questions

How To Be An Author: Are You Asking How When You Mean When?

Hi friends,

I'm still fascinated about the publishing talk that goes on over at Threads. It's just so different than what I've seen on other social media platforms. It seems more superficial, somehow. People are asking the most surface level questions ("How do you write a book?") and commenters treat it like the most seriously-asked question in the world. I am included in those commenters, btw. Maybe the question-askers are serious. Maybe they're trying to get followers or engagement. Maybe Google search is so bad now that asking a question in Threads is a better way to get reliable information. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Either way, I can't stop looking at it and answering questions.

Over on Threads, the inimitable Roxane Gay recently posted:

When I think about advice for those just starting out, I force myself to remember that I have been talking about this stuff for 20 years and people out there asking questions on Threads might have been thinking about book publishing for 20 minutes. This is ok! I need this reminder and it's always ok to be a beginner. And beginners have to start at the beginning–there is literally nowhere else to start.

But whenever we're a beginner, at anything, it's useful to look back at the questions we're asking and figure out why we're asking them. This might be a thing you do when you're frustrated by the answers you're getting, or not getting. Instead of blaming Threads, or Publishing, or yourself, you might consider if you're expecting the wrong answers to the right questions.

You might ask: How do I write a query letter?

That is a perfectly reasonable question. You can find many different ways to write a query letter online, including here, here, here, and here, and all those different ways may seem more confusing than enlightening. You're right–it is confusing. Are you really asking though How do I write a query letter that will get me an agent quickly? and I'm sorry to say there's no answer for that. I don't think there are elements anyone can put in a query letter that will compel an agent to read their query faster and/or offer representation except those things that describe a really freaking great book idea. So, I guess the answer to that second question is write a really great book. And that answer is not satisfying at all. The fix here, besides being a literary genius, is to remember that simple questions do not always have simple answers, that feeling frustrated about this process is normal, and that your query is going to be different than other authors' queries and that is ok. The answer to how do you write a query letter? is different than how do I write a query letter. And the real answer is over and over again until it feels right.

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You might ask: How do I market my book?

Boy howdy do I wish I had a straight answer for that one. There are many, many, many influencers and writers and publishing people out there who want you to think they have the answer. I guess I'm also in that group. What you should be wary of, however, and anyone who says follow this precise plan and give me $99.99 and I promise you'll be a best seller. That would not be wise. The only guarantee there is you'll be out $99.99. If there were a specific plan that consistently got authors specific results, then we'd all do it all the time. Like the Couch to 5k training program, but for books. Instead of being able to run a 5k at the end, you'd <enter your goal here.> Wouldn't that be great? You start out week one posting once each on your social channels. Week two is posting twice and finding two podcasts to reach out to. Week three is posting three times a day and starting a newsletter. Week four is posting four times a day and recording 4 videos... Ok wait a minute. That might actually work! But but but but, I don't mean "work" as in "make you a best seller." I mean "work" as in "give you some structure to figure out what works for you." Hmmmmmm, should I write a Book to 5k (posts) plan? Hmmmm, maybe I will.

THE POINT here, and the point of any program like that, or like Jami Attenberg's 1000 Words project, is to get you to DO stuff, any stuff, because not doing anything is the quickest path to failure. Book to 5k won't get you published or make you go viral or guarantee you X new book sales. It would just get you in the track, running laps. You do that enough, you'll get faster, or have more fun, or meet fellow slow runners and make friends, or improve your health, or discover you hate it and go do a spin class. You won't know where you'll end up until you get there, but the doing is the point.

You might ask: How long after you X did you Y?

How long after you sent out your queries did you hear back from agents? How long after you got a full request did you get an offer of representation? How long after your agent sent out your book did you get a book deal? How long after you finished writing did you finish editing? How long after your book came out did you sell 1000 copies? What these questions are really asking is Is my experience normal, and if not, how can I change it? I talk a lot about what's "normal" in my book and those who've already read it know the answer is: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Fun right?? One author could have 1000 preorders and another could take 6 months to sell 1000 copies and both of those things are normal. One book might only sell 1000 books ever and that, too, is normal, though we all wish it weren't. Questions like these are a gut check, a way to quiet anxiety, a way to tell yourself it's ok that X hasn't happened yet because that's how it was for Y. And that is true! It IS ok X hasn't happen yet because it was never going to only happen one way, therefore many, many, many different ways are possible and normal.

The uncertainty baked in to writing and publishing is really hard to deal with. It's hard for me and it's hard for you and it's hard for the most unflappable writer you follow on TikTok, regardless of what they say. None of us are guaranteed a book deal. Not me. Not you. Not #14 on the best seller list this week (whoever that is). They won't sell every book they ever propose forever. I can almost guarantee that. You are not alone in this uncertainty. We're all in together.

Maybe the one simple trick you can do here is to flip your questions around:

How did YOU write your query letter?

How did YOU market your book?

When did YOU get X after Y happened?

And then you take those answers and see what you can learn from them. Find commonalities, differences, things that apply to your book and things that don't. And then you do what YOU need to do for YOUR book. How fast I run a mile and fast you run a mile will be very different, overall and day to day. But we'll both still get that mile run, somehow.

How about some places where you can come see me or hear me talk?

January 25th! Frenchtown Bookshop, Frenchtown, NJ: come have lunch with me!