Dear Ally, How Do You Write a Book

by Ally Carter

  Oh, how I wish I had an answer to this question! I really, truly do.

  I’m afraid marketing and promotion is one of those things that are almost mystical. If you get a bunch of authors together and listen to us talking, you might think we’re trying to find the Holy Grail. But no, we’re just trying to find a way to consistently and successfully market and promote a book.

  One thing I’ve learned in the past ten or so years in this business: No one knows. What will work. What won’t work. Why something worked extremely well in one case but didn’t even start to move the needle in another.

  But there are a few things that I know for certain:

  —People do judge books by their covers.

  —No one ever put their book on the bestseller list simply by being on social media.

  —Absolutely nothing is more important than writing your next book.

  Honestly, there are a few things that I know for a fact will sell books. Unfortunately, none of them are things that an author actually controls.

  Getting an amazing cover, for example. Your publisher is in charge of that. Also, where your book is shelved in stores. You know those big tables where books are displayed when you walk into the store? How about the fancy tables or displays where there might be a cool grouping of books, kind of like “If you read X, try Y”? Those things definitely move the needle, but they’re also out of the author’s hands.

  And of course, maybe the most important factor in sales: How hot is the genre your book is in? Truthfully, timing is a huge thing in this business. The “big book” is always a moving target, and it’s one that’s almost impossible to hit intentionally. After all, the book you start today won’t be on shelves until a year and a half from now—at the earliest! No one knows what genre is going to be super hot in a year and a half, so you can only write the book you love and hope for the best.

  For example, in the wake of the Twilight phenomenon, vampire books and romances with other paranormal beings (werewolves, fairies, etc.) became the hottest thing in publishing. But nobody knew that was going to happen until it was already happening.

  Now, all of this is a little bit different if you choose to self-publish. Then you are the publisher, and you do get to design the cover and set the price. You can even get a book out fast enough to take advantage of a hot genre if you write quickly enough.

  But the downside of being your own publisher is … you have to be your own publisher. And as I say elsewhere, there are pros and cons to that.

  I’ve seen a lot of new authors obsess with marketing and promotion. Personally, I spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours and nothing—not a single bit of it—made any difference. My career took off when I wrote the right book at the right time. When I got an amazing cover. When booksellers and librarians around the country discovered my stuff and started supporting me.

  I could have spent the past ten years promoting a book that was never going to sell, but instead I wrote another book and I’m grateful every day I made that decision.

  So I’d highly recommend you write your next book, too!

  One of the hardest things about writing is working on something for months (or years!) and having absolutely no idea if you’re doing anything right. Or if you’re making something worse. If you’re wasting your time or on the verge of the next big thing. Sometimes it can feel like you’re writing inside a black hole, and you’d show your work to anyone just to get a little feedback.

  I know. I’ve been there. I am there almost every day.

  This is a complicated issue, but if you need the reinforcement that comes from getting feedback, if you need “fans” asking for your new pages and keeping you on task, and if posting your work online is part of what makes writing fun for you, then you should keep doing it.

  BUT … you’re right that you can’t do that forever. If you get an idea that’s incredibly high-concept. If you have a story that you’re working on that feels bigger or better or more real than the others. If you’re getting to the point when you think it’s time to start maybe thinking about querying agents, then it’s also probably time to start keeping your writing private—or at least sharing it only with teachers and family members and close friends.

  DEAR DAVID LEVITHAN,

  As an editor, what do you think about aspiring authors posting things on sites like Wattpad?

  I think it’s great to try out your work and build a following using online platforms. But if you end up selling your book to a publisher, odds are good that you’ll have a conversation first about what’s going to stay up and what’s going to come down. If what’s online is a rough draft of what you’re now polishing into a novel—either you’re going to want it to come down or you’re going to want to make it clear that what’s up there is just a first draft. If what you’re writing is an extension within the same world of what’s been posted (but not the same story), or if it’s completely unrelated, then you’ll probably want to keep it up, as a way of getting people ready for what you’re going to be publishing. The key here is to be up front with your publisher about what’s already out there—and to make sure you have enough new material that it’s worth your readers buying it rather than getting it for free.

  Fanfiction is a bit of a minefield, to be honest. On one hand, I’m a huge fan of anything that gets people writing. This is something that you learn to do by doing, so the more you do the better.

  However, writing fanfiction isn’t the same as writing original fiction. A huge part of this business is creating characters and worlds, and it’s important that you learn to create your own—that you practice and plan and really live inside your own story as much as you can.

  I think writing fanfiction is a lot like learning how to ride a bike with the training wheels on. There’s something there to support you and keep you upright and get you started, but eventually, you will have to take those wheels off if you want to write a story of your own.

