(Yes, I persist with the futile argument of reason.) 

Author A and Author B have completed manuscripts of equal brilliance and originality. They send them off to Fabulous Editor. The manuscripts sit side by side in Fabulous Editor’s inbox. Fabulous Editor grabs Author A’s manuscript first and falls ass over teakettle in love with it.

Does Fabulous Editor subsequently dump everything else in the inbox into the trash because she has found The Next Big Thing and never needs to look at another manuscript again?

No. Fabulous Editor continues mining for gold in the slush because Fabulous Editor intends to have a career beyond next year.

I have it on good authority Fabulous Editor would be running round the office screaming “This is the best fucking day of my life!” if the next manuscript she read also made her fall ass over teakettle in love with it.

Therefore, Author A’s manuscript is in no way impeding the publication of Author B’s manuscript.

Author A’s book and Author B’s book hit the shelves at the same time and, by happy coincidence, are placed side by side.

Discerning Reader finds both covers equally compelling and takes a look at both books. The back-cover copy is equally interesting. A quick skim of the contents suggests the books are equally brilliant and original, and Discerning Reader wants both. Equally.

So Discerning Reader buys both.

Yeah, but what if Discerning Reader has only enough money in her pocket for one book? Huh? What then, smarty pants?

Discerning Reader eeny-meeny-miney-moes her choice and comes back on payday to get the other one because she can’t get it out of her mind.

Therefore, Author A’s book is in no way impeding the sale of Author B’s book.

I don’t dispute the existence of competition, but it is not between writers. The competition is between reader interest and reader disinterest as it pertains to an individual story, whether that reader is an editor, an agent, a contest judge, or a book buyer. All of the above are looking for an engaging read—or two or twenty or eighty-six. No reader has ever bemoaned the agony of having too many exciting stories to choose from.

Once a writer sends a story out into the world, it stands or falls on its own. Nobody props it up. Nobody trips it. If it’s not universally embraced as a work of genius, that is not the fault of any writer other than the one who produced it, and spending even one minute of one day spewing about how someone else has ruined your chances of success is a waste of time you could have spent writing something new, something better, something that will juxtapose asses and teakettles everywhere.

(End rant. Please deposit nonsensical outbursts in the appropriate receptacle.)