The Writer's Story

Though she was a gifted writer
And had spent half her life
Honing her verbal skills,
None of her books were selling.
The people who reviewed her work
Uniformly agreed
They were extremely well written
Perhaps some of the best
In their genre.
None of that seemed to matter.
She had run the gauntlet,
As far as she was concerned,
Gone through author’s hell
Getting her work polished and ready,
Finding a publisher
Willing to take a risk
And print them.
That turned out to be
Only the opening salvo in a battle
To get the books out there
And in the hands of readers.
Ultimately it was not about the books,
But about how well
She presented herself,
And she was not a public speaker.
She was intimidated by crowds
And was not prepared
To go on the road
Marketing her books,
And the books
Didn’t market themselves.