I’m often asked:
If you only had the time, energy and money to do one thing to market your book, what would it be?
Simple answer…write the living daylights out of the book. There seems to be a growing ethic, especially in the world of information and the internet, that good enough is good enough. That you should make it a slight bit better and a whole lot longer than a brochure, then focus the real effort on getting the word out.
Bullshit!
If your benchmark is good enough, and you really want to sell a truckload of books…might I suggest some antipsychotics?
Good enough won’t cut it. Nor will really friggin’ good. Or, even borderline great. You’ve got one shot in a sea of 500,000 books to leave people breathless. And, all the marketing on the planet won’t turn a good enough effort into an enduring homerun. Sure, you can drop a mint to force sales in the beginning, but to what end? To watch your sales vanish the day after your ad-blitz wraps?
Write because you give so much of a damn, you can’t stop thinking about your book. Write because your heart tells you it’s a soulful, cognitive or moral imperative. Write because God told you this is why you’re here. Write because there’s something that’s gotta get out that nobody else can say. Write because you’ve got something to say that will leave people changed.
But, more than anything else, write the #$@% out of your book.
Write to blow minds, rip open closed hearts, illuminate the human condition or otherwise move life’s needle forward in a profound way.
Write as if this is your last book. Ever. Your legacy.
That’s what I’d do if I could only do one thing.
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> move life’s needle forward in a profound way.
Now that is a metaphor that hits the sweet spot.
> Write as if this is your last book. Ever. Your legacy
Leaving a legacy … a book at a time … is a perfect way to tap your best and stay in the right mindset.
Finally! Someone willing to say it!
Accuracy and precision take time. Really talented writers achieve these goals faster, of course, but there is no shortcut to it.
I write like my life depends on it. Because I think it does.
This is a truly inspirational post! It makes me want to walk out of work right now and write!!! It’s not bad advice for how to approach a blog post either.
Puts it in a whole different light to think of it as your legacy and not some piece of trash brochure to make a quick buck.
**applause** I totally agree.
Yeah, and that’s what I did… which doesn’t mean it can’t be better now, and will be in the revised edition, but… I actually love that process… the thinking, feeling, pacing… but…
How the heck do you explain the best sellers that are crap?
Money, fame and legacy. If you’ve got any of those three, they can get your book onto the bestseller list a lot faster and with more certainty. Problem is, the people who can leverage these are a precious few. Doesn’t make for a great model for us kind folks in “general population” to follow, lol.
Thanks. I’m on deadline (today) for a book that makes little sense to anyone else but that has caused me to drop everything else for a couple of years and run on fumes, faith, and credit cards.
I do everything as if I give a damn, but that certainly seems counter to all the trends around me, and when I look at my bank account I wonder *why* I persist in doing this. But I can’t do otherwise.
The current project is way over the top in this regard. I only hope I’m doing it well enough.
Wow!
Write as if this is your last book. Ever.
That spoke to me. Thanks. I needed to hear that.
All success
Dr.Mani
This post made me really excited about writing a book!
“write the #$@% out of your book” – oh, sing it sister – OOOPS, sing it brother!!!
otherwise what IS the point?
True. But as Seth Godin advocates, artists must learn to ship. You can always make your book better. A tweak here, a tweak there, it’s all good. Hell, maybe a whole new chapter. But at some point, you have to ship and then you can get working on the next edition or a new book. So how do you decide when you should ship? It’s a balancing act. On the one hand your book must be great. On the other, you must ship or starve. Maybe you can give your book to a friend who knows something about books and whose opinion you trust and ask him or her, “Should I ship or keep writing?” Or maybe, if you can afford it, you should hire an experienced editor to review your book and answer that question. But don’t look at me – I’ve been writing a book for longer than I care to mention and I’m not even at the show-it-to-an-editor stage.
Totally agree, the potential dark side of working to write something great is the risk that you use the fact that “it’s just no ready yet” as an excuse not to ship.
But, be careful too with Seth’s recommendation to ship, then improve down the road. That often applies very well to business solutions, where there are multiple iterations and opportunities to improve the solution over time.
With one-shot creative output though, like books, painting, songs and movies, you don’t get that chance to ship then correct. So, when you do send it out into the world, it better be pretty damn good.
Jonathan, I admire the passion (and persuasion) of your post. I think there is a prevailing sense of “just get your stuff out there,” which does have some benefit of visibility and circulation, but often at the loss of the integrity of the composition, its full development, and as you indicate, its actual heart.
I’ve done “good enough” too often, but once in a while, I write the $#$%%#! out of something, and the difference between the two is staggering. Thanks!
I agree! Whatever you choose to write about, make sure that it’s done with passion. Every one of us has a unique perspective and a story to tell. Quality of one’s writing is of utmost importance. Although there are hundreds of thousands of books being produced, one must recognize, understand and market to their own specific niche. Writing the book and getting it published is the easy part – the real work comes in the form of marketing. And it too, requires passion.
