A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

Somehow my mind has altered the phrase a bit to “a rising tide floats all boats.” But, either way, the meaning and intent is the same, so whatever floats your boat ;-)

Success for one can mean success for all. And we all do well when one of us does well.  It's become an anti-competition catch phrase in my life.  I'm not sure when or from whom I first heard it, but the one that sticks in my head is my Sensei, boss, and friend Monique. While she has applied it to martial arts training and business networking, in my life I most often reach for it in my role as a hype girl and author mentor within the indie romance community. 

This phrase/concept/feeling has been showing up in my feed routinely for the last several months. Even more so in the weekend leading right up to and just following Charm City Romanticon.  The spirit of fellowship and camaraderie amongst the authors in attendance was sublime. Authors were fangirling other authors, making plans to cross-promote with their new friends, sharing their books and groups.  It was a stunning and concrete example of the rising tide concept.

I truly believe there is space for every author in the Romancelandia bay. And that the rising star of one author does not diminish or detract from another author's ability to shine. It is absolutely possible to rise and bring others with you. Helping another author achieve success does not mean less success for the helping author. But still, the concept of competition, and readers as pie, persists in some circles. And it hurts my heart.

Because here's the thing, while there may be a finite number of readers and a finite number of books, the number of each is so vast, and grows so much each day, that it would be nearly impossible for an author to max out on readers or lose readers to another author. So this feeling of "if they're reading Author X they're not reading me, therefore Author X is my competition and therefore my enemy" is ridiculous. 

It reminds me of sixth grade. If you're friends with her you can't be friends with me. It was a crock then and it's a crock now. Because here's the thing, there is no way for one author to write enough books to satisfy each and every reader's needs each and every day. Even if that reader is brand new to that author, eventually they will devour that author's backlist and crave more. So while that author writes their next story, the reader expands their horizons and reads something by another author. How do I know this?  Ha! I live this! 

When I first started reading romance novels in March of 2020, I binged the heck out of everything Brittney Sahin wrote. And when I'd read and reread her entire backlist, while waiting for her next book, I found Janice Whiteaker. And binged her books. Then read Brittney's next one, then Janice's next one. Then I found Samantha Cole. And the process started again. Then I expanded my horizons from Romantic Suspense to Contemporary Romance and found authors like Claire Kingsley, process repeated. And Kathryn Nolan. And Lucy Score. Who led me to Pippa Grant. And Avery Maxwell. I found each of those authors through a recommendation by someone else. And those recommendations led to even more recommendations. Sometimes by another reader, but even more often recently by another author. Yep, one author recommended another. Think Miracle on 34th Street when Santa recommends another store for a toy. Yep, it was a solid message even back then. 

As I found a new author I loved, I shared their books with anyone who would listen. My socials became a beautiful collection of a variety of authors, with me sharing what I loved about each of them. Not one, all. Because it wasn't a competition. I never felt like I was being disloyal to one by recommending another. Because success isn't pie. It's sunshine. 

You can think of it as pie. But I'll tell you to eat all the pie you want, because the baker will make more. But a good baker will also be happy if you eat ice cream while they bake the next pie. Because baking a good pie takes time, and can be exhausting when the demand is really high. (Are you picking up on the metaphor here? Writing books is hard, y’all. And writing a good one takes time. And energy. And sometimes it takes longer than expected. I know you get it.)

But sunshine is pretty infinite, right?  Unless someone is forcing you to stand in their shadow, you can share that sunshine with minimal effort. And if you are in the shade, trying to see the light, how amazing is it when someone helps instead of hinders your efforts. When they move over so you can stand next to them. Or they lift you up for a few minutes to get above the canopy, understanding that you'll make room for them and hoist you up above the treeline too. 

Ok, getting back to boats and tides… if we're all sitting in the same bay, we all rise together when the tide comes in. And make no mistake, the tide is rising.  More people are reading romance every day. Clamoring for more stories. And as that tide rises we all rise with it. Perhaps if someone's boat isn't rising, rather than latching onto the boat next to them and trying to sink them as well, they should check their own anchor. 

Sometimes it's their own unwillingness to extend more line, or cut it completely (because that length has always worked before), that's the real problem.