The life of an author can have wild swings. Some of the news can be remarkably hopeful. This week I got an email through my author site from Sebastian Barry. You know, the Booker Prize finalist, an Irish writer aged 70 with a significant and artistic style. He was just reaching out through my website to buck me up.
Over time, I’ve been fortunate to see some of my books find their way into the hands of readers, and I’m deeply grateful for how far things have come. The work has picked up a bit of attention, some kind reviews, a bit of recognition here and there, and it’s been meaningful, but also humbling. I say that not to impress, but because I remember very clearly what it was like to feel like no one was reading, like the words might never reach anyone. That feeling sticks with me.
It sounds so genuine, and yet somehow, raised some doubts. I coach authors and never can be sure where I’m read; it’s the Web that leads people toward me, after all. Nobody can be very invisible these days with AI searching for us. Why not employ the bots to find out who my Sebastian really is?
There were clues that mine was not the real thing. “A bit of attention, some kind reviews,” it all sounds like a fellow like me, putting one word in front of another. Getting published, gaining nice reviews, but still shy of acclaim. It does not line up with an author of the same name who’s come within shouting distance of the storied Man Booker Prize.
He’s twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for his novels A Long Long Way (2005) and The Secret Scripture (2008), the latter of which won the 2008 Costa Book of the Year and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. His 2011 novel On Canaan’s Side was long-listed for the Booker.
What do I make of this? For about 10 minutes or so, I let the support from another writer lift my spirits. And yet, here he is, baring an Gmail address in his message and delivering an invite to draw closer.
Wishing you good writing days ahead, and readers who meet your work with care.
Warmly, Sebastian
Is there anything you’ve found lately that’s been helpful, or surprising, in your own writing or publishing journey?
There’s even a reference to a Goodreads page for the real Sebastian Barry. Because by now I’m convinced this is a honey pot, like the one that got stuck on Winnie-the-Pooh’s head. AI, at work in a very advanced take, just dropping a comment into an author’s website. What we’re told now is that the Nigerian princes have morphed into helpful publicity agents and now prize-winning authors. The phrase “preyed upon” comes to mind.
The phantom 1-star
Being reviewed and rated is part of the delightful journey of being an author. Hey, someone is paying attention to me. We were taught in journalism school to take care about spelling people’s names. A name makes something more real (see Sebastian, above). But how real is a name attached to a 1-star review? Maybe no more real than the prize winner’s.
A smattering of genuine readers have done me the kindness of rating Sins of Liberty on Goodreads. All 5-stars, because it’s the most generous thing to give a writer. Then among all of those, a 1-star rating. Goodreads tells me the rater is one Patricia Krause, with no other information besides a name.
I tell authors you’re more real once you get 1-starred. I’d like to know more about Patricia, if that’s her real name. I find an author who’s in the same part of the world as I, Central Texas, who had a self-published Author House book released 20 years ago. I can’t even know if it’s the same person. Not anymore than I can reach out to find if Sebastian really found time between novel writing to praise my work.
Of note: You don’t even have to buy a copy of a book listed on Goodreads to leave a rating. You don’t have to write a review to rate a book. The ratings are the least anyone can do for a book, or the tenderest blow they can strike at you.
I take comfort that at least machines, and perhaps wayward authors with long ago books, are finding my work. Life is lived between these poles in the world of being an author, the writer who releases books and builds web pages to get them discovered.