On this one, I'm cutting to the chase:

SABOTAGE #6: ASSUMING A WORK DEEPLY FELT BY YOU WILL BE DEEPLY FELT BY ALL

This is a strange one. I always feel a little mean mentioning it, and I also feel like it's painfully obvious. Yet again and again, without fail, at every writing conference, I meet a writer who assumes I will be interested in their work simply because it's about a transformational or life-changing or soulful experience. Writers who are so wholly consumed—who have become different people because of the ideas or story they are conveying—tend to automatically assume it will interest editors or agents just because it’s something they know or deeply experienced or worked hard on.

Unfortunately, it’s not enough to have written a great work, experienced a life-changing event, or be an expert in the field. You may feel you have an important message to share, but you have to be able to connect that message to an identifiable MARKET. You must be able to establish a readership and a market for your work if you want to interest a commercial or for-profit publishing house; nothing else will matter to them, apart from amazing, fall-off-your-chair writing.

In big-picture terms, I'll quote the great philosopher Schopenhauer:
"Most men are so thoroughly subjective that nothing really interests them but themselves. They always think of their own case as soon as any remark is made, and their whole attention engrossed and absorbed by the merest chance reference to anything which affects them personally, be it ever so remote."

Candy Gourlay over at Notes From the Slush Pile has been kind enough to notice my series on how to avoid sabotaging your writing career (which continues this week, so stay tuned). Be sure to visit Candy's blog if you're interested in the children's/YA genre, lots of up-to-date industry info.

Here's the dirty little secret of publishing:
Many publishers don’t know how to sell books to readers. They only know how to sell to bookstores, wholesalers, and other middlemen. Which leads to the next sabotage:

#3 SABOTAGE: EXPECT YOUR PUBLISHER TO MARKET YOUR WORK

Successful authors (particularly nonfiction authors) often have a marketing platform long before they decide to publish a book. They know how to market perhaps even better than their publisher, because they know how to reach a readership.

What is a marketing platform?

• It’s NOT your credentials.
• It’s your visibility and what you do to continue your visibility.
• You cannot act on a one-time basis and have a platform. It is a process or a journey.

If you don’t market and promote your work, who will? General-interest publishers can struggle to reach readers directly, meaning often YOU are the best person to reach readers. Your publisher will not take care of everything. Assume they will do nothing and you will not be disappointed. That aside, your publisher often uses your network, contacts, and knowledge about the market to form their own marketing campaigns. If you have nothing to contribute, they have to start from the ground up. Or they might not start at all.

Envision your book—spine out—on bookstore shelves, surrounded by thousands of other titles. Who knows it's there? Who is going to tell people it's there? Don't wait for your publisher to tell the world. You tell the world.

The greater lesson: If you build it, they will not come.

Related posts
How to Avoid Sabotaging Your Writing Career (#2)
How to Avoid Sabotaging Your Writing Career (#1)

This month, Writer's Digest Books is releasing one of the most sophisticated fiction writing guides—ever. The editor who discovered this book, Kelly Nickell, said she got goosebumps when reading the original proposal, such was her excitement that we might have the privilege of publishing this book.

While it's definitely not for everybody (and might not have a lot of practical application when it comes to strict genre writing), the people who typically poo-poo writing instruction books will absolutely love it (the problem is: will they condescend to buying it?!).

The book is Alone With All That Could Happen: Rethinking Conventional Wisdom About the Craft of Fiction Writing by David Jauss, a creative writing professor.

Here's a brief snippet from the Introduction:

Each time we sit down to write a work of fiction, we face a vast panorama of possibilities—and not just "all that could happen" but also all the narrative strategies and techniques we could possibly use to convey the people and events we imagine. The process of writing a work of fiction is ultimately the process of making choices among this panorama of techniques and strategies. But before we can make these choices, we need to know what the possibilities are, and in my opinion, too much of what's been written about the craft of fiction restricts the possibilities we can, and should, be exploring. In this book, I have tried to take a descriptive, rather than prescriptive, approach to the craft of fiction.

One note about this book's packaging that's not apparent when viewing it online: It's a hardcover book with a 3/4-length jacket. That means the jacket only extends to just below the title. Now, I have to tell you: The editor, designer, and I were convinced this cover treatment would work, and we fought the objections of sales, marketing, and production. We put ourselves on the line.

