WRITING in the AGE OF AMAZON

These days, the advice writers, writing blogs, Twitter, Facebook author groups, writer's conferences, author/agent/publishing panels, your neighbor's grandmother's niece's dog walker's writing guru gives is to WRITE FAST AND PUBLISH FASTER.

Get a book out every three months and beat Amazon's algorithm. Which is fine if you're a fast writer and confident of the quality of the product you're putting out. But what happens if you're not?
Does the slow writer need to pack up shop and move to Tahiti in hopes of securing a neverending muse? Does he need to compromise on his end product? Does anyone even care what the end product is anymore? Evidently, bad writing and bad editing has become so much the norm that its actually a shock to read a really good book these days. 

I've been plagued with these questions these last few weeks. I even got lost in the rat race for a bit, trying to churn out pages, make ulcer-inspiring deadlines, shmooze with agents and editors who all seem as confused by the changing book market as me...until I asked myself what I hoped to accomplish with my writing?

Did I simply want to become an author who beat Amazon's algorithm? Why do I write? What do I hope to accomplish at the end of a book?

I won't deny being a bestseller would be appealing. But do I want that at the cost of my end product...not to mention my sanity? I don't think so. What I want most is to find a few patient readers who'll love my book and the care I've taken to bring it to life. 

This is not writing advice. This is just me remembering what I love about writing is...to simply write.