Write That Book Already!: The Tough Love You Need To Get Published Now

by Barry, Sam

  “We know the influence of book groups—Amy Tan, Khaled Hosseini, Elizabeth Gilbert, and others will certainly attest to their importance! But an author’s connections to book groups aren’t just about creating a bestseller. I know that is a great consequence, but the connection is more intrinsic than that. Readers can ask questions about the protagonist. Authors can talk about the characters they’ve brought to life on the page. It’s a conversation. It’s a community. And it’s one of the many reasons that authors and book groups connecting makes reading—and writing—not such a solitary experience.”

  Here’s another perspective from Susanne Pari, Book Group Expo’s program director, and author of a novel, The Fortune Catcher.

  “Book groups are the perfect environment in which to show off—your house, your crystal, your yappy dogs, your lemon meringue pie, your colorful muumuu, and maybe your husband who still has most of his hair.

  “A plethora of recent medical studies show that if you want to live a long good-quality life, social interaction and intellectual stimulation are essential. The first alleviates depression, the second confusion. Ergo, book groups will make you happy and keep you smart.

  “Authors, book group members will actually read your work after buying it. (Only about 50 percent of book buyers read the books they buy.) So book group readers are more apt, obviously, to recommend your book to others. And since word-of-mouth is still (see Torah, Bible, and Qoran), the best publicity, reaching out to book group readers should be at the top of your marketing list.

  When Book Groups Fall In Love

  Every author’s dream is to have a book that becomes wildly popular through word of mouth. We are embarrassed to admit that we are hoping that happens with this book. Here are a few examples of very popular titles that reached the “tipping point” because of the special word-of-mouth contagion that can happen when book groups fall in love:

  • The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

  • The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

  • The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacqueline Mitchard

  • Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

  • Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

  • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery and Alison Anderson

  • Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

  • The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards

  • The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

  We need to add a shout out to The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. We don’t know that this book was driven by book groups, but it sure did take fire, and of course it popularized the term “tipping point.” ‹«

  “While there are as many different kinds of book groups as there are different kinds of social groups, one uniform characteristic of book group readers is their passion for books. Sure, there are book groups that seem to care more about the dinner or the wine or the gossip than about the literary discussion, but remember that the chosen book is why the get-together is happening at all. And that’s because reading—especially reading fiction and non-narrative fiction—is (or becomes) a steady part of these (mostly women’s) lives. Whatever happens during the meeting—and often nothing is sacred: arguments, confessions, rants, tears, uncontrollable laughter—it will be that particular month’s book that will always be remembered as the catalyst. It’s the discussion of a book that gives it the best chance to thrive in the world. Simply, word-of-mouth.”

  Many bookstores sponsor reading groups and offer discounts to group members. Other groups will only agree to read books that have been published in paperback or are readily available at the public library. There are virtual book groups, national-media book groups, and neighborhood book groups. There are book groups made up primarily of vegetarian bartenders. Some are highly organized endeavors with trained book group leaders; others are as much an excuse to get together, gossip, and drink a lot of wine as they are about reading. There are hundreds of thousands of these reading communities in the United States, most reading one book a month or more. You can see why a reading guide is an important feature in attracting these groups to your book—it enhances the group experience.

  Even if a book group is small, it can be worthwhile—not to mention a lot of fun—to set aside some time to visit a few as an author. Writing is a solitary experience, and speaking to these groups can help you to become a better writer, as you meet the audience for your work and make connections with your readers.

  BOTTOM LINE

  Think creatively about sales opportunities that will work for your unique situation. These days, books sell in a wide variety of venues and locations, and you can work with your publisher to find outlets and opportunities that will enhance your sales.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  LONG LIFE:

  PAPERBACK

  AND BACKLIST

  Okay, the tour is over, and other books have come along to take up space on the bookstore shelves. When will your book come out in paperback, why is your paperback promoted differently than your hardcover, and what exactly is “backlist,” anyway?

  You became an author because you wanted to see your name in lights. By now you have probably realized that television and movies might have better lighting, but then, if you are still reading, you are probably a dedicated writer. So—now that you have finished the formal part of promoting your first book, what do you do to keep your writing career going?

  EXTENDING YOUR WRITING CAREER BEYOND THE FIRST BOOK

  There is no one simple answer to this question, because there are as many paths to a successful writing career as there are authors. For instance, if you are an academic or self-help guru or a religious or business leader, you might want to take some time off from writing to nurture your career and audience (platform), which are the basis of your writing career. But more likely, if your book has been even a modest success, you and your agent will want to strike while the iron is hot to get another book deal. If you are a literary novelist it might take you longer to come up with the next book than, say, a science fiction writer, who may be creating a series and thus already knows the next step.

