It’s Still and Always Will Be About the Book

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by James Scott Bell
@jamesscottbell

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.” – Robert Cormier

***

So there were these two authors back in the 1990s. The thriller market was exploding. An unpublished writer named Bell was studying the business and found stories about these authors. He decided to keep an eye on their moves. Maybe he could find out how to be a success at this game.

But the two writers did not experience the success they were looking for.

One of them spent a big bundle of his own money to jump start sales. But they didn’t jump. Reviews were tepid. His publisher let him go. Lesson learned: Gobs of promotion money wasn’t the magic key.

The other writer undertook a mammoth, self-planned tour of bookstores, with his car loaded with books. By this time young Bell had a couple of books out and signings set up with some stores close to home. At one store he found several of the energetic author’s books on the shelf. So he asked the manager how they were selling.

“Meh,” he said.

Lesson learned: A) human energy poured into hand selling is not the magic key; and B) “Meh” is not the response you want to hear.

The biggest takeaway should come as no surprise: Word-of-mouth is always the most important driver of success in the book business. Yes, even today, in the era (or should I say final day) of TikTok, it’s the book itself and how it lands with readers that is the key, magic notwithstanding.

A recent article in Jane Friedman’s Hot Sheet (subscription required) discussed the challenge of navigating book promotion in the “influencer age”:

Media fragmentation and the waning effects of the book review have entirely changed publicity. In its coverage of 25 Years of Changes to Book Publicity, Publishers Weekly wrote that, “For most of publishing history, there was one dominant mode of literary publicity: the book review.” For years now, book review outlets have disappeared, and the remaining professional reviews have declined in importance. In fact, a reporter for the New York Times has stated that a review in their pages doesn’t reliably sell copies. (One exception remains children’s books, which continue to rely on reviews.)

The challenge is particularly acute with fiction:

Although every publicity campaign is different, says Brittani Hilles, co-founder of Lavender Public Relations, “Generally, with nonfiction, you can bring media folks into the fold with the topic alone, while with fiction it often comes down to having media contacts trust your taste enough to dive into the read.”

There are some things that never change:

  • Your mom’s Wi-Fi password. She’s had it since 2010 and refuses to change it, even if the neighbors are stealing it.
  • That one coworker who “forgets” their wallet at lunch. They’ve been “forgetting” for years, but somehow always remember dessert.
  • The one sock that goes missing in the laundry, a universal mystery that not even quantum physics can explain.
  • The speed of the checkout line you choose. No matter what, it’s always the slowest.
  • The way your pet acts like it’s never eaten before. Despite being fed at the same time every single day, they’re convinced they’re moments from starvation.

And for books, as Celina Spiegel, co-CEO of Spiegel & Grau, explains, “The book has to be a book that people actually want to read. And no one can make someone like a book.”

So yes, market away to the best of your cost and ability and ROI. Even if you hate it. But most of all, every day, work on getting better at your craft. Surgeons do. Plumbers do. Bomb defusers most certainly do. Why should writers think they’re exempt?

Can you think of a reason?

19 thoughts on “It’s Still and Always Will Be About the Book”

  1. Jim, you remain the steady beacon of wisdom, reminding us that we have no control over what others do. The only thing we do control is our writing. Everything else is out of our hands.

    During discouraging times, I always go back to your advice to keep learning and improving my craft skills. Whether or not the market notices, my goal is to produce the best book I can.

  2. It’s that ROI that’s the stickler. I saw a post from someone who boasted a high five-figure royalty report, but his ads (Amazon, I think, if I recall) were significantly higher than what he earned.

  3. So true, Jim. Always learning, always improving, always striving to write fiction that engages readers more, holds their interest more strongly, takes them on an emotional ride that is even more compelling than the last.

    Learning craft and improving our writing, along with our expectations and our attitude, are within our control. Marketing, we can only do and hope it influences a reader’s buying decision. I still believe the best marketing is the quality of the book itself, aimed toward the readers who would love it.

  4. I have it on pretty good authority that brain surgeons do not start out operating on living human brains. They start with education and then practice on cadavers.

    I usually skip the cadaver part.

  5. Good morning, Jim.

    “But most of all, every day, work on getting better at your craft.” To me, this is the key. Promotions may or may not work, but writing a good book is the ultimate goal, and it’s achievable.

    Thank goodness for TKZ! I’m constantly learning and inspired by the discussions here.

  7. I saw a poll list of the books people didn’t finish. Many of them were bestsellers people bought because everyone was talking about them, but the books were really dreck. So people could say, when asked, “I’ve got FIFTY SHADES OF GREY on my TBR list.” So word of mouth can sell the book, but quality gets the book read.

  8. Spot on, JSB! TKZ is THE best writing blog, followed by Jane Friedman and KM Weiland’s. I’ve had other writers express surprise that I’m studying a craft book and I’m quick to express surprise they are not.

  9. The only thing that will endure, if the book has any legs, is the quality of the content.

    We go back to the classics because they provide that: go read Huckleberry Finn, and get dragged back into the story. Or Jane Eyre. People are still arguing about them, reading them, studying them.

    It may not matter how a book got its initial boost (as long as there is some discoverability), so much as whether it is still satisfying to read.

    That comes from craft. From being a close observer AND being able to share that in writing. From characters you’d really like to be (I love the original James Bonds, and Travis McGee stories are still vibrant and heartbreaking). From something someone spent a lot of loving time working on.

    A book on craft is an endlessly patient teacher, available any time you want to talk.

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