Develop a great idea.
This advice is for anyone looking
to publish and do well with sales. Far
too often, writers have a general idea for a story, so they rush to the writing
process, cranking out the chapters with zest and enthusiasm. If you ask them
what their book is about, they’ll no doubt talk your head off about their
creative baby that’s still mostly in their heads, all with the excitement of a
first-time mother showing snapshots of her latest sonogram results. However, if
you ask them why you should purchase the book once it’s completed, that’s when
the answers cease to be lively and creative. That’s also when more than a few
smiles begin to falter.
The first thing you may notice is
that instead of answering the question, many writers ignore it entirely and
start telling you what happens in their books, sometimes scene by scene. Depending
on their enthusiasm, you may want to make yourself more comfortable. For the
writers who do attempt to answer your
question, you may notice that their answers apply to many books in the same
genre:
“It’s filled
with excitement!”
“There are great
plot twists!”
“There’s an
awesome romance!”
“It’ll make you
laugh!”
“It’ll make you
cry!”
“It’s
motivational!”
“It’s a coming
of age story that kids will love!”
“These words
were inspired by God!”
“It’s an
exciting, motivational (insert genre) that will touch your heart because it was
inspired by God!”
I could go on, but I think you get
the picture. These answers do not explain why you should buy their book instead of the one sitting
next to it on the same shelf in a bookstore.
It would serve writers best to develop
an awesome answer to this question before
they start writing their bestseller. The answer should be a concise one, the kind
you can spout off in less than a minute. An extremely short paragraph is what
you want. When you have it as perfect as you can get it, take a bow. You’ve
just penned an amazing marketing device that will serve you well, particularly with
query letters and obtaining media interviews.
I cannot stress enough what a great
idea can mean to you as a writer. A great idea trumps so many other writing
faux pas. There are tons of books published about vampires, but
Stephenie Meyer (Twilight) and Charlaine Harris (True Blood) came along with
great ideas. Wizards in books are nothing new, but J. K. Rowling had a great
idea. Many writers warn you not to write your stories in the present tense, but
writers like Veronica Roth and Suzanne Collins couldn’t care less because The
Hunger Games and the Divergent series were great ideas. A few years ago, I read
a bestseller about a typical girl who finds a typical drug-using boyfriend, and
they both fall prey to designer drugs in a most typical way and proceed to ruin
their lives. Very typical, very much done to death by other writers. However,
Ellen Hopkins decided to write this novel (Crank) entirely in short poems. What
a great idea. (And so much for poetry not selling well.)
Did you know that in the nonfiction
market you could win a book deal without
having a book? Yep. You guessed it. The deal was based on the idea alone. If
the idea is good enough, the publisher will actually help you write the book!
So do yourself a huge favor. Use
your creative abilities where they will really count. When writing a book,
don’t forget to write the most important short paragraph of your life. You can
also shrink this concept to having a great idea for each chapter or extend it
to having a great idea for a series.
And just in case you’re wondering, I
do follow my own advice. I’ve developed a great idea for an author. Name
another author who focuses on education as much as John Grisham focuses on the
legal system or Tom Clancy focuses on the military: “Edward M. Baldwin, America’s
education novelist.”
Yes, that was a shameless plug. (Great
idea?)
