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http://www.salon.com/2014/02/27/what_every_writer_needs_to_succeed/
I totally agree with this article. In the world of traditional publishing, 80% of the books they put out don't make back their advance. That means that the 20% that stick are carrying the rest of the industry. The Big 5 as some forumlas on what will sell, but even then, it's hit or miss. Indie publishers have their own guesswork. But just like getting signed to a record label, getting picked up by a major sports team, or writing the next new york times best seller, all the talent in the world won't do it alone. You need to be lucky enough to catch the right person's eye, and/or get the right amount of buzz at the right time.
The Internet is filled with writing, and, as an inevitable corollary, it is filled with advice on how to be a successful writer. Poke around and you can get John Green to explain to you that the secret of writing YA fiction is to find “emotional truth.” You can get Nicholas Sparks to tell you that “becoming successful in anything requires perseverance.” More practically, you can find Alyssa Rosenberg explaining that to be a blogger/cultural journalist, you need to “read everything and everyone on your subject. If you’re a day late on an old idea, you’re not of any use.” You can even find Rilke declaring that, “Nobody can advise you and help you, nobody.” Which seems a bit overdramatic, but that’s poets for you.
In short, if you want to know how to be a successful writer, there is specific advice, general advice, logistical advice and spiritual advice. But in all this advice, the most important element, the one, true, absolute key to personal, financial, aesthetic and every other kind of success as a writer, is invariably left out. Work ethic, knowledge, skill, perseverance — none of them is as important as the one, single most important thing.
Which would be luck.
Nobody likes to talk about luck. If you’re a successful writer, you, of course, like to think that you got where you got by work and skill, grit and talent. Similarly, if you are trying to break into writing, you want to know what you can do and how you can do it. You don’t want to be told that, to some fairly consequential degree, your success, or lack thereof, is beyond your control.
[read more on Salon]
I totally agree with this article. In the world of traditional publishing, 80% of the books they put out don't make back their advance. That means that the 20% that stick are carrying the rest of the industry. The Big 5 as some forumlas on what will sell, but even then, it's hit or miss. Indie publishers have their own guesswork. But just like getting signed to a record label, getting picked up by a major sports team, or writing the next new york times best seller, all the talent in the world won't do it alone. You need to be lucky enough to catch the right person's eye, and/or get the right amount of buzz at the right time.