  THE PUBLISHER’S PERSPECTIVE: FRONTLIST AND BACKLIST

  One way to think about this is to look at it from the publisher’s point of view. Getting out of yourself and understanding this perspective can help you chart your path to success. Broadly speaking, there are two ways a publisher can recoup the initial investment and make money on a book: a book can hit it big when it first comes out—when it is frontlist—or sales can grow over time as the book continues to sell without much effort or expense on the publisher’s part, when the book is classified as backlist. These practices may vary from publisher to publisher, but in general, from a business perspective backlist means that a book isn’t part of the current year’s budget, whereas frontlist titles are the titles that are being published in the current fiscal year. If, for example, the publisher’s budget follows the calendar year, from an accounting perspective a book published November 22 will be frontlist only until the end of the year, becoming backlist in January. The sales people, on the other hand, don’t think of a book as backlist for a longer time—generally a year. And when the book is released in paperback, that edition is viewed as frontlist in the same way.

  What does this mean for your book? You want your book to succeed (unless you were Emily Dickinson, who was such a tease, that little minx). Publishers will keep printing the book as long as there is demand. This means you want your book to stick around long enough to become backlist. However, publishers put the vast majority of their marketing and publicity energy into promoting their frontlist. It’s a dilemma. But not really. Publishers love their back-list, which are the books that keep them afloat, and they will buy new books from an author whose backlist is strong and promote both. Think of it this way: backlist titles are the books that succeeded, the ones that sold and are still selling in meaningful quantities. That’s why they are still in print. That’s why they are backlist.

/>   Practices vary from house to house. Some publishers emphasize selling frontlist and don’t do much with the backlist. Others take a longer view and concentrate on backlist. Some do both. Trade publishers need hits that sell big right out of the gate—is that a mixed metaphor?—but they also appreciate the value of backlist. Smaller publishers—specialty houses and academic presses—have to believe in modest books that will have long lives, because their mission calls for this approach, and because they generally aren’t in the business of competing with the big trade houses.

  In other words, you don’t have to think bestseller to get published. You can write a good book, one that a publisher will buy because your editor believes it will have legs and sell year after year. In publishing lingo, this means the editor thinks your book will “backlist.” Moby Dick has done well in this regard, though we suspect this has something to do with assignments in high school and college English classes. (But we love your work, Mr. Melville! Where do you get your ideas?) Does your book meet the needs of a proven market that is currently underserved? Then it will likely backlist. If you think your book has serious backlist, or long-term, potential, say so in your proposal and back it up with sound reasoning and analysis.

  Tough Love from the Author Enablers

  As we said earlier, know thyself. Someone said that once, and it’s good advice. Don’t set out to write a bestseller—set out to write the best book you can. Discover and develop your unique message and voice. Know your field—who has written similar books? Have you read them? You can’t be a writer if you don’t read, and you can’t be an expert if you don’t do your homework. ‹«

  Backlist titles that sell year after year generate income for authors and publishers, which is obviously the ideal situation all around. The publisher will use the revenue to buy and promote more books (and pay salaries) and will want to keep you as a “house author.” They will want to publish more books by you.

  NEW PRESSURES AND TRENDS

  In recent years market pressures have forced the large trade publishers to put more emphasis on books that will sell in large numbers right away and to pass over projects that will sell modestly but steadily over the long haul, while smaller publishers have remained open to the latter strategy out of necessity.

  The larger houses generally pay larger advances, but the pressure requires them to insist that the author have a strong platform or some other indicator that the book will do well. As a result, the big publishers are less inclined to nurture an unknown or little-known author’s career over several books, preferring instead to try and buy established authors or those who appear to have something already going. This means an unknown author may have a better shot with a smaller publisher or an academic press. The big publisher’s model is, generally, to push out and sell as many copies as possible, risking returns, over a short span of time. The smaller presses will print fewer copies but will plan on keeping the book in print longer.

  BOTTOM LINE

  Don’t let all this tough business talk scare you. Publishing is an ever-changing industry, but readers still need good books, and your primary focus should be writing one good book at a time. The next steps—agent hunting, proposal writing, and marketing—will be easier to take once you have done what an author is meant to do.

  CONCLUSION

  WHAT’S NEXT?

  When is it time to stop pushing for that elusive media hit and start writing your next book? Many authors have trouble letting go and moving on. Here’s how not to be a one-hit wonder.

  While there is no one formula for perpetuating a writing career, we’re confident saying this—you need to keep writing. (We warned you at the beginning that we would hammer away at this point. Like the Girl Scouts, the Author Enablers are true to their word.)

