C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

Your stock of books are doors to your literary house. The more doors you have, the more points of entry you give to potential readers. More is better. More

An electric ceiling fan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

multiplies opportunities for readers to discover you. Please don’t ask us all to squeeze in one door. Some authors bet they are Harper Lee and one book will take them on a To Kill a Mockingbird rocket ride to the top. It doesn’t work.

For example, I know a nice guy. You probably know one, too. The nice guy I’m thinking of published a novel more than a decade ago. He pushed that one book hard to little success. Recently, I noticed that he’s still pushing it. It’s not that you should give up on a novel’s eventual success in the market. With ebooks, the market is forever, or at least until the sun explodes or the zombies rise. But this good dude has nothing else to sell so he’s presenting a tiny target. That’s good on the battlefield and tragic in the marketplace.

And suppose a bunch of people did like that one book? Then what? They say, “I bought your book! Loved it. What else have you written that I could buy and read and love and spread the word about?”

Silence. Lost opportunity. Lost income. Despair. A rope knotted in a noose tied to a ceiling fan. A tipped chair in a dark room.

This author is a smart and talented guy, so he must have more to say. Somehow, he hasn’t managed to write another book and he’s still hoping readers will line up for that one special book. Unfortunately, the book’s not that special. He’s special. I’m not giving up on him, but he has to write and publish more books.

Being nice and smart and talented isn’t enough.

Write. Publish. Ship. Deliver. Deliver braingasms.

Filed under: publishing, books, harper lee, publishing, To Kill a Mockingbird, writer, writing, writing advice