Authors, Don't Put Your Cart Before The Horse

I've talked with a lot of authors over the years, and there is something that I've found to be true. Authors who focus on the task at hand (writing the book, making sure the story is good, getting the proper spin on their marketing, etc.) tend to be successful, by and large. Those who get overly concerned imagining the future of their book (how many copies will I sell, how big will my fandom get, how large of an impact will I have on my genre) tend to go nowhere.

We're all entitled to a bit of day dreaming now and again, don't get me wrong. But if you don't hitch up the horses to the wagon, then you aren't going anywhere.

All right, first novel's out... my go a bit faster if we hitch that second one up, though.

Focus On The Book (Let The Rest Take Care Of Itself)

Let's be real for a moment here; when was the last time someone told you, "This book made me re-think my political stance on an issue," or, "Reading this changed my life," and you immediately decided you needed to go out and get it? If you're like most of us out there, you probably nodded politely, rolled your eyes, and moved on with your life unless that person was very important to you, and you put a lot of weight behind their opinion.

But if someone came up to you and said, "Oh my god, you have to read this book! There's demons, witches, a sentient car with the soul of a dead jazz singer under the hood, and a blind chain smoking nun who stole the archangel Michael's sword and refuses to give it back to him!"

Well shit, now you're curious.

No, I haven't written this book yet. But it may be on the list now.

It All Starts With Your Story

We've all had those stories that change our lives as readers. At least a few of us remember the big trends that seemed to encapsulate moments, or the books that became the voice of entire subcultures, or even generations. And sure, that's a nice goal to have. It's up there with winning a big award, or making the sort of money where you can just buy a house in cash, and kick up your heels.

But if you focus on that, then you lose sight of what actually gets you there... your book. The one you're supposed to be writing.

Seriously... it's a trap within your own mind.

By all means, have goals. Know where you want to go with your work, and your career. But remember that when you're a creator that you're essentially closing your eyes, spinning around in a circle, whispering a prayer, and hoping to the gods of chaos that the dart you're about to throw happens to hit a bullseye in a completely dark room.

As I said in Writing a Bestseller is Like Winning The Lottery, you have a 1 in 200 chance of hitting bestseller status. That's better odds than playing the lottery, but you aren't going to improve those odds by figuring out what message you want to give to a legion of adoring fans you don't have, or coming up with important political stances to take once you're famous. What will improve those odds, though is making sure that you write the best book you possibly can, doing your market research, having a solid promotion plan and schedule in place, and making sure that you've got a network of people who are willing to help you spread the word when your title drops.

Practical stuff, in other words.

But even if you do all of those things, there's no guarantee you'll become famous. The odds are, in fact, pretty damn poor. You may not sell a meaningful number of copies of your book for years, and it could take grueling efforts to promote, peddle, and hand sell your stock until your name is finally known to people who aren't your friends and family.

You can't actually do any of that, though, until your book is done and on the market. And if you spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about controversies your stances might generate in the genre as a whole, or worrying that people might attack you for daring to defy tradition, let me tell you this with all sincerity; those are problems you'll be lucky to have.

Because it means enough people noticed (and read) your book to give a damn who you are, and what you have to say.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife!

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