, sometimes it's cut with a bad review or snarky comment, but I've been lucky, and most of my career has been full of highs, with only the occasional bummer or crash.

In a way I'm kidding – but just ask any writer who hasn't hit it big yet. We look at our email inbox like it is a scruffy little dealer, promising us our next fix. A request? An offer? A dime bag of glowing reviews? An 8-ball of Amazon sales? I need it, for the endorphin rush that makes life worth living.

I used to want to be published. Now, I think I need to be published, with a real physical need. No rehab for me!
XO
Sully

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And remember... Keep it Dirty, Smutty & Hussy!