On Twitter this morning, I came across a great thread with a simple message for new writers who want to succeed in publishing: stop thinking of your work as passion projects and start thinking of them as products.
I wholeheartedly agree with the points made in the thread, and the underlying message resonates with my experience of taking the indie route with my debut novel (The Madness of the Faithful, out July 28th). Like many others starting out, this story was one I needed to write. It came from somewhere deep down inside and was shaped by my upbringing in a religious household, the impact I saw faith having on close family members (particularly my father), and my own experience of coming to terms with the fact that I did not – and could never – believe in God. The story is complete fiction, of course, but the themes and feelings are ones that come from a real place and there are definite elements of the book that are very personal to me.
However, what I realized during the initial drafts of the book was that if I were to make it a story worth reading, I would need to be completely objective about the output. This could not be a passion project. While the story was something I felt I needed to write, I hadn’t written it for myself. I had written it for the reader, and I needed to focus my efforts on ensuring that reading the book was a truly worthwhile experience.
My thinking was certainly shaped by my day job as an editorial director in medical writing. Most days for me are focused on reviewing content, planning projects, or refining SOPs to ensure content quality is as perfect as it can be. As soon as drafts are delivered, they no longer belong to just the writer, they belong to an editorial team that work together to deliver excellence.
This is where I think some writers get it wrong. While sure, I get it if they want to write and publish something for themselves – that’s easy enough nowadays. But often I hear new writers who’ve put their blood, sweat, and tears into their passion project complain that their work is not selling or gaining the traction they feel it deserves. The issue here, is they focus on telling their tale and not on the end-user and the end-user’s experience. It may sound harsh or too clinical, but the fact of the matter is, if you want your passion project to succeed, you must stop thinking of the manuscript as your grand cathartic opus and – as highlighted in the Twitter thread – consider it as a product. A product is designed with the customer in mind. It requires vigorous review and testing to ensure the customer is happy with their purchase.
I won’t go down the route of discussing the merits of different practices in bringing a product to market – that is potentially a huge discussion. But what I would say is this: if you want your book to do well, you must learn to let your baby go. As a writer, the best outcome you can hope for (aside from eternal glory and wealth) is for your book to be loved by your target audience. Give the reader an unforgettable experience and your job is done.
Once you’ve written the book, give it up and turn your focus to the reader – it’s not about you anymore. You’ve done your part, so drop the emotional attachment and bring as much objectivity as you can muster. Only then will you allow your passion project to transform into something that others will love as much as you do.
