Breaking into writing
<p>I just tried to post this as a comment on Sarah Hoyt&#8217;s post about <a href="http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2011/11/21/breaking-in-breaking-out-dropping-out/">breaking into writing</a>.  Dunno if it went into moderation or just got eaten</p>
<p>Sarah, who I esteem very highly and is full of pungent and sensible advice on writing and other matters, left out two rules:</p>
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<p>1. Write the book *before* you sell it.</p>
<p>2. The probability that your manuscript will be accepted varies directly with the size of the pre-existing fanbase the editor knows you have.</p>
<p>OK, this might just be me.  But I&#8217;m a successful writer of nonfiction, with four solo books and two collaborations under my belt &#8211; all of which have done well. One of the four solo books cracked the NYT bestsellers&#8217; list, and all but the very first of the solo books are still in print. So there&#8217;s reason to believe I&#8217;ve been doing something right.</p>
<p>1. Write the book *before* you sell it.</p>
<p>When editors don&#8217;t have to deal with the risk that you&#8217;ll blow a deadline or not deliver at all, they become amazingly compliant (well, for editors).  </p>
<p>And it puts you in a power position come contract time. When we&#8217;re talking terms, I never have to speak the possibility that I might take the *completed* manuscript down the street to another publisher, but it&#8217;s there.  Pulling me extra royalty points, and the ability to cross out any clause in the contract that claims rights other than &#8220;you get to print and sell this edition of this book&#8221; without fuss from the editor.</p>
<p>(In particular, *never* sign away the copyright. Nor &#8220;ancillary&#8221; rights like electronic publication.  And if they tell you &#8220;standard practice&#8221;, your proper reply is &#8220;Fuck that noise!&#8221;)</p>
<p>2. The probability that your manuscript will be accepted varies directly with the size of the pre-existing fanbase the editor has reason to believe you have.</p>
<p>It is possible that the most powerful words a writer can say in today&#8217;s market is &#8220;Look at these site stats! My blog has X thousand readers&#8221;, for X high enough that at a 10% or so nibble rate the publisher can count on selling out a normal print run.</p>
<p>The most effective way of becoming a famous writer is to be famous for something else, first. Even if it&#8217;s just Internet fame &#8211; that can be enough.</p>
<p>UPDATE: It was in moderation. It has appeared now.</p>