  “Thank you for that scintillatingly brilliant observation,” you sneer, and not without reason. But you’d be surprised at how many people don’t realize this—or rather, don’t do this. Writing is a discipline, and the best approach is to write daily. You will never produce another book (or screenplay or short story or poem) if you don’t start. So, put this book down right away and go start writing.

  There may be another reason so many people stop writing in a disciplined fashion after that first book—they might be disappointed with the experience. Many books “fail,” in the sense that they don’t make money, and of those that do make money, few are big hits. The odds of writing a bestseller, especially your first time out, are long. A typical first-time author (or even second-or third-time author) may be discouraged by the experience of being less than an overnight star. It is hard for some of us to accept that we are simply one among many authors. Add to this the fact that your book is likely to have been published by a group of overworked people, some of whom may not have done the best possible job; that you may not have seen your book displayed front and center in stores; that your book may have been reviewed negatively or not at all; and that you may have encountered small turnouts on your book tour (or didn’t have a tour at all), and it’s no wonder that many authors turn to a new dream that is more easily achieved, such as becoming the first English major in space.

  And there is another scenario—fear of success. A first-time author may have had a great run, which can be disconcerting in its own way. There are lots of reasons why someone might be apprehensive after an initial success. Perhaps the author doesn’t know if it is possible to follow up with a book that is as good as or better than the first one—in other words, fear of the sophomore slump. Also, most first books are written with the blessing of relative anonymity. There are no expectations and often no deadline—you get to surprise the world with your finished book, and with the fact that you are an author. The second book is a different story. Fans will devour something that took years to write in a few days, then ask for more. Publishers will have ideas about what you should or shouldn’t do next. The paparazzi will be camped out on your doorstep, if you happen to live with Brad Pitt. All of this can make it harder to focus on getting the next book written.

  Tough Love from the Author Enablers

  Everyone’s a critic. It’s hard, but try not to let negative reviews get to you, and don’t let raves swell your head. Neither of these scenarios is good for an author’s career. Stayed focused on good ideas and disciplined writing. Remember that you are a writer because you love the written word and have a message or story to share with the world. ‹«

  Success or not, the real-life experience of getting published can be disturbing for an author for another reason: many writers are introverts, even if they can fake a gregarious nature when called upon to do so. They’d rather be writing or researching than out hustling.

  There are more mundane reasons to let your writing go after that first book—you’re too darn busy. You have a life, a career, family, friends, pets, your reading to catch up on. You want to go back to school to become a doctor. You believe in the cause you wrote about and want to put your money and time where your mouth is.

  Whatever the reason, take our word for it—you need to keep writing. You will be mad at yourself later if you stop now, because if you stop now, you will likely not get going again for quite a while, if ever. If you got this far, you have it in you. You are an author now. We don’t know if you’ll ever have a bestseller or write a world-changing book, but we do know you have something to contribute through the written word.

  Give yourself a chance. Most authors don’t have a hit with their first book. In fact, a good career can take a number of books to build, with ups and downs along the way. But if you don’t write, there is no way for your writing career to grow.

  Reboot yourself. Get back to the hopeful and excited frame of mind you were in when you got your first book idea, and let the momentum carry you forward. Remember the simple things: write a little every day; if you use outlines, start a new one; if you need to do research, get to it. Bounce your ideas off a trusted mentor or writing group. By now, you should know what works best for you. Pe
rhaps it’s time for you to move out of Brad Pitt’s apartment, find someplace a little quieter, and get to work.

  BOTTOM LINE

  Writing is serious business, but it should also be gratifying and fun—otherwise, what’s the point? You know you can do it, and so do we.

  Thanks for writing,

  KATHI KAMEN GOLDMARK

  and SAM BARRY

  The Author Enablers

  APPENDIX I

  BELOVED

  BOOKS OF

  FAMOUS

  AUTHORS

  Some of your favorite authors share their thoughts on the best books to give to the writer in your life—especially if that writer is you. Thanks to the great team at BookPage for giving us permission to use some material that has appeared in our monthly column.

  THE ART AND CRAFT OF WRITING DEPARTMENT

  Amy Tan

  Author of Saving Fish from Drowning, suggests Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner; all the back issues of interviews with writers in The Paris Review; and all the editions of the annual collection Best American Short Stories.

  Elizabeth Dewberry

  Author of His Lovely Wife, suggests Robert Olen Butler’s From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction. “It’s all about approaching the work as an artist, rather than a craftsperson, which is how many teachers approach it. It’s about going to that well in you that is your unconscious, or the place where you dream, or maybe even the collective unconscious, but the place where you tap into something much larger than who you are as an individual.”