In the last ten plus years as an author-publisher, I have learned about the publishing business on that level. Also, I have carried a lot of beliefs that I’m unlearning. Dean Wesley Smith (along with his wife, Kristine Kathryn Rusch) has helped in that unlearning process and I’m truly grateful there are veteran authors willing to share their knowledge and hard-earned wisdom about being a fiction writer and a publisher.

Originally posted on his blog, Smith has taken on the top ten myths in traditional publishing. According to him, these myths have been more detrimental to writers’ careers than required. Smith makes clear throughout Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing this is only one writer’s advice and every writer’s path to a professional career is different. Let me repeat that last part of the prior sentence. Every writer’s path to a professional career is different. And this will be the first piece of advice I would give to anyone who wants to pursue writing professionally in the social media age.

Smith lays out his argument by dispelling these ten sacred cows of publishing:

1) There is only one right way to do anything in publishing

2) Writing fast is bad

3) You must rewrite to make something good

4) You must have an agent to sell a book

5) Books are events

6) Selling a novel to traditional publishing will guarantee the novel is a quality; or conversely not selling a novel to traditional publishing will mean the novel is not quality

7) To sell to either editors or readers, you must write what is hot

8) You can’t make a living with your fiction

9) To be good, writing must be hard

10) If I do (this or that) I will kill my career

Smith writes straightforwardly attacking these myths and how they can cripple a writer’s career before it gains any traction. I think the sacred cows he critiques the most are the ideas that writing quickly is harmful, revising is necessary to produce quality work, and traditional publishing guarantees a novel’s excellence. I believe Smith has gotten the most resistance from going after these sacred cows.

To conclude, I will share some of the most inspiring words I’ve come across as a writer and publisher. This is from the last chapter where Smith writes what can kill a writer’s career.

Any writer that stops writing and just becomes an “author,” (a person who has written) will kill their own career. That’s how careers are killed. A writer stops writing. It really is that simple.

But if you go into everything you do in publishing, believing the myth that you can make a mistake and kill your career, you will make all your decisions from a position of fear. And you will make horrid decisions.

If you never stop writing, gain some courage, and stop worrying about killing your career, you might be stunned at what you can manage in this business. You will write and enjoy the writing until the day you die. And that’s a great reward. So stop worrying and go have fun.

Amen. I recommend reading Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing, even if you don’t agree with the arguments presented. It’s valuable and will encourage you to approach writing in a new way.