That Indefinable Something

What makes an editor pick up a book, read it, and want to buy it? Almost always, it’s the thing that makes your book different from everyone else’s. Sometimes you are unaware of the fact that you are doing it. Sometimes you started out afraid to do that very thing, and you pushed yourself (or someone else pushed you) until you did it more and more.

You could call this thing “voice,” but it doesn’t matter what the name is. It’s what makes this book yours. It’s what makes people remember your book and how they felt while reading it, even if they forget the title or your name or the color of your book cover. It’s the thing that makes someone read a sentence of it and know that it’s not going to be like anyone else’s book.

When you ask questions about what books are selling, what the trends are, what editors want to buy, what an agent’s wishlist is, you are often asking the wrong question. I think instead you should ask yourself—what book can I write that no one else can write? Or perhaps—what do I have to say that no one else is willing to say?

When I read a manuscript and I think immediately—this will sell—it is almost always because the writer isn’t following a trend. The writer may be riding a vibe from some trend in the past, or stealing a feeling from a particular time period or even from another writer, but it always feels unique. Now, a unique thing may not appeal to every editor who is buying or every agent who is signing, but they will be able to see that this is different.

Be different. Be that indefinable something. Write a book that feels like it just made up new rules for everything.