The Business of Writing

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the business of writing (no news on the submission front for those of you asking, believe me you’ll read about it here). At some point authors have to shift from the “dream” of writing to the “business” of writing. 

You may or may not know that at a publishing house editors have an acquisitions meeting every week or two. This is where editors come to the table to sell your book to their colleagues (the publisher, marketing, sales and the like). I imagine it goes something like this:

Editor #1: You guys, I’ve got this family drama about two football coaches who are brothers always trying to best the other and eventually go head-to-head in the competition of their lives during the Super Bowl XLVII championship.

Editor #3: That is so yesterday.

Editor #2: I’ve got this one book about vampires and werewolves.

Editor #1: *yawns*

Editor #3: No dude, you’ve got to read this new tell all book from @JocelynnBieber who apparently says behind closed doors Justin Bieber really did grope her boob in that pic that went viral.

Everyone all together: *eyebrows raise* Ohhhhh!

Assistant to Editor #1, Editor #2, and Editor #3: Who wants Starbucks?

This is why it’s super important to have a good pitch ready for your novel. You need to help your editor and agent sell your book to their business associates because it takes a village, people. You might even want to consider this before you spend a year writing your next bestseller.