by Pip Harry
15 September 2017
Upon mentioning I’ve penned a couple of novels, many people will respond with their own brilliant book idea; The Beer and Bacon cookbook, a picture book featuring a cheeky pig, a life changing self-help tome… and so on. Many of these soon-to-be bestselling authors follow up with the well-used phrase: ‘They say everyone has at least one book in them, right?’ Hmmm, not everyone.
This statement has real conviction behind it. A recent survey found that 81 percent of Americans feel they have a book in them – and that they should write it. Aussies hold the same self-belief, based on my field research. I don’t want to be discouraging, because many people do have very good book ideas and the tenacity and talent to make them a reality, but many more do not.
This handy Y/N test will help you figure out whether to keep your book idea a magnificent dream or take a shot at getting it on the page. The results might save you a lot of wasted time, energy and ink cartridges…
Are you prepared to keep going when blisters form and you’ve completely run out of heart and puff? Writing a book is a long, demanding process. You’re going to need legs. At the halfway mark, you’ll wish you’d decided to build that yurt/pizza oven/pergola in your backyard instead. You’ll need to keep shuffling to the finish line if you want to sign witty inscriptions at your launch party.
Reality check: you can’t bang out 80,000 words in a few months and sell world rights in a frantic week of bidding. Writing the actual book might take a year or two (or five or ten), then there’s the excruciating process of re-writing (many writers bash out dozens of drafts), finding a literary agent to represent you in the Lion’s Den (often harder than finding a publisher) – and THEN hammering out a book deal (months, sometimes years of waiting, hoping and email refreshing).
Ego shattering rejections are par for the course if you want to be published. I’ve had more ouchy knock-backs and no’s than I can count. If you’re one of the lucky few to find your way off the towering slush pile, congratulations! Now get ready for a helping of humble pie.
Once the thrill of seeing your name on a front cover dies down (admittedly, the high is intense) get ready to be pummeled by sales figures. Most Australian titles have a print run of between 2,000 and 4,000 books. Typically, authors earn just a few dollars per book (the rest goes to marketing, distribution, designers, editors and the publisher) What you’re left with is a depressing royalty statement. Therapy is recommended.
Yes, yes, we all dream of writing that one book that becomes the next Da Vinci Code, Harry Potter or Girl on the Train. The reality is writing books does not usually pay the bills or buy one a villa in Tuscany. In Australia, the average author earns just $12, 900 a year from their creative work (no, I haven’t missed a zero). In other words, don’t quit your day job.
My sister, Sarah Harry had a non-fiction book out in February called Fat Yoga (a yoga book for anyone who identifies as fat) She proposed the concept to a publisher, three weeks later had a contract in her hands and less than a year later, it’s ready for bookstores. Her speedy publishing journey is highly unusual but due to a red hot, timely book idea with global reach.
If your idea feels underdone, already done, or you’ve read a woeful book over the summer and thought, ‘what the hell, I can do better than that,’ don’t do it. Seriously, don’t. Spare yourself (and your readers) what will likely be an underwhelming, soul-sapping experience.
Instead, wait for an idea that feels like a thunderbolt running through you, that makes the hairs on your neck stand up, and that (for whatever reason) only YOU can write. Wait until you feel like you’re being dragged to your keyboard by your hair to write it…then maybe you can say you have a book in you.
Do you have a book in you? Or are you onto your first, second, third book? Share in the comments so we can check them out!
Photo by Neven Krcmarek on Unsplash
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