Become a Model Author: Define and Align Your Goals
The title of the story of every book should be Great Expectations. Authors and publishers start with high hopes that are usually dashed on the merciless realities of publishing.
If a publisher pays a $1,000 advance for a book and it sells 5,000 copies, it’s a success. If a publisher pays $50,000 for a book and it sells 5,000 copies, it’s a failure. So one question to ask yourself is: How do you establish inspiring but reasonable expectations for your book?
Because of all of the options for getting a book published from podcasting, ebook, and print-on-demand publishing to a large house, your book is publishable. But out of the wealth of possibilities for writing and publishing your book, how do you figure out what’s best for you now?
The books and authors you choose as models are the nexus between craft and commerce. They will help you determine your literary and publishing goals. The books you love will help you decide what and how to write, and for whom.
The authors whose careers you want to emulate will help you decide on the publishing goals for your book:
- what size house you want to publish your book
- how big an advance you want for it
- how many copies you want it to sell
Your choices clarify how to achieve your goals.
I always ask writers about their goals for their books. I encourage them to express their desires not calculate what’s realistic. Their answers enable me to advise them about how to achieve them. The greater your goals, the more you will have to do to reach them.
Define and align your literary and publishing goals, and you’ll be well on your way to meeting them. Aim as high as you dare. I promise you’ll astonish yourself.
The Eighth San Francisco Writers Conference / A Celebration of Craft, Commerce & Community / President’s Day Weekend, February 18-20, 2011 / Mark Hopkins InterContinental Hotel on Nob Hill / Keynoters: Dorothy Allison & David Morrell / Pitch your book to agents and editors from both coasts / More than 50 breakout sessions / 100 presenters / Indie Publishing Contest / www.sfwriters.org / sfwriterscon@aol.com / blog: https://sfwriters.org/blog / free MP3s at www.sfwriters.info / open to anyone: a day of in-depth classes on Monday, February 21st
New! San Francisco Writers University: Where Writers Meet and You Learn, a project of the San Francisco Writers Conference / Laurie McLean, Dean / www.sfwritersu.com