–Joe Breunig
Author, Reaching Towards His Unbounded Glory
@Mike Willner – I’ve shipped many technical, academic papers off to peer review and conferences.
Here’s some brass tacks advice on shipping: Take stuff out.
It’s really that simple. Your book or paper will be a little shorter, and no one will notice. Except that it will probably be a lot better, too.
True, and over on my site I find a whole bunch of folks who want to write a book are unaware they will have to market it. Or think, as Peter Bowerman points out, that having a trade publisher means fame and fortune or at least modest fortune.
I do like your post, however, at least as a goal… btw, books offer more opportunity for a second shot or two than songs, painting, etc. Not to be counted on, but the possibility of a revised edition in non-fiction can make sense years later.
Donald Maass in his latest “The Fire in the Fiction” says this very thing. I’m a big promoter of writing a terrific book. Great books endure and word of mouth spreads them like wildfire. You can kill yourself in marketing, trying to sell a so-so book nad you might be fairly succesful. But the best way to get a best seller is to write one worthy of that moniker.
Bang on.
In a previous life, I was in manufacturing. There were some companies who focused on getting products out fast and economically.
And then there were companies who focused on producing the best quality product possible, even if it cost a little more or took a little longer..
And what I saw, over and over again? Quality trumped quantity every time.
And there is also the matter of having respect for your customer, be it a meal, a car… or a book.
Thanks Jonathon, for saying what we writers need to be reminded of now and again.
Cheers,
Anthony
This and Awake at the Wheel are my favorite blogs on the planet — and I’m not an writer….
Thank you for amazingly valuable content — which happens to apply to everything in life. I just happen to be applying it to marketing a startup business at present, rather than a book.
This post was great to read – because this is the way I try to live my life every day in everything I do. Even when it’s not profitable, it makes my life worth living. Sometimes the extra energy and time I invest wear me down and I lose touch with the passion. Thank you for re-inspiring me energetically!
And when I look back – even if no one else notices – I can see that I left the people and world around me better than I found them, and that I truly did my best. And thinking of that as my legacy brings me peace.
Wow! Beautifully said, and wonderfully written! I’ll be quoting this.
As a sort of counterpoint… I think “write the #)(%)( out of your book” is meaningless in any real sense. I mean, I don’t have any sense of what you mean. I write what I want to write (why else would I write it?) and I write it as best I can (why wouldn’t I?). Once or twice, a story’s come along and made me write IT before any of the other stories, but that’s utterly out of my control (and somewhat annoying if there’s other stuff you’re SUPPOSED to be working on).
But “write the **** out of your book”? Are there people who sit down to only sort-of write their books? I suppose, maybe, if they’re cranking out stuff by the yard, but if they’re doing that then they’re either already established (and no need to market), or they’re writing in an area where the need isn’t “good”, the need is “now”.
But anyone who’s voluntarily sitting down to write fiction — published, or just fanfic, or whatever — is almost certainly “writing the **** out of their books”, because if you’re driven to write, it’s what you do.
Great wisdom and encouragement …Thanks
Thanks for writing this, Jonathan. And you are so right. My business partner/co-author Matilda Butler and I have long discussions about these Get A Book Quick programs that promise a book in a week…and then it’s all about the promotion. Internet marketing, social networking and platform building are so important today, but no one should be led to think that any old crap can be sold so long as it’s marketed well.
Obviously by our name, we focus on Women’s Memoirs (our site is http://womensmemoirs.com ) but we spend a lot of time working with authors at all stages. We work with aspiring authors both with their writing and marketing, but we impress the importance of the content and presentation of that content. So thanks for sticking a fork in these silly notions of cranking out books and making up for mediocre content with marketing.
So true. I have been around internet marketing and ebook writing for over 3 years now and written many from 10 – 150 pages, both for myself and for clients. I am truly amazed at how many times I have seen the “just write it and get it out there” comment from internet marketers, even writers themselves.
Be true to yourself whether it puts heaps of money in the bank or not, at least you will be proud of what you have done.
@Ryk, looking forward to more adventures from Jason Wood.
Might just have to do some rereading in fact.
@Dave, thanks very much!
Did you see the two additional stories I posted on my LJ for PSTPWD (IIRC that’s April 22-23)? One, Shadow of Fear, was in 2007 and the other, Trial Run, in 2008.
The publisher did not request more Jason, however. The rights have reverted to me, so I’m looking for a publisher who would do a revised and expanded release (so that it wouldn’t be a waste of time for other people to pick up). On the other hand, I have two new books coming out in the next couple of months, one solo (Grand Central Arena) and the other a collaboration with Eric Flint (Threshold, sequel to Boundary).
Drop in at http://www.grandcentralarena.com or at my LJ (seawasp.livejournal.com) if you want to talk more/see more of what I’m up to.
And thanks again for the kind words!
