Writing Worry #7: A good story isn't the end of the story
I've always been fascinated by what makes one person successful when so many other people never make it. What makes a successful business person, politican, inventor, etc.? I've a hard time believing it is random luck or even fate. A news program on NPR about the non-fiction book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell said it was a combination of opportunity and ability. Would Bill Gates have been Bill Gates without his early access to computers? Would Facebook have been a runaway hit without Myspace and other social networking sites breaking ground? Would Stephen King have been the successful author he is if his wife hadn't rescued his Carry manuscript from the trash?
Last week, I mentioned that a good story is all an author really needs to get published. However, success in publishing, as in any endeavor, is a combination of opportunity and ability.
When an author hits it big, the news is about the numbers of books sold, movie deals and rags to riches overnight journeys. What often gets overlooked or downplayed is the years of attempts, the failures, the thoughts of picking up a different hobby and the sacrifices made. Sherrilyn Kenyon gave a wonderful interview on Writing Excuses about the perserverance her journey to the status of successful author required. Brandon Sanderson often mentions the ten novels he wrote before landing a meaningful publishing contract.
There no doubt that behind any success story is a lot of hard work. A good story is just a good story until it finds an audience, or market.
Some authors, like Scott Sigler and Nathan Lowell, have had great success podcasting their novels or releasing them as audiobooks. E. L. James, author of 50 Shades of Grey, found her audience via fanfiction sites. Mur Lafferty has used a combination of blogging, podcasting about writing and audiobooks to build her audience over the course of years.
Amanda Hockings and other Amazon.com authors have relied on self-publishing to get their stories to an audience. The stigma attached to self-publishing is lesening, but it still remains as more and more people post their gems only to find out they are rougher than they thought.
Authors still make it to the big through the slush pile, personal contacts, networking and any meals possible. As more and more people find new ways of putting their words in front of eyeballs, the background noise of mediocre and downright bad novels is increasing. Authors have to scream louder and louder for the chance to have their good story noticed.
From there it's a matter of marketing and publicity. These days, authors need an online presence. They need to be accessable to potential readers and reach out to them in any way they can. A novel is cold one book at a time-I'm not sure who first said this, but I've heard it repeated over and over by authors. It's no longer just about writing. There's a lot more that goes into making a good story a successful novel. And if an author wants to make a career of writing, the author must be prepared to start the journey all over again each time they produce a good story or the market changes.
Successful authors are a rarity. Their journey might have started with a good story, but it doesn't end there.
Sherrilyn Kenyon
