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I’ve been doing this for a while now—this being reading and editing and haunting the publishing industry, unable to leave it alone—and when you’re around something for quite some time, you’re bound to develop some opinions. And oooh, do I have some opinions for you.
It’s in developing these opinions that I’ve established some philosophies in my business. These philosophies dictate how I edit, what I teach my clients, and how I encourage writers.
Anyone can be a writer.
When I see writers struggling, it’s common to hear things like, “I’m just not meant to be a writer,” or “I can’t do this.” Neither of those things is true. You see, anyone can be a writer, and everyone can do this, but you just have to do it. And so perhaps what separates the writers from the non-writers is that the non-writers just don’t want it enough to prioritize it right now. And that’s totally okay.
But if you do want to be a writer, that’s where the magic happens. When you really, really want to be a writer, you find the time to write in the stolen moments, and in the moments where you’re not writing, you’re thinking about it and planning and dreaming and jotting down lines in your Notes app so you don’t forget them later. You’re setting boundaries with family members and reading books about characterization so you get better and better. You can’t help it. Being a writer is in your soul.
And so anyone can be a writer, you just have to want it bad enough.
You must know who your target audience is, and no, it’s not “everyone.”
If I had a nickel for every time a new author told me their book was for everyone, I’d have retired from editing years ago.
No one thing appeals to everyone. Not sunshine and rainbows, not the scent of fresh lavender in the summer, not freshly baked cookies on an autumn afternoon, not even chocolate.
So if you tell me that your ideal reader is “everyone,” it’s as good as saying your ideal reader is absolutely no one.
There’s power in knowing what type of reader would enjoy your story. There may be several types of readers that would enjoy your story, and knowing that gives you even more power. Yes, there will always outliers, but when you’re publishing your book, you need to know who your average reader will be. Knowing that will inform your cover art, your back cover blurb, the length of your book, your genre, your marketing, and so much more.
The first draft is for the writer, and the subsequent drafts are for the reader.
It seems to me that most novels begin with passion from the writer—that spark of an idea, that zing of creativity. It can be intoxicating and alluring, and gets the writer excited. And so the writer writes, crafting a novel that, to them, is perfect.
But that’s not the end.
Because at the end of the day, the end user of that book is not the writer—it’s the reader. And so, after the first draft, that reader needs to be considered. Things may make sense to the writer, but not to the reader, and this second draft is meant to find these things and fix them. It’s as if you’re fixing up your book, swaddling it in a nice scarf, and sending it off to kindergarten by itself for the first time. You must prepare it to be on its own and in the world, without you to care for it.
To successfully break the rules, you must first know the rules.
In writing, I believe that most rules are in place to help the reader more easily read. For this reason, consistency is important, formatting has standards, and rules must be followed. But sometimes, when you know the rules, know why the rules are in place, and why they’re important, you can break them. This, in essence, becomes a stylistic choice instead of a negligent one. If, instead, you don’t know why writers format things in a certain way, you may format your novel however you see fit, with unicorn stickers and multicolored backgrounds and thirty-seven different fonts. This will, undoubtedly, anger some of your readers, triggering refunds and bad reviews and pitchforks. It’s definitely worth knowing the rules first.
You will only get out of your book what you put into it.
This is where I implore you to take it seriously. Spend some time learning to write by following blogs. Find a community to commiserate with, whether in person or on Facebook. Invest in a good editor (hey, that’s me!) and a cover designer. Look before you leap, and make intentional decisions. Treat your book like something important to you, because it is.
Now, for the unsexy part: after your book has been published, and after you’ve celebrated this enormous feat, you cannot just stop working on your book. Now is the time to promote it in the same spaces that your ideal audience hangs out. Put that title and cover in front of the right eyeballs over and over. Talk about your book, quote your book, share behind the scenes looks at your book. If you do this, you’ll be selling not only your book, but also yourself, and that’s how you get readers who keep coming back with each subsequent novel.
Take the time to develop your own writing philosophies, and if what I mentioned above resonates with you, if you really want it and are ready to invest in yourself and the novel that you’ve poured yourself into, reach out for a quote!