  DEAR JAY COLES,

  What has been the most surprising (or unexpected) thing about having your debut published?

  The most surprising thing, I think, about having my debut published would be the reactions from people. Mostly from teens. My debut about police brutality and racism is unfortunately way too relevant to our current world. I’ve received several letters from readers and fans expressing how they felt seen in my book, heard in some way, deeply understood. I think that’s been the most powerful part of my career so far—knowing that there are readers somewhere in the world who are reading my debut and are connecting with it on such a deep level and sometimes, very unfortunately, having similar experiences of police brutality and racism in their own lives. Knowing this, I think I realized the urgency and importance of diverse books and the urgency and importance of my own book.

  The average person’s life changes very little when they publish a book. After all, very few people make enough from their books that they’re able to quit their day jobs.

  Very few people go on a book tour.

  Very few people are on bestseller lists.

  And VERY few (I mean a teeny tiny percentage) have a movie made.

  Usually the call saying you’re on the New York Times list comes about the same time your cat throws up on your bed and you have to go wash your sheets. Life’s just like that.

  If anything, getting a book published just means you’re getting ready to have to work a whole lot harder because now you’re not just writing for fun—you’re writing professionally! And that takes the stakes and the pressure and the responsibility to a whole new level.

  But having a successful book has also changed my life in some tremendous ways. I get to do what I wanted to do when I was twelve years old. I have made some phenomenal friends who are smart and funny and so incredibly talented I still can’t believe they ever hang out with me. And I don’t think any feeling compares to hearing from a reader whose life has been made better because of something that I wrote.

  In a way, the more successf
ul your books are, the more some problems go away. (You might be able to quit your day job. You could sock some money away for a rainy day. Maybe people who used to turn their noses up at you suddenly think you’re cool.)

  But in another way, you’ll be trading those old problems for some new problems. (Your publisher needs you to do six months’ worth of work in the next two weeks and the stress of it puts you in the hospital. People you’ve never heard of threaten to sue you for stealing their idea. You start getting asked nine million times a day how people can try out for a movie that doesn’t exist.)

  Comparatively speaking, these are all good problems to have!

  But your life won’t be problem-free. Sadly, few lives ever are.

  DEAR SHANNON HALE,

  What part of this job has surprised you the most?

  I kinda thought that once I was a Published Author, life would be easier, simpler. I’d feel validated. And maybe even … special. But being published doesn’t change the core of who I am, and neither does winning that award, or hitting the New York Times bestseller list. And once I finally found an agent (after all the rejections), the rejections didn’t stop. And once I found a publisher (after all the rejections), still the rejections didn’t stop. Rejection is part of this business forever, just like it’s a part of life. That surprised me. But even more, I was surprised to discover that that was okay. And I would be okay.

  Writing can be an incredibly fun hobby and cathartic pastime. But publishing is a brutal and professional business. Even if you love the former, the latter might not be right for you. Or right for you right now.

  If and when you decide to “go pro,” there are a lot of things to consider, remember, and keep in mind.

  —Beware of people who will take advantage of you and your dreams. No legitimate agent or publisher will ever ask you for money of any kind.

  —The best way to find a legitimate publisher is to query legitimate agents and follow their instructions and requirements exactly.

  —You shouldn’t query any agents until you have a finished and polished manuscript. Not an idea. Not a draft. It will take a great book to land an agent, so only go out with something if it’s as strong as you can make it.

  —Never stop writing. If you’re looking for an agent for Book A, you need to be writing Book B. Or Book C. Or Book W. No point in this process is a point where you should stop writing.

  —Depending on the genre and age range you’ve written for, self-publishing might be a viable route for you, but don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s an easier route. Sure, there are zero hurdles that you have to clear to throw something up online and call yourself a “published author,” but the route to actual success is hard no matter which path you choose. So choose the hard you’re best equipped to handle.

  —If and when you publish a novel, your life may or may not change. Most books don’t make a lot of money. Most authors have at least one other source of income. Most careers span, at most, a few books—not a few decades.

  So do this for the love of writing. Do it because you can’t imagine not at least giving it a try. And if it doesn’t happen overnight, don’t worry. Overnight success stories usually were made over the years before the rest of the world was paying attention.

  I first got the writing bug when I was in middle school and read The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. When I found out that that novel had been written by a teenage girl … and I was a teenage girl … well, that made me want to write so badly.

  That’s when I started scribbling in notebooks and trying to come up with my own stories, but I didn’t really talk about it until much, much later. I was always a pretty private kid, and I knew actually having a career as a writer was a long shot. What were the odds that I’d ever get a book published? They were slim. The odds that I could someday do this for a living without starving to death were even slimmer.