So, please, if anything, buy this book because I don't want to be told it didn't sell due to poor packaging! Let's prove that 3/4-length covers sell!

The latest and greatest information from WD editors:

How to write a nonfiction book proposal (Guide to Literary Agents blog)
The new 2009 edition of Guide to Literary Agents will hit the streets soon; here's a sneak peek at one of the upfront articles on writing nonfiction book proposals by agent Mollie Glick.

Are agents stealing my stamps? (Questions & Quandaries)
I get this question regularly at conferences. I'm always astounded. So here's the answer, if you've always wanted to ask, too.

Meeting agents in New York City (Writer's Perspective)
The editor of Writer's Digest magazine reports from the road, as she escorts winners of the Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition in face-to-face meetings with agents.

What no one tells you (Living With the M-Word)
A simple and direct answer to who is responsible for your book's success.

Rolling through stop signs (Alice's CWIM blog)
Alice has a rant this week (on frustrating people like myself! oops!) who don't stop fully at stop signs. I was even guilty of this during my driving test.

I've been having such an interesting coversation with Robert Walker (in the comments of my post earlier today) that I wanted to share my response with all.

Robert says:

See, I just feel there's a problem when a small number of people's tastes and opinions (let's never forget that) and financial concerns serve to actively, and it often feels, maliciously, keep my work from the reading public. … While such a vetting system *may* produce some financial rewards, how many flops are there? …

The business model currently in place is not about good books, good writers, the sharing of ideas, and so forth, it's about money and profit, no different than the toothpaste industry. Can you honestly tell me that the opinions of this handful of people is really *that* worthy of such power and responsibility? And if you think I'm alone in this, check out Jessica's recent post about "venting" over at Bookends. Read the comments. That's the impression that most writers have of the industry. And, given how the system is set up, how can you blame them?

There's so much to say about Robert's comment (and I've only snipped his last two paragraphs), but I'll just touch on one aspect, and that's the relationship between publishers and writers, and how we all view each other.

Of course I'm no stranger to how the publishing industry is perceived by aspiring writers, as well as published authors. (If you're bitter as an aspiring writer, just wait until you're a published author! Sorry, it can get worse.) One time, I referred to Writer's Digest editors as "the nice people in publishing." However, I couldn't keep doing so in good faith, because it implied perhaps we were the only nice people, and I don't believe that.

In any case, a few points for further consideration.

1. Yes, there are some bad eggs in the publishing industry (some with and without power). Yes, some writers (both published and unpublished) are mistreated. Yes, some bad books are released. All industries have their share of so-called bad people (and please don't tell me that all the bad people have migrated to book publishing!). I'm reminded of an article I read once that philosophized about how we tend to assume writers are generous, wonderful people. (Or ought to be!) Well, actually, no. Writers can be SOBs just like people in other professions. But for some reason, we expect them to be better human beings. And I wonder if writers expect the same of people inside book publishing. Maybe the problem is, in my comments to Robert, I portrayed book publishing people as too close to God. And of course they're not, though I still contend that people who enter the business do have a passion for the written word, even the gatekeepers, including many agents. There is absolutely NO reason to stay in the business unless you're committed to the written word, because no one's really making any money at it. So we're looking either at passion or lunacy. Or both.
2. Now that I've pointed out how bad we all are, let's not forget the role that aspiring writers and authors play in making the industry what it is. The way I look at it, we all share in the blame. Publishers make a lot of bad decisions, but authors do too. Many, many times have editors in my office dragged an author kicking and screaming across the finish line. Why dragged? Many authors go missing in action, or they refuse to revise, they won't accept edits or direction, they give up, they don't have time, they abandon the project (for legitimate and not legitimate reasons), and so the editor is left to clean up the mess best they can, or send it to the printer anyway.
   
3. Yes, publishing is primarily a profit-making venture. If publishers didn't choose projects that they believed would turn a profit, there would be no money to risk on next year's books. And there would be no money for my paycheck (and I would like to continue making a living at this). How do publishers choose money makers? Well, that's all determined by what YOU, dear reader, are willing to buy. So we could say that the publishers are driven to release what they believe the general public will purchase, so perhaps we can point the finger at them! (That is, ourselves!)
   

