Being a Professional Writer - It Is All About The Sales

I hear a lot of writers talking about "the book of their heart." These people will go on and on about how much they personally believe in their book, the message behind it, and the passion and emotion they put into crafting each and every sentence. Besides, they have always been told to "write the book THEY want to write." A lot of this is very true. It is very easy to read a story and feel their passion in that book. If your heart is not in it, I can guarantee it will be seen in the quality of the writing. 

HOWEVER...

If you want to be a professional writer, that is, someone who views this now as a career, as opposed to being just a hobby that they dabble in every now and then, the author, and his/her writing needs to factor in one more element. WILL THIS BOOK SELL!

Being a professional writer is about being a business. It is about creating a "product" and selling that "product." If you cannot sell your product successfully, your business will not be succeed.

This concept is tough for a lot of authors to wrap their brains around. They have been in their "writer" mode for so long that seeing this in a different light is tough. But think of it this way?

• Do you open a business to sell a product that no one is interested in?
• Do you invest all of your capital in a product that no one likes?
• Do you go to other investors and try to get them to buy a product they don't even sell? (trying to sell milk at a hardware store)?
• Do you take out a loan and buy a brick and mortar store without knowing if you will have enough income to pay that loan?

I hope you see where this is going. These 4 questions (along with a lot more dealing with marketing) I just asked you are things business people ask themselves and consider before even moving forward with their business model.

And yet writers don't.

I have often been asked at conferences and workshops, whether or not putting in review statistics will increase the odds of getting signed by an editor or an agent. My answer is aways the same. NO. I don't care if you have a 4.5 star review on Amazon. I don't care if you one some local writing conference. I don't care that your beta-readers liked your book. I want to know what your numbers look like (or will look like). If you are previously published, show me your sales numbers (I want dollars and units sold). I have always found it interesting that no one will ever provide me that data. Instead, they will blame it on poor marketing, or their lack of effort marketing. Look, I don't care about the reason, I want to know how much you sold.

When I look at submissions this is what I am always looking at. Will this book sell? More importantly, will this book sell and be worth the time and energy we will both have to put into it to make it marketable? Even if I think the book could sell, will it sell enough to make it worthwhile. This is known as a cost-benefit analysis. 

You might now be asking, "But Scott, how can you do both? You want me to write the book of my heart but then you tell me you want me to write a book that will sell?" The answer is yes. You can find a concept that will sell in today's market and make it your own. But, before you start any project, always ask yourself if this is your emotion talking, or is it your rational side talking?