The
other day I went through an exercise with my two kids and wife that we
periodically go through, where we contemplate what kind of dog to add to
our household. We currently have an
English Bulldog named Daisy who loves to snore, fart, and chase the back-up
mailwoman down the block. The discussion
made me think about how authors debate within themselves as to what should be
their next book.
Whereas
we tried to decide what type of dog would complement Daisy and eventually outlive her, authors need to think about what they will pen and take into
consideration the following:
·
What
do they feel inspired to write about?
·
How
heavy is the competition for a book on that subject?
·
How
does it fit into your most recent or past books?
·
Will
this dictate what I write afterwards?
·
How
big is the book's readership potential and marketability?
For
my family, we had to consider a few things as well, including”
·
How
big or small of a dog did we want?
·
What
has a good temperament for kids and other dogs?
·
Which
one doesn’t need a ton of exercise?
·
What
looks cute and cuddly?
·
What’s
different from our past dogs, which for all of us includes the bulldog and pugs, and
for me, a basset hound.
But
then my 12-year-old son made a strong case for getting a dog that isn’t
necessarily a pure-breed and isn’t store-purchased.
"Let’s
see what the shelter has,” he said. “They will determine the dog that we get.”
Maybe
writers should follow the same logic, that their next book isn’t solely up to
them or in their control. What does the reading public want or demand? Look to fill a void rather than just serve
your own desire.
Both
decisions can be emotionally draining.
The book that writers choose to publish next could dictate the course of
their writing career. In fact, it could
easily doom it – or advance it greatly.
For my family, the next dog that we choose will dictate household peace
for the next decade or more. Our choice
could lead us to never getting another dog – or inspire us to bring even more
canines into our home.
It’s
actually a small dream of mine to have a huge backyard filled with a pack of
dogs. I’d love to one day fund some type of dog sanctuary. Dogs are amazing friends to humanity. So, authors, don’t bark up the wrong
tree. Go sniff out your next book and
you may just find you selected a terrific puppy that will grow your writing
career.
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Welcome To Your 2017 Complete Author
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Brian Feinblum’s views,
opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his
employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com.
He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted
by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2017©. Born and raised in Brooklyn, now resides in
Westchester. Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs
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