@Ryk – so are you saying that if you spent 2 hours a day for 3 months working on one of your books before you published it, that you couldn’t have improved it? When you finished your book did you say to yourself, “This is it, I can’t make it any better.” Or did you say, “This is really good and any extra time I spend trying to improve it is not worth the effort. Time to get it out the door.”
@Mike: When I write, I’m done. There are people who do first draft, second draft, four hundredth draft. There are those who don’t.
I could spend a dozen hours going through two chapters of a just-completed novel and, at most, I’d catch one phrasing that wasn’t right. All my “editing” is done on-the-fly. By the time I’m a paragraph or three on, the text is set in stone.
The only way I see how to improve my material is either:
1) Let a **LOT** of time go by — four to five years. That’s because my writing style shifts slightly, the universe I’m writing in probably developed more, and I can (in some sense) read the old stuff as if I was reading another person’s book.
2) Have someone else point it out — make a suggestion, find a problem. This is what editors and beta readers are for. In Grand Central Arena, for example, my editor pointed out several things that I needed to clarify or emphasize more, and the need for a couple additional pieces to bring out some more background, etc.
Even so, 95+% of what you see published is what manifested on the screen the first time I typed it.
@Rick, I found Grand Central Arena, I’ll be checking in shortly, the hammer is coming down (in a good way) on one of my projects ATM.
Started rereading Digital Knight last night, much fun!
@Dave, great! I expect to re-write the early sections of DK (because some of those were written as long ago as 1987) to bring them in line with the later writing I’ll be adding.
I have mixed reactions to this, which is always a good sign that you’ve made me think. Which I appreciate!
I like Ryk’s Q: What does that mean, write the $%#& out of the book? To me, the work isn’t in writing; it’s in revising. It’s more like ‘revise the $%$&’ out of the book.
I revised my novel 14 times. I would never have thought I had it in me to keep going to a higher standard. I know I could revise my articles more and will take your post as a nudge to do so, Jonathan.
On the other hand, this standard of perfection is what prevents people from going very far past page two. I coach writers, and I help them shake off the expectation of quality and write without reins. Let loose. Release that passion onto the page. The quality comes later, in the revision process.
We make the mistake of thinking that the first draft should be brilliant. That as adults we should know what we’re doing at all times. I feel like a toddler in the creative process, stumbling toward genius as I try to figure out what I really want to say. That only comes through draft after draft.
Getting solid feedback is essential to writing well. If you’re serious about writing, you must have an editor, and not a spouse or a friend but someone who truly has the skills to help you improve your writing.
It does take a lot longer to write than most people think. My clients can get very frustrated with themselves, believing that it’s a shortcoming to take so long to write.
Despite the speed of life today, writing remains a slow process.
Thanks, Jonathan, for the kick in the writing pants.
Cyn: Interesting the way you take my comment, as you’re one of the writers on the polar opposite of the spectrum from me; you rewrite 14 times, I don’t rewrite at all unless someone else (i.e., an editor, or a beta-reader) points out something that “needs fixed”, as my Pittsburgh friends might put it.
On the Usenet group rec.arts.sf.composition, one of the most common sayings is “nine and sixty ways”, from the old quote “There are nine-and-sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, and every single one of them is right”. Some people like myself write once, they’re done. Others write, revise, revise, revise. Some write outlines in detail before even attempting to write the story, while for others, writing an outline KILLS the story dead. Some feel that they completely control the story, while others feel that the characters usually take over and they have no control at all over where the story actually goes. And so on.
For each one of these different types, and all the others, “writing the *&^# out of the book” will be a completely different thing, and for many of them, using techniques of one of the others will be *actively destructive* of their work.
Excellent post. This post, plus another author, who spills the beans on how much (little) even best-selling authors really make, made me realize why I have been stymied in my writing. I have gotten caught up in my attempt to learn all I can and ‘be smart’ about positioning my message, rather than just writing the damn book from the heart.
Truth is, I can be smart all I want, but if I don’t write the book straight from the heart, I’m only gonna be a great marketer for something that nobody wants. And, if I do write the book from the heart, even if it only finds a small audience, I will have at least succeeded in creating something I am proud of.
thanks for pointing me toward this clarity.
Leisa
I loved this post because it states what writing is supposed to be all about…the process, not the result, the quality and the passion, not the publishing. If the process is pure and perfected, the rest is secondary.
This may seem antithetical to the topic of book marketing, the very category under which this question was posted, but in my own experience, my best writing comes when I stop thinking so much about the spotlight. Long ago I shed my narcisistic desire to be published and concentrated on the story: the technical aspects perfected and the voices made true. With those sort of blinders on, the time involved is irrelevant. All that matters is the reality of the world I’m creating. With a strong story behind me the rest, the energy for publishing and marketing comes easily. So ironically, yes, the one best book marketing method is to write the %&h##& out of your book. What a terrific post!
I just published the best Political Book ever written. I wrote the heck out of this one and the reviews are streaming in. If you like the Tea Party you won’t be able to put this book down. My son even loves it.
Now I have to understand how to market it.