A Cynic With Hints Of Truth

Steve Weinberg is on a roll with Publishers Weekly. Over the last two months, he had held two of their Soapbox columns with his most recent one, The Reluctant Expert, Being a published author means you can help anyone publish a book…right? He writes, "Those who work for book publishers and booksellers, as well as authors like myself, understand how difficult it is to write, edit and market a compelling volume. Many other people, however, seem to assume that the process is a no-brainer, that surely their book will prove irresistible to everyone."

This article is filled with some great advice that many authors need to process. To write and publish a book is a business but it's not all about the money but about getting your message out into the market. There are many different ways to accomplish those goals as Susan Driscoll told us earlier in the week through iUniverse. At asksusandriscoll.com you can sign in and instead of reaching the page for the interview, you will reach the replay page. Then you can download part or all of the teleseminar and listen to it on your computer or iPod or you can listen to it right on the page.

I was amused with Weinberg's article and the hints of truth which are embedded with a bit of cynicism. For any book to succeed, it is as much about timing as anything. It's been proven repeatedly in these books which had great potential when they were released, yet never realized it. As I've mentioned before, the best scenario is where the author has realistic expectations of what the publisher will and will not do, then actively works to put their own promotion plans into motion. These plans give the book the best possibility and environment for success (however you measure it).

Answer The Obvious Questions

At every stage of the book purchasing process, readers come with some basic questions. Are you answering them? If you have a book proposal or a book manuscript, you are attempting to catch the attention of a literary agent or an editor. Or when the book has been contracted and you are finalizing the text to turn in your manuscript, have you answered the obvious questions of the reader?

Often as writers, we are focused on crafting an excellent story or an excellent nonfiction book. At some point in the process, we need to return to the reader and make sure we've answered the obvious. Steve Weinberg raised this issue in his recent Soapbox column, "Another Eisenhower Biography?" in Publishers Weekly. I know Steve because we are members of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Steve was reviewing a forthcoming biography on President Dwight Eisenhower from Michael Korda. In this 800–page book, Korda praises another biographer of Eisenhower but doesn't tell the reader why he is adding to the literature on the former President.

Weinberg explains the reason for his question, "I'm also assuming the role of consumer advocate. I think of my mother, an avid, 83-year-old reader who is unlikely to consume more than one biography of Abe or Marilyn or John or Jesus, given her philosophy of so little time, so many more books to devour. My mother wants to know why the new one is ostensibly the best choice for her."

Ultimately the reader wants to make the best possible choice for their limited reading time--and it's up to the writer to make sure the convincing answers are somewhere in the text of the book.