1.Don’t be amazing - The single most common reason for novels not being published is that they are simply not amazing. Publishers have an almost unlimited supply of writers looking to get their books in print, so why would they publish anything but the very best writing? Your novel being good is just not good enough.
2. Produce a rubbish pitch - Many writers spend years writing a novel and then look to knock out a book proposal in a matter of hours. Writing a book proposal is an art. In essence your query letter and synopsis are sales documents convincing the publisher that you are a serious writer, who understands the market place in detail and has written an excellent book.
3. Don’t do any research - Failing to do the research needed to write your book, or find the website that offers you the best advice on writing a book proposal, or pick the most suitable agent, or pin point the ideal publisher or identify the competition all equal failure.
4. You are not differently different - Novels take a long time to write and the publishing industry moves (relatively) quickly. Churning out books that are the same as the bestsellers when you start writing is a recipe for disaster. Your book needs to clearly fit into a genre but still be differently different enough to give it a unique angle in the marketplace.
5. You give up – Only by giving up will you ensure that your novel will never get published.
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“Your book needs to clearly fit into a genre but still be differently different enough to give it a unique angle in the marketplace.”
Says it all.
Thanks
Ben
I picked this gem up from an editor at Franklin Watt…
Great concise advice. #1 needs to be talked about more often. Successfully being amazing can make up for deficiencies in the others (except for #5–quitting is flat-out fatal).
thanks – I think that being amazing is essential. I would recommend that everyone reads Seth Godin’s Purple Cow.
Great advice, as always. Could add “Don’t know your audience” and “Think you know it all” to these as well
Tam – Two great additions. I think knowing your audience is vital. I would not suggest writers write to please their audience but instead have a detailed knowledge of their marketplace and the novels that are selling and not selling.
Oops, I seem to have committed error #5.
nooo!
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