Finally, but most importantly, let's stop pointing the finger. Does demonizing the industry (or the author) really help anyone? Does it help you get published? Maybe. If feeling dissed-pissed about the industry motivates you like crazy, then by all means pursue that attitude! But speaking for myself, if I want to continue to work in book publishing (and yes, I've felt demoralized on many days due to the profit focus), I have to look at what about it brings me joy. So I choose to look at what's beautiful about it, not what I would burn to the ground. And maybe if we pay attention to the positive things, and believe the best of each other, things will change. I guess you could say I'm a hopeless optimist. Or naive. I've been accused of both.

On a more serious note, though, if such things about the industry are incredibly distressing to you—if you simply couldn't look yourself in the mirror if you were published by HarperCollins—then there are in fact many nonprofit and/or independent presses that strive for excellence above all, and profits (if any) are of secondary importance. Into this category, I'd put publishers like Melville House, Macadam/Cage, McSweeney's, Unbridled Books, and of course there are many, many others. (I encourage comments on this front!)

To wrap up, I'd like to share a snippet I've saved for many months. It's from a profile of the founder of Macadam/Cage, David Poindexter:

Poindexter's business philosophy is similarly unconventional. "It's best not to pay too much attention to the finances," he says. "Good business is not about the numbers; it's about doing the right thing. If you're doing the right thing, then you'll be producing something of value, and people will want to acquire what you're producing. Then the numbers will take care of themselves." According to Poindexter, the numbers are taking care of themselves for now. "I can't buy a beach house," he says, "but I can pay the mortgage."

Fortunately for readers as well as for writers, David Poindexter's definition of success has nothing to do with buying a beach house. "I'm doing this because it adds value to my life and to our society," he says. "If we live our lives doing something of value, then that is success." And by that standard, David Poindexter is successful indeed.

When I'm surrounded by large numbers of writers (usually at conferences), I've found it helpful to separate them into three distinct categories:

Careerists
Cathartics
Students

I can usually tell within a few minutes who I'm dealing with, and while quickly labeling people is not my favored or desired pastime, it greatly affects the kind of advice or feedback I give to a writer. Here are the qualities of each and how it affects my response.

CAREERISTS

• Want to author a book (more than "write" a book) to help take their career to the next level
• Usually are writing in a nonfiction category
• The information or the message is usually more important than aesthetics

These types of writers need to understand, first and foremost, that a publisher will not be interested in their project until they have a marketing platform and visibility with a targeted audience. As one of my authors (Christina Katz) says, publishers are not looking to make waves for you; they want to ride your wave. The No. 1 mistake careerists make is thinking that a publisher will somehow kick-start their career or help them spread their message. Instead, careerists need to ensure they can convince a publisher that their book will sell because they already have the right promotion machine in place.

A few of the best careerist authors are the ones who have decided that publishers profit too much from the authors' efforts, and eventually publish their own stuff (because they know how to sell, distribute, and market it on their own—that's how incredibly visible they are).

CATHARTICS

• Usually have one manuscript complete, often a memoir or story about a traumatic event (e.g., death of a loved one, tragic illness, longterm abuse)
• Have an insatiable desire to tell the world about this tragic story (e.g., to keep a loved one's memory alive, to help others who may be going through the same situation)
• Often have no interest in large-scale revision or otherwise making the work suitable for a publisher

These types of writers can be the most challenging to advise because their stories are so personal. Their focus is so much on getting their specific story out into the world that there's no room for compromise. I've found it's also not helpful to say, "Start a new project, set this aside for a while," because such writers are only interested in writing about this one event. Furthermore, these writers desperately want validation from editors/agents that their story has value and ought to be published.

I've found the best I can do for these people is to advise self-publishing, unless I see a sample of the writing and it knocks me out of my chair. (FYI, that has never happened.)

STUDENTS
So the last category?

• Have a continuous desire to improve their craft
• Revise, revise, revise, revise
• Read (no one emphasizes this enough)
• Know how to use editorial and market-based feedback to speed them to success

I think I'm showing my biases here (that is, I find students to be dedicated to the same things I'm dedicated to), but of course student qualities can be found in both careerists and cathartics.

The important point here is that people in publishing can tell when you're only seeking to use the industry for a specific type of gain. Ask yourself: where is your passion directed, and is it best directed at book publication? For some would-be authors, book publication is the most foolish and time-wasting means of spreading a message. (Not to mention unprofitable.)