Don't Waste Time On Projects Destined To Fail

As predicted, I am starting to see a ton of projects that are far from good. As I looked at these projects, I kept asking myself "What were these people thinking? How much time did they waste on these projects?" In simple terms, this is time they will never get back.

Why? Because these projects were destined to fail from the beginning. No agent would ever take on these projects. No publisher would ever put this on the bookshelves, and frankly no one in their right mind would ever buy these books. The scary part is that these authors often blame "the system" for not seeing quality writing and will venture forth into the self-publishing world and will likely claim great success (but don't ever talk about how much money they spent or how much they truly made).

Let's make this simple. You have to look at the project idea carefully before starting. I am not simply talking about "Hey this concept works!" but a full scale look at the story from start to finish. I would also add to look at the market out there and see if there really is a place for that story. If your story has not place, then stop right there. Don't waste your time.

Now, I know that many of you will argue that you really don't know if the story is good until you get well into it. Please understand, I am talking about the product being marketable.

I like to use this analogy. Bob and Steve are having a barbecue contest in their backyards (socially distancing so they are talking to each other over their fences and from behind their barbecues. Both are going to cook steaks. But here is the twist. Bob got a really cheap cut of meat. It was in a discount bin and he didn't bother to check the expiration date (it's bad). Steve went out and got the same cut of meat but it was prime level (we're talking Filet Mignon level here).

OK, you can see where this is going. There is not amount of seasoning or technique that is going to stop Bob from giving his family food poisoning. It is destined to fail from the beginning. Now, the immediate assumption is that Steve is going to win. First of all, his product is something that COULD succeed, but he could completely ruin it due to his cooking ability.

In other words, a bad concept from the beginning will never be successful. Don't be like Bob.
A great concept has the potential of succeeding and CAN be successful, but be smart like Steve and learn to cook before ruining it.