The Most Misunderstood Element of Writing Novels
You’ve done it. You’ve gone and written the next Great American Novel. Shockingly, some dolt at a publishing house has actually recognized your brilliance. This is it. The big time! There’s only one problem…nobody is buying your novel.
Write it and they will come. Okay, that’s a take off of a certain baseball movie cliché, but it is just as true for writing. The most misunderstood thing new writers don’t understand about novels is writing them is only the first step. You might write the piece de resistance for the decade, but it doesn’t matter if nobody knows about it.
Will you get rich writing? Well, you will if you are the next Stephen King. Most writers obviously don’t make it that far. Yes, you can make a living writing, but you are sadly mistaken if you believe the glamorous image of a writer’s life that is often portrayed in movies and such. I’ll give you an example.
I read a marvelous travel book written by a young lady who had traveled to Costa Rica. She ended up falling in love with a man in prison there and ultimately living with him after he left prison. It was a solid novel and a good read. When I completed it, I slapped it up in the used section on Amazon. Guess who purchased the book from me? Yes, the author. It was cheaper for her to buy her own novel from me used on Amazon than from her own publisher! Welcome to the business of writing.
Writing your novel is obviously a huge step in the revenue generating process. That being said, the modern publishing industry is a cutthroat one. You must be a good writer, but you also must learn to market your material. Most publishers are not going to make a massive effort. It is you who must do this. It is you who has to get out and work the book signings. It is you who needs to show the world one way or another that you’ve written a masterpiece. More than a few great authors have died penniless because they could not master this simple idea.
Writing a novel takes ability, passion and technique. Just keep in mind the job is not done when you finish the writing process.
- Thomas Ajava
Tags: Costa Rica, Dolt, Great American Novel, Publishing House, Writing Novels
