Allaboutwriting

David Chislett offers up five rules for successful publishing.

It’s really hard to tell what will sell and what won’t isn’t it? If there was a formula, there would be plenty more successful books and fewer obscurities. However, don’t let that put you off pursuing your dreams. You can still make significant moves that will help put you in the best possible place to take advantage of whatever interest your publication evokes… large or small.

The trick is to realise that this is all or nothing. Do you really want to do this, or are you hitting and hoping? If you really want to do this, these ideas should not be seen as laborious, resentment laden activities, but as part and parcel of your writer’s tool kit and methodology.

So here are 5 basic rules to successful publishing that will help you make the most of what it is that you do

Rule no. 1: Keep Active

Authors are typically invisible. It’s not like we can climb on a stage in front of 25 000 adoring fans and sing our latest novel. So you need to find other ways to keep busy. But make sure that your name pops up more often than just when you release a new book. Do talks, workshops, master-classes, panel discussions, write columns, keep a blog, perform poetry… there are actually plenty of options. The more often the public sees your name the more likely they are to actually buy your book when they see it.

Rule no.2: Keep Engaged

Keep talking to your publisher, or publishers. Keep talking to your fans, the press. You need to be up to date and on the money with what is going on around you. This is the internet age. That garret you had your eye on is a no-no. No-one cares about disconnected people talking about ideas that are not part of regular discourse. You may still be bringing those ideas into your writing, but if you are so disconnected you can’t relate, you are lost. Also any publisher worth their salt will be impressed by your commitment, your growth and the growth of your reach. Keep on going.

Rule no.3: Go Everywhere

Do not give into intellectual snobbery about what magazine or website is worth your while. You will find readers as many places as you find people. And yes I do mean Twitter, Facebook and Youtube as well. The joy is that in these places you will also find material, characters and inspiration. The book shelf is a fine place for a book; it’s no home for a living breathing author. So live and breathe and get out into the world. This is really becoming a global village, go and visit of much of it as you can.

Rule no.4: Keep Writing

This sounds obvious, but to many it is not. When you finish that manuscript for your magnum opus and start sending it out to publishers, don’t stop writing. Start a new book, a short story, a blog, but keep writing. The ability to write is a muscle group. The more you exercise it, the better you get, the more likely you are to get published and read and the better you will BE.

Rule no.5: Follow Your Own Lights

Don’t start writing crime fiction just because you hear it is selling this autumn. Be true to your spirit and what moves you. Firstly this is transparent in writing. Passion radiates, posing wilts. Secondly, trends are changing faster than teenagers taste in music. You can’t start a book now based on a sales trend that is current. By the time you are done chances are it will be over. So get going with what moves you. You are part of society; chances are lots of people resonate with you on the issues. Have some faith and get writing.

David Chislett is the originator of the Urban series of short fiction and author of “A Body Remembered” and “1,2,1,2”. He is an experienced workshop facilitator and speaker and well-known entertainment journalist and publicist. http://www.davidchislett.co.za/

Join David on December 7  in Johannesburg for his Getting Published Workshop in which he  gives his take on publishing, its perils and its opportunities. David’s Getting Published Workshop will be available online from January.

Cost:  R500. Email Trish, trishurquhart@gmail.com, to book your place.