  But my parents were very supportive of my writing. I still remember my mom buying me my first writing book, Screenplay by Syd Field—where I learned a lot of the stuff that I shared in this book.

  Not everyone is so lucky. But the good news is that writing is something you can actually do in secret if you want to. You never have to tell a soul until you’re ready. You don’t have to quit your job (in fact, you really, really shouldn’t quit your job) or move across the country. You don’t have to accumulate thousands of dollars of student loan debt or loads of specialized equipment.

  Really, as far as dreams go, writing is one of the cheapest ones there is. You just have to find something to write on and carve out the time to do it. And you can. If you want it badly enough, you eventually will!

  Good question! I know a lot of people think “author” when they think about writing-related jobs, but in fact, the ability to write well is an asset in almost all jobs. When I was an agricultural economist at a university, writing research papers and articles was a really important part of my job. And if an agricultural economist needs to write well, then pretty much everyone does!

  If you want writing to be the focus of your job, then maybe you want to write for magazines or newspapers. If you really love fiction, then maybe you want to work behind the scenes as an editor or maybe even in Hollywood, writing for the film and TV industry.

  I should warn you, though, these are all industries where there are a lot more people wanting the job than there are jobs, so they only take the best. All the more reason to start writing now! Practice. Practice. Practice. Even if what you write never gets published, you may very well be honing the skills that you’re going to be using for the rest of your life.

  The bad thing about being a writer (even a published one) is that most people have to have a second job.

  But …

  The good thing about being a writer (even a published one) is that most people get to have a second job!

  Every writer I know has had a totally different occupation at some point or another (and many have a second job—or source of income—even now). And those occupations are all over the map.

  I was an agricultural economist. Some of us were lawyers or teachers, engineers, or artists. If there’s a job that exists, chances are there’s a writer who has had that job. So you absolutely do not have to choose between them! Most every writer I know wrote their first book at night or on weekends, over vacation or on their lunch break—whenever they could find the time.

  So go ahead! Go to medical school. Get amazing at science! The only person who can take this dream away from you is you!

  If you’ve quit your day job, when did you quit and why?

  Shannon Hale I quit my day job about six months after having my first baby so that I could be with him. I’d only sold three books at that point and I couldn’t have lived on my writing, but I was married with a working husband. Our family wasn’t able to live on our book income until I’d published about fifteen books, including multiple New York Times bestsellers.

  Marie Lu I quit about six months after my first book sold, when it became clear I wouldn’t be able to commit to the travel required for promoting my first book. It was kind of a leap of faith.

  Melissa de la Cruz I actually think I was laid off! I never went back. I decided I wanted to become a starving artist and I was really happy. I never looked back.

  Daniel José Older I quit three years ago, because I was ready and I had good support plans in place for when writing didn’t hold me over.

  Elizabeth Eulberg After second book was published, third almost done. I’d saved up money for a year and wanted to take a break, but I didn’t think I’d last more than a year!

  Julie Murphy I quit my day job just before my second book came out, because I knew my touring schedule would be much more intense and I couldn’t do both at once. That said, I loved my former job and would go back to it if I ever needed to.

  Stephanie Perkins I quit when I got an agent, but I don’t recommend this. Often, it can still take years to go from having an agent to having a book deal. I was extraordinar
ily lucky that I got my first book deal within a few months. Also, I have help! My husband’s job provides health insurance and money to pay the bills. If it weren’t for him, I would still need a second job.

  Marissa Meyer The moment I had my first book deal, because it was enough to pay the bills and I was ready to pursue this dream full-time.

  Alex London I quit being a YA librarian in 2008 to do research for a book I’d sold, and I’ve been lucky enough to keep selling enough books that I haven’t had a day job in a decade!

  Sarah Rees Brennan I quit when I got my first book deal, because I wanted to move back to my homeland of Ireland! But I still supplement my writing career with teaching.

  Jesse Andrews I quit editing textbooks about seven years ago because I was paying the bills with writing.

  Alan Gratz I quit in 2002 before I’d sold my first book to be a stay-at-home dad for my baby daughter. I sold my first book before she turned one year old!

  Soman Chainani I quit tutoring after book #3, because I had the resources to focus on writing.

  Holly Black After my third book came out and I had five books under contract. I thought I had enough money to live on for a while (that was only sort of true, it turned out).

  Kiersten White I’m a stay-at-home mom, so that day job is still going strong!

  Maggie Stiefvater I quit when my third book—Shiver—was published. Although I loved being an artist, it was a sixty-hour-a-week job and it was impossible to do that, promote Shiver, and write the sequel at the same time, particularly with two toddlers at home.