Last summer, I was lucky enough to do a signing at the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, where I was one of the shortlisters (and then winner!) of the McDermid Debut Award. It's a bit of an odd position to be in, because as a debut you're almost by definition a complete unknown. But I was also participating in a signing for award shortlisters, so even though I was new, I was also visibly A Guy Who Had Succeeded.
At the end of the signing, a gentleman in his fifties came forward, braced himself on his knuckles in front of me and asked me if I'd be willing to give him, without sugarcoating or pulling punches, an account of how difficult it was to get a book published, because, you see, he'd been thinking of giving it a go.
He was the last person in the queue, so I decided I'd sketch out the steps I'd personally taken and give him a rough idea of what sort of odds he'd be up against. And as I talked, with each step I described, I saw the light dim and then go out in his eyes. He straightened up, thanked me for my honesty, and walked away.
I immediately felt terrible. Because the truth is, on the face of it, the odds seem astronomical, if your aim is to be traditionally published. And yet, it's really not as bad as you think.
Let's get into why.