1. Read three books: I personally recommend these three books because my perception of writing a story completely changed after reading these books. It’s not about what are your telling, it’s about how are you telling. If people are not connected with your protagonist, they won’t continue reading it. If there are no twists, it’ll be boring. You should definitely read these books if you are serious about your writing career. These books are:
- 'On Writing' by 'Stephen King'
- ‘Story’ by 'Robert McKee'
- 'Bird by Bird' by 'Anne Lamott'
Read them slowly and understand each and every point. Implement that advice in your manuscript.
2. Read any five popular books in your genre: Yes, it’s very important. If you are writing a thriller, how can you miss reading ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘The Girl on the Train’ as the first thing? If you can find a book that has a similar protagonist like yours or a similar storyline like yours, give them a try. This exercise will open your mind. Work again on your manuscript based on your learning from these bestsellers.
3. First-round feedback: It’s time to get some feedback from your friends. Share your manuscript to five of your friends who read books often e.g. one book in a month or two. Take their feedback seriously and discuss with them every aspect of the plot and characters. If you can meet them in person and discuss, it’ll be more helpful. If you do not have such types of friends, you should join book clubs and be part of meetups.
4. Hire an editor: Hiring an editor may cost you money but it’s necessary. They have a lot of experience in reading manuscripts. They read a lot of everyday even more than any regular reader. Because reading the manuscript and helping the author to make it better is their job. Once you're done with friends' feedback about the story, work with a professional editor and improve your manuscript in a professional way. Work on writing style, characters, and plot. Choose your editor wisely here. It's very important.
5. Second round feedback: Share your manuscript to other five friends who read books regularly and fix the things if they find some loopholes.
6. Pitching to literary agents/traditional publishers: If your country is more of agents oriented e.g. United States then approach agents. But if you're in a country like India, you can approach publishers directly as well. Pitch everyone you can and wait for three months for their response, not more. The probability to publish unknown author by any traditional house is very low nowadays until they see a good number of sale from your book.
7. Self-publishing: If you're not getting a response from any publisher/agent, don't wait so long, go for self-publishing. There is nothing wrong with it. Rejection doesn’t mean: your book is bad. There could be other reasons:
- publisher doesn’t know how to sell your book and fears to invest money
- publisher’s book publishing target for the year has been completed
- literary agent is fully occupied
- literary agent is not active at that time
So, do not think about the flaws in your work. Your work is in the best possible shape if you have followed steps properly. Go for print-on-demand model. So you can invest along the way based on the response from readers.
In short, there is no proper definition to make a book bestseller. Poorly written books are also bestsellers and a good book struggling to become a bestseller. If a lot of book lovers know about you and appreciate your thoughts then they would love to read your work even if it’s poorly written. It’s all about awareness about you and your book.
Products mentioned in this article:
- 'On Writing' by 'Stephen King' <= click to buy
- 'Story’ by 'Robert McKee' <= click to buy
- 'Bird by Bird' by 'Anne Lamott' <= click to buy
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