BWFoster78
Myth Weaver
I love a good theoretical debate on what “good” writing is, but when you get right down to it, my focus is on actionable suggestions for making me a successful indie writer. So my question is:
What qualities are most important for a writer to develop in order to achieve commercial success?
First of all, I'm not sure "qualities" is the right word. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not, but at the moment, I'm at a loss as to what the right word should be. Feel free to supply a better one.
Second, let me admit straight off that I do not know the answer to the posed question. I'm going to list a few of my thoughts in order to get the conversation rolling. Please don't take these as anything other than conjecture.
1. Craft
In the beginning of my exploration of writing as a career, I focused a lot on learning craft. I do not in any way regret that time spent learning. However, I'm not sure that craft above a certain level is all that important for selling books.
It seems that really inferior craft will hold a book back, but I'm not sure that the effort and expense required to achieve really good (for all values of good) craft is worth it if you're seeking success from self publishing. I'm not nearly as familiar with what's required to do well with traditional publishing, but it seems to me that traditionally published works, in general, are superior from a craft perspective than most self published ones. It also seems to me, though, that the lack of superior craft in the independent books aren't harming sales as much as purists might want to think they would.
If I were to go back in time to advise a younger me on how to most efficiently proceed forward, I'm not sure what I'd say. From my current perspective, each step in the path to where I am now seems absolutely necessary. So even though I value craft less now than I did at the beginning, I'm not sure I would advise my younger self to change that opinion.
Bottom line: A minimum level of competence is required to keep readers turning pages, but that level is much lower than my personal taste requires.
2. Focus on the reader
If one wants to sell books, one simply must write books that a reader wants to read. It seems like there’s a lot of advice out there to write what you’re passionate about. Three issues: 1) if your passion is a really small niche, you’re probably not going to sell a lot of books just because the pool of buyers is too small and 2) just because you’re passionate about a subject, does not make your writing/story good and 3) just because you don’t have passion about a subject doesn’t mean the writing/story is going to be bad.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I have to constantly think, “How can I make this story interesting to the reader?”
My contention is that I’m already interested in my story. Therefore, my words don’t have to do the work of creating interest. When a reader picks up my story, however, all they have are my words to create that interest.
Back before I started this focus, I didn’t get anywhere hoping what I wrote would engage my reader. Since, it seems like things have gotten better.
3. Story
When evaluating a book I’ve just finished, my first criteria is, “Did I finish it?” If not, the likelihood that I’ll ever read that author again is slim. If so, the author’s craft skills were strong enough to keep me engaged. Best case scenario, that means I’d be open to reading that author again.
Here’s the problem, though. With so many authors and books out there, merely being open to reading the author again isn’t good enough. That author needs me to search out his books. To join his mailing list. To become a fan.
The only way any of that happens is if I loved the book, and the only way I love a book is if the combination of concept, characters, and conflict provoked an emotional response.
It seems to me that a key to long term success is figuring out how to write stories that compel your readers to search out the rest of your library.
4. Write a lot
I think the chances of any one book making you gazillions of dollars is slim, but if you have enough books on the market, the combined sales can make you decent money. Additionally, each book you put out is another opportunity to find members of your core audience, especially since Amazon more heavily promotes new releases.
Conclusion:
Going forward with my attempt to make a go of it as a self published author, here’s my current focus:
- Always keep improving my writing craft but don’t focus on it unless reader/sales feedback indicates that it is a problem.
- Take reader feedback to heart. Who is my core reader? What do they want? How can I better serve them?
- Put more time/money/effort into making my stories good than in making my writing good.
- Stop writing freaking forum posts and get back to editing my novel!
What qualities are most important for a writer to develop in order to achieve commercial success?
First of all, I'm not sure "qualities" is the right word. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not, but at the moment, I'm at a loss as to what the right word should be. Feel free to supply a better one.
Second, let me admit straight off that I do not know the answer to the posed question. I'm going to list a few of my thoughts in order to get the conversation rolling. Please don't take these as anything other than conjecture.
1. Craft
In the beginning of my exploration of writing as a career, I focused a lot on learning craft. I do not in any way regret that time spent learning. However, I'm not sure that craft above a certain level is all that important for selling books.
It seems that really inferior craft will hold a book back, but I'm not sure that the effort and expense required to achieve really good (for all values of good) craft is worth it if you're seeking success from self publishing. I'm not nearly as familiar with what's required to do well with traditional publishing, but it seems to me that traditionally published works, in general, are superior from a craft perspective than most self published ones. It also seems to me, though, that the lack of superior craft in the independent books aren't harming sales as much as purists might want to think they would.
If I were to go back in time to advise a younger me on how to most efficiently proceed forward, I'm not sure what I'd say. From my current perspective, each step in the path to where I am now seems absolutely necessary. So even though I value craft less now than I did at the beginning, I'm not sure I would advise my younger self to change that opinion.
Bottom line: A minimum level of competence is required to keep readers turning pages, but that level is much lower than my personal taste requires.
2. Focus on the reader
If one wants to sell books, one simply must write books that a reader wants to read. It seems like there’s a lot of advice out there to write what you’re passionate about. Three issues: 1) if your passion is a really small niche, you’re probably not going to sell a lot of books just because the pool of buyers is too small and 2) just because you’re passionate about a subject, does not make your writing/story good and 3) just because you don’t have passion about a subject doesn’t mean the writing/story is going to be bad.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I have to constantly think, “How can I make this story interesting to the reader?”
My contention is that I’m already interested in my story. Therefore, my words don’t have to do the work of creating interest. When a reader picks up my story, however, all they have are my words to create that interest.
Back before I started this focus, I didn’t get anywhere hoping what I wrote would engage my reader. Since, it seems like things have gotten better.
3. Story
When evaluating a book I’ve just finished, my first criteria is, “Did I finish it?” If not, the likelihood that I’ll ever read that author again is slim. If so, the author’s craft skills were strong enough to keep me engaged. Best case scenario, that means I’d be open to reading that author again.
Here’s the problem, though. With so many authors and books out there, merely being open to reading the author again isn’t good enough. That author needs me to search out his books. To join his mailing list. To become a fan.
The only way any of that happens is if I loved the book, and the only way I love a book is if the combination of concept, characters, and conflict provoked an emotional response.
It seems to me that a key to long term success is figuring out how to write stories that compel your readers to search out the rest of your library.
4. Write a lot
I think the chances of any one book making you gazillions of dollars is slim, but if you have enough books on the market, the combined sales can make you decent money. Additionally, each book you put out is another opportunity to find members of your core audience, especially since Amazon more heavily promotes new releases.
Conclusion:
Going forward with my attempt to make a go of it as a self published author, here’s my current focus:
- Always keep improving my writing craft but don’t focus on it unless reader/sales feedback indicates that it is a problem.
- Take reader feedback to heart. Who is my core reader? What do they want? How can I better serve them?
- Put more time/money/effort into making my stories good than in making my writing good.
- Stop writing freaking forum posts and get back to editing my novel!