How publishing is like American Idol
I started watched American Idol Season 8 like millions of others — during the horrible, embarrassing audition process where tens of thousands of wannabes lined up in cities across our fair nation waiting for their time, their turn, their shot at the big time.
It’s a little like the slush pile aspiring authors hear so much about — or even know about first hand. Where we write and write like so many others, hoping to hitch our wagon to our publishing star.
As we write and rewrite and edit our books, and then labor over query letters, we send them/ourselves off to our own type of auditions with tens of thousands of other query letters. And just like the auditioning singers are horrible, so are some queries. Just like some singers shouldn’t even be singing in public, some writers shouldn’t really be writing for publication. Some are just not ready. Some will never be ready.
But of course there are those who rise to the top of the slush pile or the front of the audition line.
They get that golden ticket to move forward and go to Hollywood, or in a writer’s case, they’re invited to send their partial. There’s a lot of celebration, yet it’s just the first step. In a way, it’s the second level of slush piles.
The singers go to Hollywood. The writers spit and polish their stories. Everyone is under even more scrutiny than before, the stakes are higher. This is where you must be even better than you thought you had to be.
This is where you find out you might not be as good as you thought.
This, we hope, is where the cream begins to rise.
On American Idol it comes down to a final 36, 24, 12. In publishing it comes down to submitting your full manuscript. On AI you need votes to stay in the game. In publishing you must keep the agent’s attention and make him or her fall in love with your book. Similarly, American Idol contestants work hard not only to be the best they can be, but to make America fall in love with them.
Contestants want votes. Votes are not only part of a popularity contest, but a show of faith in a singer’s ability and potential. Writers want agent representation — it’s a show of faith in our ability to write a book that will sell.
They want more votes. We want an offer on our manuscript (hopefully with an advance).
The singers want to be the next American Idol. We want to be published authors. (To writers it might be the same thing as being American Idol, by the way.)
And just like surprise endings on Idol (I really thought Adam would win) — books often have surprise endings. And just like some voted for Adam and some for Kris, we gravitate to different authors based on personal taste.
American Idol is public, and the journey to publication is often private — but they both embrace artists with talent, drive, determination — and a little chutzpah doesn’t hurt either.
The American Idol gets a contract and now a trophy as well. A published writer gets to hold a book in his or her hand.
And while a writer’s journey might not include KISS or Lionel Ritchie or dry ice — we can write at home in our pajamas.
And that rocks in its own way.
I was thinking about these EXACT similarities last night with this in mind: All out of the “top 13 idols” are given a year-long venue to do what they love – sing for an audience. But rejected writers who get close (but not enough) to publishing? We have to muster the courage to re-invent that venue in the face of perceived failure.
Susan,
I guess the difference is in exposure, right? Authors, before widely published, don’t have an audience. Some of those Idol contestants will go on to have music careers even though they didn’t win.
I’ve always considered my down-the-road options…this a reminder to continue that train of thought, just in case.
Amy
Although I’m a singer/songwriter/musician, I’ve never watched AI. I do, however, understand how it works. You’re right – it’s quite similar to what we do as writers. We create, polish our act, and send it on the road. The “industry” then decides if we’re ready for the big time. As artists, in whatever genre, all we can do is improve our art. But really, what else would we ever want to do?
I agree Debbie — but there are those out there not ready to be scrutinized — that’s really evident at the beginning of AI. Some of the auditions are so sad. I always feel badly that someone didn’t tell that person they weren’t AI material.
Amy
Awesome comparison. Way to see it all the way through.