I want to write about something I know nothing about (surprise!) What do you suppose makes a book have “staying power”?
I pose this question because it seems to me that there are writers who appear to make their mark the instant their very first novel is published and there are those who write for years and years and can’t seem to make a dent in the reading public’s consciousness. Then there are also the authors who write a book which doesn’t make much of an impression when its first published that sparks readers’ imagination years later. What’s the deal with that?
I suppose, in a way, this is The Mystery of Publishing Success, and if I could figure this out I’d have the whole insta-bestseller thing sewn up.
Some of it is probably the “Sensawunder” that Elizabeth Bear talks about in her post here. Some of it is probably all that stuff we grapple with every day, like character and world-building. But, there are books that do all this stuff and still don’t make the leap into the place where you get your picture on the cover of Locus before you’ve even written six books, you know? Some of that kind of publishing success is probably due to having an established audience (ala Neil Gaiman’s shift from graphic novels to novels), but then there are still some people who just come out of nowhere to appear center stage with all the lights glaring on their spotlight.
I used to think that one way to achieve this sort of success was through self-promotion. We’ve already had that discussion here sometime ago, so I won’t repeat it. But, regardless, the consensus seemed to be that publicity (particularly self-publicity) is a crap-shoot at best. Luck is nebulous and an unsatisfying answer (even if it may be partly true.) Straight-up skill doesn’t seem to be the answer either, since we can all pick on a popular author whose skill level is less than another less successful one’s. “Packaging” and “marketing” are things I don’t really understand, and I secretly suspect publishers don’t either.
So, what is it? Astrology? Do the stars just have to align for a particular book to be successful? Anyone have any good theories?
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3 comments:
A big part of it, I think, is word-of-mouth. I read a book, love it, and tell anyone who will listen that this book is the best thing since toilet paper and they have to read it. I bug my close friends about it daily until they finally relent and read the damn book. And then they love it and tell their friends. And so on.
It's a concept that is true of the T.V. and movie industry, too. "Seinfeld" didn't start off big--their first season was downright dismal, I think--and they ended up a cultural phenomenon.
Ultimately, it comes down to having a good book that reaches people on some level ... and obviously we all want to do that.
The cynical view would be that a book's initial success or failure--and thus its staying power and the relative fame of its author--are in fact predetermined by Marketing.
Luck is a huge part of it-having the right book in front of the right audience at the right time. About all the writer can do is write the best book they possibly can and believe that good books find readers-though its quite clear they may not find enough of them fast enough. Oh, and having a publisher who gives you a good promotional budget doesn't hurt.
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