Red Christmas

Publishers look for season-themed books because the marketing angle’s built-in.

A Season for Sleuthing – WSJ.com reports: “Christmas has once again inspired mystery writers to craft season-themed stories of loss and of hope, of suffering and redemption, and even to hint, at times, at the greater mysteries of creation. Publishers, doing their part, have once again put together mystery-themed books for seasonal giving, collecting classics and offering, in book form, the backstory to the lives of classic storytellers.”

I hope this knowledge is not lost on you. Get started on a Christmas-themed book now, and your book could be the hit of bookstores in the holiday shopping frenzy of 2009.

Marketing is VITAL for your book, so always consider the marketing potential of your ideas

Publishing is a business with tiny margins. Many writers whine over this, but it’s neither good nor bad, it’s just a fact. Your publisher will love you if you acknowledge the realities of marketing.

Building in a marketing angle for you book makes your book easier to sell, all things being equal – you’ve still got to write a great book, of course.

Want to write a book? You can. You start writing, and you keep going. At around 80,000 words, you’ve got yourself a book. Now what? You sell the book to a major publisher, hit the bestseller lists, and order your new cherry-red Ferrari.

That’s how writing a book and getting published works. But if you try to follow that process – just sit down and start typing – the chances that you’ll sell the book are slim. To sell your book you need to know the kind of book you’re writing before you start, and also whether there’s an audience for that kind of book. It sounds unfair, but in order to sell your book, you have to prove to the publisher that people will want to read it.

What Kind of Book are You Writing?

Most new authors start on their book writing and publishing adventure by reading a book and getting inspired. They don’t think about the kind of book they’re writing, or who would want to read it.

There are basically two kinds of books: truth and lies, otherwise known as nonfiction and fiction (novels). Some hundred thousand books are published in English each year, both nonfiction and novels. You must know what kind of book you’re writing before you start.

Let’s imagine that you’ve read a Harry Potter novel, and you’re so enthusiastic that you’re inspired to write your own children’s novel. The words pour out of you; you’re on fire. You write and write and write, and the pages pile up on your computer’s hard drive.

This is great. While you’re writing, ask yourself: “In a bookstore, where would this book of mine be shelved?”

If you’re not sure, go to a bookstore and wander around the shelves. Is your book in the nonfiction section? In the children’s section? In the romance novel or mystery section?

If you’re inspired by Harry Potter, you know you’re writing a children’s novel. Imagine your book on the shelves, right beside the rows of Harry Potters.

This isn’t an idle exercise, or a fantasy. You must know what you’re writing, so please visit that bookstore. “What is it?” is the first thing an agent will want to know when you contact her to represent your book. It’s also the first thing an editor at a publishing house will want to know.

So, what are you writing? If you don’t know, or aren’t sure, think about it and visit a bookstore if you need to. You can write a book and get published if you know what you’re writing, and who will want to read it.

Write more with Angela’s “Top 70 Writing Tips To Help You To Write More” – you’ll find all the inspiration, techniques and motivation you need to write your book.

Before you begin writing your book, think about marketing it. Tackling the marketing process up-front can save you a lot of time, whether you’re looking for a traditional publisher, or want to self-publish.

A traditional publisher will want you to describe the market for the book, and your plans for reaching the market: this is a vital part of your book proposal. If you want to self-publish, then you must know who will buy your book, and why, before you write it, otherwise you’ll waste time and money.

Marketing is just as important for fiction as it is for nonfiction.

Here are some questions to ask yourself about marketing your book:

* Who are your target buyers? Why do they want to read your book?

* If you’re writing nonfiction, how many books are already published on your topic? Read them, and ask yourself how your book will be different from those already available. What do the already-published books leave out?

* If you’re writing fiction, what genre are you writing in? What books are bestsellers in your genre?

Thinking about marketing your book before you’ve even written it can be scary. However, it’s necessary, and ensures that your book will sell.

Details, details… details will make your fiction come alive.

Here’s one of my best tips for my writing students – ground your fiction in your senses.

When you use your senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell in your writing it takes your writing out of your head and brings it into the real world, and in fiction, it enables your readers to experience the world you’re creating.

Get specific. For your reader to experience the world you’re creating, you have to experience that world first.

So be there with your characters. Feel what they feel, and see what they see.

Stephen King, in his early novels like Salem’s Lot, was a master of creating a world that you could experience. If you haven’t read Salem’s Lot, read it with an eye to studying how King uses the five senses to take you right into a world which contains vampires – he makes you FEEL.

Make YOUR readers feel when you use your senses in your fiction.

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No time to write a book? Nonsense. I’m a great believer in writing in the nooks and crannies of your life – in your lunch hour, while you’re waiting for a meeting to start, and in the half hour before bedtime.

You can write a book, no matter what other commitments you have.

Unfortunately, getting started is a challenge, especially with a novel. Often you’ll write 50 pages just to get the right “voice” or tone for the novel. Once you’ve found your voice, the novel bubbles out.

This article How to write a book really, really fast makes the point: “Participants are allowed to bring in a plot outline, but McLeod says he didn’t get mired in the details. His notes on character development consisted of little phrases: Leonard thinks about God. Leonard meets a girl. Leonard wonders if he is gay.

‘I knew if I could get the voice down for my character, the actual plot — getting him from place to place — would be fun,’ McLeod says. Fuelled by coffee and Rockstar Energy Drink, the spoken-word poet spent the entire first half of the first day on his novel’s opening paragraphs. Once he had turned 20 pages of free-flowing ideas into an opening stanza in a straightforward, slightly comical tone that he liked, the flood gates opened and the novel poured forth.”

So don’t believe that “I can’t write a book” if you take a while to find the right voice for the book. Finding the book’s tone is half the battle. If you want to write – do it.