This is part one of my Authorship is a Business series. For the next 7 days, I will expand on each of the areas I believe you should take charge of as a serious author. Remember, you are the CEO of your book project. I’m offering valuable information about how to take charge no matter where you are currently in the process. Why is this important? Read my June 19th post.
Write the right book for the right audience.
Number one on your list of things to do once you decide to write a book for publication and commercial distribution is to consider the book you are writing. I like to challenge hopeful authors to evaluate their reason for writing the book they have in mind and the purpose of the book.
Your reason.
Why are writing this book?
• Is it a story you are just burning to tell?
• Do you hope to write a bestseller and make a lot of money?
• Are you planning to impress people with this book?
• Does authorship status appeal to you?
• Do you have something you believe is important to share or teach?
• Are you hoping to gain credibility in your field through this effort?
• Has research indicated there is a need for this book?
• Is this a popular genre?
If you see ego in your reasons for writing this book, you might rethink the book you have in mind. If your reasons seem frivolous, please reconsider. If, on the other hand, your reasons are valid—you can authentically justify them—this book may be a potentially viable project. Hint, the last four points indicate that you’re on the right track.
Your book’s purpose.
What is the purpose of your book? Is it to entertain, teach, share, guide, inspire, cause readers to think? Or do you see the purpose as being more self-serving? If your underlying purpose is to change minds, make a personal point, impress others with your knowledge or use of fancy words or fulfill your own needs in some way, you may be writing down the wrong path.
If you determine that your reason and purpose are not exactly pure, it may not be necessary to give up on your book project. Not at all! Just take another hard look at the book you have in mind. A few changes in perception and focus may result in a viable product. Keep reading.
How to determine the right book for the right audience.
We will talk about the book proposal tomorrow. An important aspect of the book proposal is the market analysis or the competition part of it. This is where you (the hopeful author) study other books like yours to determine what is out there already, what is missing, what is needed/wanted by your potential readers. For fiction, if you expect to attract a large audience, you’ll want to choose a genre that is popular. You’ll also need to make sure your writing is on par with that of competing authors. To fiction authors I advise, read books in your genre. Lots and lots of them. Really study what works and evaluate whether you truly have the skills needed. If you’re lacking in this area, get help. Join a critique group or enroll in a creative writing class or workshop either online or in real time. If you’re not sure whether your writing stinks or not, join an online or real time critique group.
Likewise, if you want to write your memoir, study many, many others to determine what works and what doesn’t. Remember that there is a limited audience for memoirs by unknown authors, UNLESS you have an amazing story which you can write amazingly well and you can land a good traditional publisher. Celebrity status doesn’t hurt, either.
I’ve met authors who say, “I can’t study other books like mine because there are no books like mine.” I then suggest that you study books that your audience is likely to read. If you still maintain that there are no books out there for your particular audience, then perhaps you don’t actually have an audience or you haven’t appropriately identified your audience.
I met an author once who was working on a sort of ethnic memoir/family cookbook. He asked me, “How do I find a publisher for this book?” I said, “I suggest you go to your nearest mega-bookstore, find books like yours and contact those publishers.” He slammed his notebook closed, tossed his pen across the table, leaned back in his chair and said, “There are no books like this one.”
Of course, as soon as I got home, I went online and immediately found a book exactly like the one he proposes—a different family, of course, different recipes, but actually the same ethnicity and the exact same focus.
But even if there are no books exactly like yours, there are, most likely, books that share your audience. In the case of this book, he would look at memoirs, memoirs related to this ethnic group, family cookbooks. Go to the area of the bookstore (or library) where your book would be stocked to locate your competition.
Your goal in taking this step is to learn what is out there, what is missing, what is needed. If any of you is having trouble with this step, contact me with a description of your proposed book and I will see if I can give you some guidance. Leave your comment here or contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the book proposal from angles you may not have seen before.
Thanks Patricia for your helpful article. Yes, every writer should examine his or her motives for writing. Are we writing to ourselves or to an audience who needs to hear what we have to say?