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Okay. Let's talk about this for a second, because she's not wrong.
I write fast. That's not bragging: anyone who follows my work knows I write fast. Hell, anyone who follows me on Twitter knows I write fast.
Am I currently the fastest person in our genre? I have no way of knowing. I'd feel comfortable saying that I'm probably in the top ten, maybe even in the top five. Because I write fast.
(This is where I footnote and say that writing fast or writing slow is a) not a virtue and b) not something you can necessarily control. Everyone has their natural "cruising speed," and yours is not mine is not yours is not mine. There is no value judgment here.)
I am a full-time author, and have been for several years now. I have no children. My mother lives with me, and part of how she pays her rent is by doing the majority of the housework. I am straight up a Victorian gentleman poet in some ways. And I naturally write fast.
In 2019, I will release six stand-alone books and three graphic novels. Because I write fast.
Maybe--MAYBE--if I were willing to farm out 100% of my editorial revisions and review time to paid professionals (and there are good professionals out there, and sometimes this is the right choice), I could increase that number to eight or even nine stand-alone books.
I write fast enough that I have stopped disclosing my daily word count because it was causing authors I like and respect to feel like they were slacking (and sometimes to get angry at me for lying).
I write very clean, meaning my books require less editorial time than they might potentially. Part of this is because a lot of my work is part of pre-existing series, where the rules are already codified; part of it is because I started in fanfic and built good habits.
I write what I personally consider to be pretty good, and since my sales are solid and I've won some awards, I don't feel like that's bragging. My work isn't everyone's cup of tea, but no one's work is everyone's cup of tea. I do okay.
I am a goddamn unicorn. When they say "fast, clean, good, pick two," they pause, look at me, and say, "or pick Seanan, but be aware that she's a space princess from Mars, and should not be counted on the bell curve."
And it is as a unicorn that I say that anyone who tells you that "success" looks like publishing one to two books A MONTH is not playing honestly.
Yes, the definition of "book" is flexible. If all your books are novella-length (18-40k) or less, and you're farming out your editorial, I guess it's possible. For some people. On word count alone.
No time to think about the story. No time to refine it, revise it, let it marinate. No time to have a life. Better not have kids, a job, a hobby that fulfills you. One to two books a month or you're a failure. GO GO GO.
There's a difference between "I pushed myself to build a back list" and "this is the future, forever." One of them is harmful but understandable: you knew the job was dangerous when you took it. The other is harmful not only to yourself, but to others.
So please, listen to the unicorn. I'm not saying this because I don't want the competition, or because I'm trying to pull the ladder up behind myself. I'm saying this because setting the house on fire is not the best way to stay warm.
You may not be a unicorn. But you're still unique, and amazing, and you, and no one else gets to be you, ever. So don't break yourself trying for two books a month. Even I refuse to do that. Write your stories at your speed, and light up the sky with your glory.
