As a professor at the University of California, Riverside, one day my normally upbeat writing students turned on me. It wasn’t pretty. Then it got worse.
“You’re such a Pollyanna,” said one fiction writer. “Stop sugar coating the industry.”
“Afraid to tell us the truth?” demanded another.
“She’ll never fess up about why books fail,” added a third.
The heckling went downhill from there.
Kidding. A bit. Truth is, these emerging writers knew writing and having their books published was far from puppies, rainbows and cotton candy. As an editor at one of the leading trade publishing houses told me, “It’s bunny eat bunny out there.”
I squared my shoulders, made sure there were no squishy tomatoes in sight and said, “It’s all true. Lots of books fail to get noticed, to be distributed, to even acquire a few readers. They languish in obscurity and fizzle.”
Then I let ‘em have it with the eight tips listed below.
They frowned, dabbed away tears and cowered in the corners of the classroom. Okay, not, but the giggling stopped.
I’m bringing this up now, in 2018, because the competition is even tougher. The university students were somber when they left the class that day, yet they thanked me. They realized why books fail and what to do about it.
Want to know the competition? Self-published books in the US just topped 1 million in 2017. (“Number of Self-Published Titles Cracked 1 million in 2017,” Publisher’s Weekly, 10/10/18, http://publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/78291-the-number-of-self-published-titles-cracked-1-million-in-2017.html) Note that doesn’t include those published by traditional houses.
There’s never been any study, but I think at any given time there are about five times that many writers working on books, completing manuscripts, contacting agents and pitching their proposals to publishers. Most fail.
The majority of the books that do not make it fail because of seven reasons.
- Confusion. Some emerging writers mix format, construction, thesis, structure and points of view. They make simple grammar mistakes and sometimes big grammar mistakes, i.e., by not hiring a copy editor before submitting it for self-publishing. Books have categories, or genres, and too often emerging authors do not study the genre they’ve selected or they change genres in the middle of writing. By reading the genre like a writer, you become familiar with length, structure and concept.
- Lack of original insight. It’s been said, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” If that’s the case, smart authors discover ways to twist the “old stuff.” What’s your twist? Check the competition for your intended book. Make your book out of the ordinary. Be able to tell a publisher, agent, editor or reader about your book in 25 words or less.
- Poor or ineffective research. If you’re in doubt about the authenticity of anything in your book, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, double check. Readers demand truth; publishers are leery of unsubstantiated claims. In a novel I’m writing about World War II, there a scene with the Secret Service. Yes, I verified the Secret Service existed at that time.
- Insufficient self-editing. You can do all or most of the editing yourself. Put your book away to cool for a week or 6 months and then keeping a copy, ruthlessly edit out anything that doesn’t strongly support your book. Hint: Look for redundancy or repetition. Readers, publishers and agents do not need to be told things twice. That last sentence was an example of sneaky redundancy. Not a native English speaker or want some insight? Hire a reputable editor.
- Bad manners and bad mechanics. Heard the saying, “Under promise and over deliver”? In writing books, we have to do both. If you need to brush up on grammar or the mechanics of manuscript preparation, do it before submitting your book project to be self-publish. Going the traditional publishing route? Triple check and follow their submission guidelines to a T. You get one chance with an agent or publisher—they often receive more than 100 manuscripts a week. Submit the most-polished manuscript possible.
- Lack of perseverance. If your self-published or traditionally published book is already on the market and not getting any attention from book buyers, take heart. Start building or rebuilding your platform. Write queries and sell articles based on something about your book, even if it’s a novel. Give free workshops based on something about your book. Enter contests, write essays, volunteer to speak at book events. Make contacts by attending writing conferences, network with others in your genre, have bookmarks made (like I did and give them away) and keep at it. Get your name noticed.
- If you’ve “bullet proofed” your book with these recommendations and it is still not selling or it has been rejected, it probably has nothing to do with you. It could be that it’s simply bad timing to sell your genre. However, go back and read #6 again and then read #8.
What’s the bottom line? Writing is not for wimps. If you’re going to give up writing, cover your head with a blanket and drink gallons of watery chamomile tea with your first or tenth rejection, about a million writers (and me) will be tickled three shades of pink. Why? Yours is one less book to be in competition with. You can beat the odds with work hard, tenacity and a willingness to enjoy the journey.
