Writers Talking About Writing
How Much Does Luck Contribute to an Author's Success?
How Much Does Luck Contribute to an Author's Success?
Luck Be Our Lady!
How much does luck contribute to an author's success?
When I think about luck and writing, one of the first word sets that comes to mind is Harry Potter. That is far more than a story of success for a down-and-out writer who was on social services sitting in a coffee shop every day with her infant at her feet writing her book. An ex-school teacher who was writing for no one but herself. That is truly a story of phenomenal luck with a capital "L."
As I've heard the story, J.K. Rowling's book was written in long hand. I've spoken to many editors in my day and the rule of thumb is that no manuscript that isn't typed, double-spaced, and that doesn't come in a typed envelope with an SASE isn't getting past the slush pile … if indeed it reaches that honored pile. In fact, just based on its untyped nature, it will be cast aside. But not in Rowling's case. It was luck that landed her manuscript in the hands of a decision-maker at the publishing house who supposedly was bored and having tea and needed something to read. It was luck that Rowling's manuscript was on the top of the heap. However, the rest of her story of success is due to her character development and talent as a writer.
Think I'm crazy? One thing I do day in and day out is talk to authors, well known and not so well known. You know what I hear from those who are selling tons of books? Authors who make a very good living from doing what they love to do in life? Yep. It was a stroke of luck that got them positioned thusly. One very accomplished writer extraordinaire actually suggested that I write a piece on luck because it was luck that got him going. It was luck, he pointed out, that came into a lot of well-known authors' lives. At first I disagreed, but the more I started asking the question of other authors, the more I realized he was absolutely right!
Don't believe me? Look at your own writing life. You have a great book. Your book is better than a lot of books on the book store shelves. So why isn't your book on the store shelves? Before you say that it is because these authors know people or that they have that certain magic that you don't, ask yourself:
What makes a best seller?
Does it really happen by design?
Or are publishers just rolling the dice with authors until they hit pay dirt?
Here's my opinion (it's a spoiler so don't read on if you don't want to know!) derived from over 20 years in the publishing business and working BOTH sides of the keyboard (i.e., writer and in publishing as an editor). Luck, my fellow writers, accounts for possibly 90% of a writer's success.
Surprised? Still doubtful? Okay, then I give you an assignment. Ask three best-selling authors how they made it and I'll bet you dollars to donuts that you'll hear a very humbled and common story of somehow being at the right time and right place, and getting the right response from readers of their book.
But here is the flip side to this coin. You cannot discount the importance of that other 10%. If you have a good story with a thorough and provocative plot line written well with excellent character development in place, you can be one of the lucky ones. These are all mandatory elements to the success equation in an author's life. Again, let's go back to Rowling's story. It started with a great bit of luck, but had her characters not been so highly developed and interesting, and had her writing not been exceedingly strong, her first book much less the rest of her books would not have been published. No one would know her beloved character Harry.
I do not want you to stop living the dream just because a lot of your success as an author boils down to luck. It has a lot to do with how many eyes you get your book in front of, too! Expose yourself!! (Okay, minds out of the gutter, folks.) Increase your luck by reaching out to people.
Focus your marketing efforts on the luck factor's source - the human factor. Human beings are mostly random creatures by nature. Sure, we have our daily routines, but how many times are those rhythms interrupted by the unexpected? We've all experienced the "randomness" of creativity, ideas and inspiration. Some of my best ideas, for example, come to me in the middle of the night. Or in the shower. Or driving. It doesn't get more random than that. I'm certainly not trying to form the ideas. They just randomly come to me. It's an intimate experience. And that's the key. But I digress.
What I want to leave you with today is that you can never forget that the real end game to writing is touching the lives of readers (a.k.a., real people) with your story. You are not selling books. Book sales are the byproduct of touching lives. On that note, here is my recommendation. Focus your book marketing on an interpersonal approach (not a mass marketing approach). Mass marketing works for toothpaste but not for books, and the reality is that we're becoming increasingly numb to mass market advertising anyway.
For those of you who have been reading these Book Candy Sandy pieces for awhile, you might guess what's coming next. But I feel like I need to hammer this message home.
How do you create an interpersonal marketing approach for your book(s)? Social media networking!!!! "Social" media marketing is what? SOCIAL! It is not selling. It is getting to know other human beings on a personal level and sharing YOUR STORY with them. Not pushing your book in their faces. When you invest the time to get to know more people (a.k.a., book store owners, readers, editors, libraries, bloggers, etc.) you might just find that your luck improves! In fact, I'm willing to bet I'm right. I'm feeling pretty lucky today! but that's an announcement for another day.
Shoot me your questions and comments. I will respond personally.
Book Candy Sandy
sandy@bookcandystudios.com
949.613.2099
www.bookcandystudios.com
Luck Be Our Lady!
How much does luck contribute to an author's success?
When I think about luck and writing, one of the first word sets that comes to mind is Harry Potter. That is far more than a story of success for a down-and-out writer who was on social services sitting in a coffee shop every day with her infant at her feet writing her book. An ex-school teacher who was writing for no one but herself. That is truly a story of phenomenal luck with a capital "L."
