We all aspire to be them. We want to be the writers that write our favorite books--the Orson Scott Cards, Stephen Kings, J.K. Rowlings and Ernest Hemingways. They write the books that we nearly idolize, and say the award-acceptance speeches that we admire oh so much. They are the popular writers.
Every writer has the possibility to become a popular writer. YES, you do. Have some confidence in yourself! Now when I say that any writer can become a popular writer, I mean that. However, you need more than a dictionary and a keyboard to do so. Just because you are a writer and because you have the potential to be a popular one doesn't mean that it will be handed to you. Besides hard work and determination, here are some steps to help you become a popular writer:
1.) Write something that you are proud of
You can't become popular and read with something that you wish was totally different or are embarrassed of. You need to get your manuscript to a point where you like it--love it, actually. Sure there will be times when you hate it--I think that every writer goes through those times--but you need to get through those times with a manuscript that you are in love with. If you don't love it, then you will come across as completely phony when trying to make other people love it.
2.) Show others your work
If you want to become popular and published, you need to show others your work. When I started my first novel, I was worried that people wouldn't like it and that they would judge me for it. But I showed people! Sure I cared what they thought, but I wanted critiques. You will need critiques, too. Without them you will never know how to improve. Without them you might go out in search of an agent or publisher, and get turned away embarrassed. Your readers could have helped you correct the little things in your manuscript that made the publishers turn it down
I can't say this enough: SHOW OTHERS YOUR WORK. You need to. It might hurt a little when somebody says that they don't like it...that your characters are dull...that your plot is empty or that it's boring. But you know what? It will feel a lot better if that comes from a friend than from a publisher. And publishers normally just say thank you but no thank you without a critique. Give it to your trusted friends, let them read it, then go fix your manuscript based on those critiques.
3.) Do your research
So you want to become a popular writer. You walk up to Random House's front door and ask to talk to the Editor in Chief. This won't work. Like seriously, it won't. If you show up with your manuscript in tow, complete with a cardboard Staples box, you will probably just get laughed at. Do your research, please. A big step in having your book read is to get a good agent and publisher, which means that you need to know where to go and where to look. Send your manuscript somewhere that you know accepts YA, or whatever your genre is. Figure out if they will take unsolicited manuscripts or not. Do your research.
4.) Keep working
Once you get your manuscript published, you need to keep writing and you need to market your book. Publishers rarely do a lot of marketing for their books that aren't written by already bestselling authors, and many times it is left up to you, the author, to get readers. This means book tours, speaking at libraries and schools, blogging about it and even maybe doing some fun contests on Twitter.
5.) Use social media
A great thing that our generation has that the last didn't, is social media. Use it to your advantage. Before even getting published, try to build your following on your blog, Twitter or Facebook. If people know about you beforehand they will be a lot more likely to buy your book once it's released. Plus, then people can Google you and see that you didn't just show up in the industry. The time spent before publishing will be worth it.
To sum it up: Get published (I know, easier said than done), market yourself, and get lots of feedback before publishing. It may seem like a long road, but you're on your way. If you have the ambition and talent to become popular, you can do it. There must be some way that the bestsellers became bestsellers, right?
Keep your head up!
No comments:
Post a Comment