Author Patricia Park has learned the hard way that not anyone can write a good book. While she dealt with her share of tough writers working as a book publicist, Park has written her own book and learned the hardship of being a novelist.
The former publishing professional has penned a column for The Daily Beast which details what she learned when leaving the publishing business to work on her own novel. Here is an excerpt from the piece:
Having worked in the business made me think I knew how the sausage factory was run, but in continuing with this oft-used publishing metaphor, I knew nothing about raising the pig from which the sausage was made. As difficult as it was to publish and promote books in a shrinking market, I soon learned it was that much harder to write one in the first place.
Park’s first novel Re Jane came out earlier this month. The book is a Korean-American retelling of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë set in NYC and Seoul.