As I've heard the story, J.K. Rowling's book was written in long hand. I've spoken to many editors in my day and the rule of thumb is that no manuscript that isn't typed, double-spaced, and that doesn't come in a typed envelope with an SASE isn't getting past the slush pile … if indeed it reaches that honored pile. In fact, just based on its untyped nature, it will be cast aside. But not in Rowling's case. It was luck that landed her manuscript in the hands of a decision-maker at the publishing house who supposedly was bored and having tea and needed something to read. It was luck that Rowling's manuscript was on the top of the heap. However, the rest of her story of success is due to her character development and talent as a writer.
Think I'm crazy? One thing I do day in and day out is talk to authors, well known and not so well known. You know what I hear from those who are selling tons of books? Authors who make a very good living from doing what they love to do in life? Yep. It was a stroke of luck that got them positioned thusly. One very accomplished writer extraordinaire actually suggested that I write a piece on luck because it was luck that got him going. It was luck, he pointed out, that came into a lot of well-known authors' lives. At first I disagreed, but the more I started asking the question of other authors, the more I realized he was absolutely right!
Don't believe me? Look at your own writing life. You have a great book. Your book is better than a lot of books on the book store shelves. So why isn't your book on the store shelves? Before you say that it is because these authors know people or that they have that certain magic that you don't, ask yourself:
What makes a best seller?
Does it really happen by design?
Or are publishers just rolling the dice with authors until they hit pay dirt?
Here's my opinion (it's a spoiler so don't read on if you don't want to know!) derived from over 20 years in the publishing business and working BOTH sides of the keyboard (i.e., writer and in publishing as an editor). Luck, my fellow writers, accounts for possibly 90% of a writer's success.
Surprised? Still doubtful? Okay, then I give you an assignment. Ask three best-selling authors how they made it and I'll bet you dollars to donuts that you'll hear a very humbled and common story of somehow being at the right time and right place, and getting the right response from readers of their book.
But here is the flip side to this coin. You cannot discount the importance of that other 10%. If you have a good story with a thorough and provocative plot line written well with excellent character development in place, you can be one of the lucky ones. These are all mandatory elements to the success equation in an author's life. Again, let's go back to Rowling's story. It started with a great bit of luck, but had her characters not been so highly developed and interesting, and had her writing not been exceedingly strong, her first book much less the rest of her books would not have been published. No one would know her beloved character Harry.
I do not want you to stop living the dream just because a lot of your success as an author boils down to luck. It has a lot to do with how many eyes you get your book in front of, too! Expose yourself!! (Okay, minds out of the gutter, folks.) Increase your luck by reaching out to people.
Focus your marketing efforts on the luck factor's source - the human factor. Human beings are mostly random creatures by nature. Sure, we have our daily routines, but how many times are those rhythms interrupted by the unexpected? We've all experienced the "randomness" of creativity, ideas and inspiration. Some of my best ideas, for example, come to me in the middle of the night. Or in the shower. Or driving. It doesn't get more random than that. I'm certainly not trying to form the ideas. They just randomly come to me. It's an intimate experience. And that's the key. But I digress.
What I want to leave you with today is that you can never forget that the real end game to writing is touching the lives of readers (a.k.a., real people) with your story. You are not selling books. Book sales are the byproduct of touching lives. On that note, here is my recommendation. Focus your book marketing on an interpersonal approach (not a mass marketing approach). Mass marketing works for toothpaste but not for books, and the reality is that we're becoming increasingly numb to mass market advertising anyway.
For those of you who have been reading these Book Candy Sandy pieces for awhile, you might guess what's coming next. But I feel like I need to hammer this message home.
How do you create an interpersonal marketing approach for your book(s)? Social media networking!!!! "Social" media marketing is what? SOCIAL! It is not selling. It is getting to know other human beings on a personal level and sharing YOUR STORY with them. Not pushing your book in their faces. When you invest the time to get to know more people (a.k.a., book store owners, readers, editors, libraries, bloggers, etc.) you might just find that your luck improves! In fact, I'm willing to bet I'm right. I'm feeling pretty lucky today! but that's an announcement for another day.
Shoot me your questions and comments. I will respond personally.
Book Candy Sandy
sandy@bookcandystudios.com
949.613.2099
www.bookcandystudios.com
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Keep a few things in mind as you post here:
1. Posts are public.
This is a public forum and all posts are archived on the web. Bottom line, don't say anything here you wouldn't want everyone (and I mean EVERYONE: your mom, your little brother, your future employer) to see. Forever.
2. Be On Topic.
This is a group of writers. We're here to talk about writing, the creation of writing, the business of writing, events about writing. We are also a community of friends to some extent, which means that on occasion, non-writing topics will come up. Use the Start a New Discussion link if you want to change topics, and be sure to Title and Tag your post appropriately. That way your fellow writers will be able to scan the list of active discussions and see which ones are of interest.
3. Be Respectful.
Don't really foresee a problem here, but we gotta say it anyway. Disagreements are fine, but please please don't resort to personal insults and/or name calling. Mean people are not cool and harassment, intentionally inflammatory remarks, and bigotry will not be tolerated.
4. Privacy.
We'll respect yours. We won't give away or sell names, contact information, etc. Please do the same for your fellow community members.
5. SPAM. Don't.
6. Ads.
Part of the deal with using this wonderful, free online tool (ning.com) is that it has Ads running along the side. We can upgrade to a professional account, but it will cost $20 per month, so if it bothers you, be prepared to pony up.
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