If you dip your virtual toe into the community of would-be writers who haunt the internet, it’s astonishing the amount of bilious loathing that can percolate through the pixels on your computer screen.  There’s a community of bitter writers who blog and tweet and post about how the entire publishing industry is aligned against them.  They believe that there are ranks of agents, publishers, and other assorted nasty people whose sole purpose in life is to ensure that their masterpiece doesn’t get into print.

I sympathize, to a degree.  Last summer I was waking up most mornings to another glowing rejection in my inbox.  And it was pretty rotten, frankly – especially at five o’clock in the morning.  Now, we’re all entitled to feel a bit sorry for ourselves from time to time.  Yes, it all sucks on occasion.  But in the end the only solution is to roll up our sleeves and write some more, the best we can.  If people spent half the time they waste complaining actually, you know, writing, then who knows?

Anyway, my friend Suzanne, who works in the book trade in the UK, tweeted about this website that sells T-shirts for writers.  I’m guessing they’re supposed to be worn with irony, but lord knows, there are enough people out there who’d mean every word.  Here are some of the designs I liked the best.

Of course, these days it should be "e-mails".

Acknowledging the problem is part of the solution.

Ironic, I'm guessing, but also probably true in many instances

Ah, catharsis!

Here’s the link to the website.