Message in a bottle

To write, publish, or distribute a book is like putting a message in a bottle and tossing it into the sea: its destination is uncertain.

Gabriel Zaid, So Many Books

Gabriel Zaid, above, is clearly not talking about the likes of James Patterson, Laura Lippman, Michael Connelly or any other author of popular books, although what he says may very well been true of these authors early in their careers.

For writers starting out, it can be a great challenge getting an agent, then finding a publisher and then, perhaps most challenging of all, attracting readers. The message in a bottle metaphor is actually spot on in most cases.

Writing a book takes hours upon hours of work. For writers who cannot yet get an advance from a publisher, this is unpaid labor. The labor includes research, especially in the case of nonfiction books, and countless hours spent writing and editing — usually spare time, because these writers often have full-time jobs or families to take care of. They must struggle with plots, sentences, grammar, clarity and, in some cases, trying to create art. All this must be done without ever knowing if anyone will actually pay money to read all those words.

The book publishing industry exists and succeeds because there are so many people in the world with something they want to say who are willing to take this great chance — to, in effect, put their message in a bottle with the hope that someone someday will actually find it and read it.

Relatively few of the books written are actually published, and few of those published actually sell a significant number of copies. 

Zaid concludes his thought on an optimistic note: "And yet again and again the miracle occurs: a book finds its reader, a reader finds his book."