As a former startup guy, this advice is shockingly familiar to chasing VC money.
Entrepreneurs will spend all this time chasing down potential investors (identifying right ones, find out what they like, pitch them, get rejected, etc.)... only to later realize they've spent an inordinate amount of effort trying to sell to NOT-THE-CUSTOMER.
You don’t mention mystery though publishers marketplace shows you’re killer at selling it. Upmarket , somewhat literary mystery with heart? Just sent you The Sturgeon…
Last ditch effort, you are my dream agent but I have an offer from another and can't afford to let go of the bird in the hand, i've put her off hoping my query would make it to the top of your stack but she wants an answer by Tuesday...fingers still crossed, I think you will love The Sturgeon.
re: Nonfiction - "You need to be an expert with a huge platform that is more than just social media however." I would LOVE for you to talk about this some more.
Does this "huge platform" mean a mailing list? What does "huge" mean (to the best of your knowledge)? Does the platform of the SUBJECT matter anymore? I have seen conflicting advice everywhere I go and with everyone I ask.
I have heard the platform can be the author's, the subject's or both.
I have heard the platform has to be social media
I have heard the platform can be classes/workshops taught, or publications, or both etc.
So I have a non-fiction book proposal called Write Like Taylor Swift: Learn How the Tortured Poet Creates, Executes, and Markets Her Ideas. Logline: Learn how Taylor Swift comes up with, executes, and markets her ideas, and how you can use her creative process as a blueprint to discover, refine, or create your own.
I have spent multiple years teaching workshops on writing, the creative process, andTaylor Swift's creative process. I do not have a large mailing list that belongs to me, but I am connected with 2 platforms through which I teach, and am heavily featured by, and their combined total of substack followers is 30k, and that excludes one of the instagrams with 20k which features me and my work often. My classes have been taken internationally, and one of them was a substack based class with the Forever Workshop that was opened by 14k people per week for the month the class was taught.
My marketing plan includes utilizing these platforms of course, along with other things but I will stop here as you do not want my life story. Taylor Swift has a huge platform, too, and her fans are hungry for intellectually curious books about her.
I am curious what your thoughts are on what most editors are telling you is, or is not, working for "platform." Regardless of if you are able to answer, thank you for your time, and have a wonderful day!
"The appetite for “sad writer drinks wine and contemplates the East River” is… limited." Oh, thank goodness.
And I love the advice to write the book you can't stop thinking about instead of chasing a trend. Most of us can't possibly write fast enough to keep up with what editors are looking for "right now" without missing the boat and submitting it after the trend has already waned.
So editors and agents are essentially day traders but with books. 😄I appreciate your very real portrayal of this!
Listening to this… and golly, it’s powerful to hear your voice! 😃❤️
As a former startup guy, this advice is shockingly familiar to chasing VC money.
Entrepreneurs will spend all this time chasing down potential investors (identifying right ones, find out what they like, pitch them, get rejected, etc.)... only to later realize they've spent an inordinate amount of effort trying to sell to NOT-THE-CUSTOMER.
They do not want near-future dystopias featuring dragons, trust me. Those do not sell for shit.
Love this.
Ha! Love the tone of this, but also it's pretty helpful. Thanks!
You don’t mention mystery though publishers marketplace shows you’re killer at selling it. Upmarket , somewhat literary mystery with heart? Just sent you The Sturgeon…
This cracked me up....ESPECIALLY the second paragraph. It read like a scene from a Nora Ephron movie....
Hopefully you are right about all that.
Last ditch effort, you are my dream agent but I have an offer from another and can't afford to let go of the bird in the hand, i've put her off hoping my query would make it to the top of your stack but she wants an answer by Tuesday...fingers still crossed, I think you will love The Sturgeon.
This is really helpful and insightful, thank you! Personally, I'm also over the what I'm seeing in the auto fiction trend too!
re: Nonfiction - "You need to be an expert with a huge platform that is more than just social media however." I would LOVE for you to talk about this some more.
Does this "huge platform" mean a mailing list? What does "huge" mean (to the best of your knowledge)? Does the platform of the SUBJECT matter anymore? I have seen conflicting advice everywhere I go and with everyone I ask.
I have heard the platform can be the author's, the subject's or both.
I have heard the platform has to be social media
I have heard the platform can be classes/workshops taught, or publications, or both etc.
So I have a non-fiction book proposal called Write Like Taylor Swift: Learn How the Tortured Poet Creates, Executes, and Markets Her Ideas. Logline: Learn how Taylor Swift comes up with, executes, and markets her ideas, and how you can use her creative process as a blueprint to discover, refine, or create your own.
I have spent multiple years teaching workshops on writing, the creative process, andTaylor Swift's creative process. I do not have a large mailing list that belongs to me, but I am connected with 2 platforms through which I teach, and am heavily featured by, and their combined total of substack followers is 30k, and that excludes one of the instagrams with 20k which features me and my work often. My classes have been taken internationally, and one of them was a substack based class with the Forever Workshop that was opened by 14k people per week for the month the class was taught.
My marketing plan includes utilizing these platforms of course, along with other things but I will stop here as you do not want my life story. Taylor Swift has a huge platform, too, and her fans are hungry for intellectually curious books about her.
I am curious what your thoughts are on what most editors are telling you is, or is not, working for "platform." Regardless of if you are able to answer, thank you for your time, and have a wonderful day!
And here I was, thinking dystopian fiction was back! Well, I'll still keep on writing the book I can't stop thinking about, as you've suggested.
"The appetite for “sad writer drinks wine and contemplates the East River” is… limited." Oh, thank goodness.
And I love the advice to write the book you can't stop thinking about instead of chasing a trend. Most of us can't possibly write fast enough to keep up with what editors are looking for "right now" without missing the boat and submitting it after the trend has already waned.
IOW, they’re flailing to find something that works which…isn’t that new, alas.