Devoted to publishing, publishers and to those who craft the written word

Feel lucky, punk?

Susan Henderson is having a marvelous conversation over at LitPark about the role of luck in a literary career. As somebody sitting in the wacky world of New York publishing, I gotta say,  makes a good point about luck.

Out here, I've seen plenty of good writers crash and burn, and I've seen good writers become great writers. Writing is a crazy profession, and there are no guarantees.

Here's a humbling quote from Brad Listi:

"To be certain, my publishing success wouldn’t have happened had I not worked very hard and been savvy, and so on. But it could have just as easily have not happened, too, despite all of those things. Plenty of hardworking people, many of whom are far more talented than I, don’t get the ride that I’ve gotten. I’m well aware of that fact, and it’s humbling." 

While you ponder that, why not visit Nervous Breakdown, a writing experiment Brad Listi started (sharing a bit of his own luck), dedicated to creating opportunities for writers to find readers. The site features some wild stories and is pretty addictive.