I'm no-ot whi-in-ing!

So there's this terrific collaborative effort of young adult writers and bloggers--YA Highway--who do these Wednesday road trip topics, and I always read them but I'm never really sure if I should jump in and join because I'm really more of a lurker than a joiner...

...but this week on twitter literary agent Colleen Lindsay started asking people to have a no-whining-week (#nww for the hashtag proficient) and to say some nice things about publishing, and well, the publishing industry may have its flaws, but it still produces hundreds of thousands of MY FAVORITE THINGS ON EARTH, so I thought I could come up with some positive things to say. 

(See?  Monkey is full of smiles when standing next to my stacks of books--those of course being my favorite things on earth.)

So, positive thing number one about the publishing industry:  GOOD BOOKS.  Oh, I know there are all kinds of things to complain about--I've whined about some of those very things  myself--but in the interest of not whining, I will say that there are still lots of good books selling.  And I love reading them.

Positive thing number two about the publishing industry is the WONDERFUL WRITERS.  I have the awesome privilege of being friends in real and internet life with so many writers at all stages of this profession, and they are amazingly awesome, one and all.  They are my favorite people, and the fact is, without them, I don't know if I could do it.  The support of my writer friends is worth so much, I can't even begin to express it.  And really, when it comes to me whining, they bear the brunt of my angst, and they never fail to help me see the positive side.

So speaking of positive things, I just got off the phone this afternoon with my agent (and I still can't quite get used to the way that sounds), and when I hung up, I felt so excited and energized about my book.  This may seem strange, since what she was calling about was essentially a rejection, but in the process of talking over plans for edits and eventually subbing to editors, I came away with a SENSE OF POSSIBILITY--and that's what I think is most positive about this industry, the fact that really, I know plenty of people who sat down, put their fingers to the keys, did their research, didn't give up, and they wrote books, found agents, got book deals, managed publicity, made mistakes, received fan mail, and who knows?  Maybe they even changed lives. In any case, they're still writing, and they're still dreaming, and the possibilities are still endless.

The publishing industry is in flux, and it is flawed, and I'm certain that I'm not finished whining about it.  But there's also a lot to love.